Colin Salmon, ‘Arrow’ and James Bond Movie Actor, Was Hospitalized With COVID-19

Colin Salmon, the British actor who starred in Arrow, Krypton, and three James Bond movies, was hospitalized with COVID-19 recently. The actor recently appeared in a video explaining to minority U.K. residents to continue to take the coronavirus seriously and to get vaccinated when they can. London Mayor Sadiq Khan and actress Shobna Gulati also appeared in the clip.

After actor Adil Ray shared the video on Monday, Salmon retweeted it and revealed his personal experience with the virus. “Recorded this last week 9 days after my Covid hospitalization,” Salmon wrote. “I’m getting there but this is real and affects us all. #covid19 #vaccine take a moment of self-care and please watch this.” His fans and colleagues reached out to him afterward, and he thanked them in a follow-up tweet. “Thank you for your kind words,” he wrote. “Please take a moment for yourselves, check-in, feel how you’re doing. We are hearty folk but we need to value our lives more. We don’t have to always do the extra shift, put ourselves last, be brave.” He included the hashtag “self-care is not selfish.”

Salmon, 58, is best known for playing Charles Robinson in Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day. He also starred in Doctor Who, Limitless, 24: Live Another Day, and The CW’s Arrow. He played General Dru-Zod in the SyFy Superman prequel series Krypton.

While Britain’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was initially criticized, the government has been moving faster than other countries to vaccinate. On Saturday, The New York Times reported that about 8 million people, or about 11.7% of the population, have already received their first vaccination shot. Only Israel and the United Arab Emirates have vaccinated a higher percentage of their populations. However, there have been some risks, with Britain delaying the second doses for up to 12 weeks, instead of the three to four weeks tested by scientists.

The vaccine rollout might have started well, but the coronavirus has ravaged the country. The U.K. was the hardest-hit European country during the pandemic, with over 104,000 deaths reported. There have been over 3.77 million total cases since the pandemic began. According to the Associated Press, over 37,000 U.K. residents are still being treated for the coronavirus in U.K. hospitals, almost double the number of patients from the spring surge.

“We all feel very stretched and everyone’s mucking in to help each other with each of the roles that is required,” critical care consultant Dr. Jenny Townsend told the AP. “We’re doing the best we can, and we’re doing it in very difficult circumstances. We try and deliver as close to what we do normally, but occasionally because of the number of patients, we have to prioritize what we can and can’t do.”