Australian Journalist Who Met With Rita Wilson Tests Positive for Coronavirus

An Australian TV journalist who met with Rita Wilson has tested positive for COVID-19 and assumed he contracted the disease after meeting with the actress. ABC News reports that Nine Network entertainment editor Richard Wilkins received a positive test result on Sunday after being tested because he met Wilson at the Sydney Opera House on March 7 and at Nine’s Sydney studio on March 9. Two other Nine Network hosts who interviewed Wilson are currently in isolation in their homes and are awaiting test results.

Since his diagnosis, Wilkins has self-isolated and told Nine by FaceTime that he is “surprisingly very well,” saying, “You could’ve knocked me over with a feather last night when I got that call. It took me a couple of minutes to reel from the news that they gave me. But I feel fine. I feel 100 percent.” Wilkins explained that he assumed he had contracted the virus from Wilson but could not be totally sure.

“We’re assuming this is from Rita. It may not be. They’ve all said it could be anyone, anywhere, any time, such is the prevalence of this thing,” he explained. “I was having a chat to her and that’s probably my best guess as to what happened.”

Wilkins’ son Christian Wilkins spent the night in his father’s home on March 10 and will now be tested as well. The 25-year-old competes on Australia’s version of Dancing With the Stars and Wilkins waited to tell his son about his diagnosis until after Monday’s show, which was filmed without a studio audience.

“I called him up after his show last night. He was and still is very, very upset,” Wilkins said. “He’s going to get tested in an hour and, fingers crossed, he’ll be OK, which I’m sure he is.”

Australia currently has around 300 confirmed cases of the disease.

Wilson and her husband, Tom Hanks, revealed last week that they had tested positive, and Hanks has since been updating fans on the couple’s situation. Late last week, he shared a selfie with his wife and explained that they are taking things one day at a time.

“Hello folks. @ritawilson and I want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us,” the actor wrote. “We have Covid-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else. There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time. There are things we can all do to get through this by following the advice of experts and taking care of ourselves and each other, no? Remember, despite all the current events, there is no crying in baseball.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Mike Coppola