Entertainment
Tom Hanks on what coronavirus felt like: I was wiped
Now that he and his wife Rita Wilson have recovered from COVID-19, Tom Hanks is opening up about what it was like battling the coronavirus and living in isolation. In a recent interview with The National Defense Radio Show, Hanks said he and Wilson experienced different symptoms. While he had “bad body aches and was…
Now that he and his wife Rita Wilson have recovered from COVID-19, Tom Hanks is opening up about what it was like battling the coronavirus and living in isolation.
In a recent interview with The National Defense Radio Show, Hanks said he and Wilson experienced different symptoms. While he had “bad body aches and was very fatigued,” she had it even worse.
“Rita went through a tougher time than I did,” he said. “She had a much higher fever. She had lost her sense of taste and sense of smell. She got absolutely no joy from food for a better part of three weeks.”
He added that his wife “was so nauseous, she had to crawl on the floor from the bed to the facilities.”
The couple first tested positive for coronavirus in early March, after they were in Australia for pre-production on Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley biopic. Hanks was slated to portray Presley’s longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker in the film. Production on the project was halted following Hanks’ diagnosis.
He and Wilson were quarantined in an Australian hospital for three days after getting diagnosed. “It was relatively early in Australia’s response to the coronavirus, and they wanted us to not give it to anyone else. That’s why we were in lockdown,” he explained.
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Although he tried exercising at the hospital, Hanks said “I was wiped” 12 minutes into a 30-minute set.
“Whoever it was, a doctor or nurse, would come into our air pressurized, isolation rooms. She said, ‘How are you feeling?’ and I said, ‘I just had the weirdest thing. I just tried to do basic stretches and exercises on the floor and I couldn’t even get halfway through,” he recounted. “And she looked at me through her glasses like she was talking to the dumbest human being. And she said, ‘You have COVID-19.’”
In late March, after self-isolating in Australia, the two returned to Los Angeles. Hanks shared an update on Twitter after they got home safe and sound.
“Hey, Folks… We’re home now and, like the rest of America, we carry on with sheltering in place and social distancing,” Hanks tweeted. “Many, many thanks to everyone in Australia who looked after us. Their care and guidance made possible our return to the USA. And many thanks to all of you who reached out with well wishes. Rita and I so appreciate it.”
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Become a founding memberWilson spoke to CBS This Morning’s Gayle King in early April, her first interview since being diagnosed, and talked more in-depth about her symptoms.
“I felt extremely achy, uncomfortable, didn’t want to be touched, and then the fever started,” she said on April 14. Wilson said she lost her sense of taste and smell, and at one point her fever reached 102 degrees and she suffered from “chills like I never had before.”
Wilson also said their doctors believe the two now have immunity to the virus, and both have donated blood to assist in the research for a vaccine.
For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, please visit coronavirus.gov.
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