On Thursday, the COVID-19 was officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) and President Trump also elevated our threat level of this coronavirus to a National Emergency on Friday.
When he declared a National Emergency, CEOs from companies like Walmart, Walgreens and other pharmaceutical and medical device makers, addressed the nation to assure the public they would help us through this crisis.
And this A-list celebrity is the latest to catch it.
Countries around the globe are experiencing the likes of which most of us haven’t experienced in our lifetime.
The NBA was the first to cancel the season due to a careless Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert contracted it and teammate Donovan Mitchell tested positive for the coronavirus as well.
Following the NBA’s lead, nearly every league canceled games when they had planned to just play in arenas/stadiums without fans, including NCAA’s March Madness tournament, the NHL, MLB spring training and opening days, etc.
But many around the world were truly shocked to discover Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson announced they contracted the deadly coronavirus while in Australia for the pre-production of an untitled Elvis Presley movie where he will play the star musician’s beloved Dutch-born manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
In an Instagram post with a picture of a trashcan with a hazardous material yellow bag and a single white latex glove, he wrote, “Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. 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 Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”
This, of course, sent ripples through the industry and resonated with his millions of fans around the world. After all, he is one of the most revered actors of all time, alongside legends like Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, often being called “America’s Dad,” due to his “everyman” endearing roles.
https://offthewire.com/tom-hanks-sad-story-woody-toy-story-4/
Hanks’ announcement resonated with millions of his fans.
Minutes later, the NBA announced the cancelation of the season, or postponement depending on how long we need to “social distance” from each other, and it rippled through every industry.
The entire movie industry either halted productions immediately or even un-greenlit ones that were about to start shooting.
On Friday, Hanks and Rita posed for a picture where they seemed to be in good spirits, but you can tell they’re both flushed. He closed his sentiment by saying, “Remember, despite all the current events, there is no crying in baseball,” which is classic a line from his character Jimmy Dugan in “A League of Their Own.”
The point is, they seem to be coping just fine with the infection and isolation.
Still, however, it’s amazing that it took a celebrity of his caliber to really wake millions of people up to the seriousness of this global pandemic.
President Trump’s administration said on Friday, “After consulting with our top government health professionals, I have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and wellbeing of all Americans. These prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing.”
And although Hanks alerted us to him and his wife’s condition down under, Trump is on top of it here in the states.
