Tom Hanks shares update after testing positive for COVID-19: 'Let's take care of ourselves and each other'

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks , who have been tested positive for COVID-19, has been regularly sharing updates with his worried fans. His wife Rita Wilson was also diagnosed with the infectious disease. The couple are currently in isolation and recovering in Australia, where Hanks was shooting for an Elvis Presley biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann. Hanks will play Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker, while the singer will be portrayed by Austin Butler. The actor posted a picture of a toy kangaroo holding the Australian national flag, a tube of Vegemite with a toy koala (a spread made with yeast extract), whom he called his “helpers”. In the caption he urged everybody to take care of themselves and others around them. Here is the post

Thanks to the Helpers. Let’s take care of ourselves and each other. Hanx pic.twitter.com/09gCdvzGcO

— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) March 15, 2020

On 13 March, the Forrest Gump star had shared a picture of himself and Wilson thanking fans for their support after he made the announcement that they had contracted the virus. Their son Chet Hanks had also spoken about the couple’s health status in a brief video. “They’re not even that sick. They’re not worried about it. They’re not tripping but they’re going through the necessary health precautions, obviously. I don’t think it’s anything to be too worried about,” he says. According to CNN, the couple’s diagnoses led to Australia’s Nine Network to sanction a “crisis response plan” after Wilson made an appearance on the channel’s talk show Today Extra on 9 March. The channel had said that all staff would be quarantined due to prolonged contact with Wilson. The virus, which originated in China’s Wuhan city in December, has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,600. Only recently, COVID-19 was confirmed as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). (With inputs from agencies)