‘Now we all have someone we love diagnosed’: Why Tom Hanks getting coronavirus hits home – The Washington Post – Dead Celebrity Obituaries: Actors, famous people and stars that died this year.

“Rita and I are down here in Australia,” Hanks wrote. “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.”

“Found to be positive.”

In other words, Hanks and his wife, both 63, have the novel virus responsible for sickening at least 125,000 people worldwide and causing more than 4,600 deaths.

It is often said that we don’t fully accept reality until it affects us, or someone we know personally. For many, that was true of polio when it was ravaging the globe, and it was true of HIV/AIDS.

While most of us have never met Hanks, so ingrained and indelible are his characters — Forrest Gump, Woody from “Toy Story” and Mr. Rogers — that everyone feels they know him. There’s a reason Hanks has been called an “Everyman.”

So the news about Hanks hit home for millions of people — a wake-up call to the reality of coronavirus, a disease that has continued to spread across the U.S. and the globe.

“Ok, now we all have someone we love diagnosed with #coronavirus,” tweeted journalist Ann Curry.

Tom Hanks, the Everyman, has COVID-19. He represents millions in his demographic. As Hanks goes, so goes the world. Not even the Pope could have such impact. That’s the significance of the work of Hanks’ recovery

— Oliver Bateman Does the Work (@MoustacheClubUS) March 12, 2020

By early Thursday, the actor was still a top trending term on Twitter, his calm announcement largely overshadowing Trump’s major address.

For many, Hanks’s words did more to reassure them than any number of statements from public officials.

“The Tom Hanks statement will do more to calm people about coronavirus than any part of Trump’s medicated and self-congratulatory reading of a teleprompter,” tweeted comedian John Fugelsang.

It is ironic that @tomhanks’s announcement that he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 was more comforting, reassuring, and uniting than @realDonaldTrump’s Oval Office address.

— Kris Byrd (@islandskris) March 12, 2020

Hanks sent two messages with his understated post, both of which Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, has been trying to drive home for weeks.

First: Anyone can get it. If a big celebrity and his wife are vulnerable, so are the rest of us.

“Tom Hanks has Coronavirus,” tweeted YouTuber Jack Pattillo. “I think we are done as a species.”

If Tom Hanks ain’t safe, ain’t none of us safe.

— Adam Hambrick (@adamhambrick) March 12, 2020

And the other was that the outcome of infection is inherently uncertain. After all, it’s called a “novel” virus because it’s novel. Really all anyone can do is go about the business of seeking proper medical attention and hoping for the best.

“Well, now. What to do next?” Hanks wrote after breaking the news. “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? We’ll keep the world posted and updated.”

Overnight, Hanks became a reference point for the raging discussion of America’s readiness.

On social media, the widespread concern of “if he can get it, I can get it” soon morphed into serious questions about coronavirus preparedness in the United States. Even though Trump has insisted tests for the virus are readily available for anyone who needs one, people nationwide have reported shortages in kits and long wait times for results.

Several people pointed out that Hanks and Wilson’s celebrity status and the fact that they are currently out of the country probably influenced their swift diagnoses. The couple have already been placed in isolation at Gold Coast University Hospital in Queensland and the Sydney Opera House is reportedly attempting to trace more than 200 people who may have come into contact with the pair.

The only thing the #TomHanks diagnosis tells me is that you can get tested if you are “someone.” What about the bazillions of the rest of us who have “colds?”

— Hananah Zaheer (@HananahZaheer) March 12, 2020

At least one person highlighted the difference between the Hollywood A-listers and journalist Andy Carvin, who detailed his experience trying to get treatment for coronavirus symptoms in Maryland in a lengthy Twitter thread Wednesday. Carvin’s account took up more than 30 tweets and he said he still hasn’t received his test results after days of waiting.

Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson have tested positive for COVID.

Getting tested is rich white privilege.

Getting medical care is rich white privilege.

Getting global press is rich white privilege.

Most folks aren’t afforded the privilege of the test.

I wish them a speedy recovery.

— saira rao (@sairasameerarao) March 12, 2020

“Please stay strong,” tweeted actor Bradley Whitford.

Hey Tom…my 16 yr old daughter, who worships you, literally burst into tears when cnn just reported the news. You and Rita get well soon from all of us….

— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) March 12, 2020

“I swear to God, I will suck the coronavirus out of Tom Hanks’ arm if I have to!” tweeted former “Bachelorette” contestant Michael Garofola. “Please no!”