A-list actor Idris Elba delivered a heartfelt update via social media on Tuesday, telling his fans that while he has the coronavirus he is “feeling ok” and is in isolation with his wife.
In his Tuesday video chat on Periscope, the Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw star noted that he is “feeling OK” after testing positive and said he is in quarantine as he waits out the virus. He reported a positive test result on Monday.
The Wire star opened up to fans about the past 24 hours since testing positive.
“It’s been a mad 24 hours as you can probably guess. Yesterday was just good and bad. It was bad because obviously I tested positive, but it was also good because it opened up a lot of conversation around it,” Elba said.
“I think it made it a lot more real for some people. I think it definitely made it more real for me and my family,” Elba continued, saying he’s “asymptomatic,” meaning he has no obvious symptoms.
“Right now I am feeling OK,” the Cats star explained. “I woke up this morning, didn’t have any symptoms…still don’t have any symptoms. [I’m] checking my fever twice a day. [I] feel good.”
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Idris Elba also noted that he was “going to be around a lot of people starting this new film,” so he realized he had better go into self-imposed quarantine.
In a second Periscope video The Dark Tower star thanked his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, for coming to his side despite his diagnosis.
“Sabrina wanted to be by my side,” Elba said of his wife of almost a year. “As much as we talked about her not coming where I am, she did, and wanted to. And I love her even more for it. And I would do the same for her.”
“I love Sabrina for standing by me,” Elba added.
Elba went on to joke a bit saying that after he was diagnosed positive, he thought “this is how we kick it.”
He added that he wanted to use his diagnosis and his public profile as a way to get word to people about what it really means to test positive for the virus. The actor had an important message as he closed out his video. Elba address black people, saying he wanted to get the message across that people not to fall for the conspiracy theories around this viral outbreak.
“Something that is sort of scaring me when I read the comments and some of the reactions is my people, black people, please, please, please understand that coronavirus is — you can get it,” the star said to his fans.
“There is so many stupid, ridiculous, conspiracy theories about black people not being able to get it. That’s dumb. It’s stupid. Alright?” he said on the video. “That is the quickest way to get more black people killed. And I’m talking about the whole world. Wherever we are, please understand that you can get it. Stop sending out these stupid WhatsApp messages about black people not getting it. That’s ridiculous. You’re making us all look stupid. Just know we have to be as vigilant as every other race.”
Elba added that as a black person who has contracted the virus, he wants people to stop sending out these conspiracy theories because his own status proves them to be false.
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