Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson are officially home and in stable condition after testing positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia, according to a statement from the actor on social media. The couple is currently practicing self distancing at their home in California and are being cautious like most Americans as they recover. Australia has more than 125 confirmed cases of the virus, with at least 20 of those being in the Gold Coast. Despite that, Hanks and Wilson contracted the disease before coming to Australia.
Hanks sent a short statement out to fans after returning home on Friday. It is a positive turn for the couple since announcing their diagnosis two weeks prior, sparking a wave of events that have led to a majority of Americans staying in their homes while all events and activities are canceled.
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— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) March 28, 2020
The update comes after the couple were quarantined in Australia, with Queensland health officials writing in an update on Facebook that two of the seven new confirmed cases were in a 63-year-old male and his “traveling companion” who had “returned from travel in the United States of America and recently arrived on the Gold Coast.”
Hanks and Wilson had arrived in Australia for production on Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley biopic, which has since been postponed. They made their initial announcement on social media on March 12 that they had both tested positive for COVID-19.
“Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia,” Hanks wrote on Instagram. “We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”
“Well, now. What to do next?” he continued. “The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?”
Officials, in a press conference shortly after, stated that they believe all new cases of the virus in the Gold Coast were contracted “outside Australia and travelled to Queensland with the virus.” The couple returned to the U.S. on Friday and were photographed driving to their home in California.
Worldwide, more than 100,000 people have been infected by the virus, with more than 4,000 people dying as a result. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially classified COVID-19 as a pandemic, explaining that “WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.”
President Donald Trump has since announced numerous measures that will be taken to combat the spread of the illness, including a suspension of travel from 26 European countries to the United States. The U.S., as of Thursday morning, had reported more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
