Coronavirus: Tom Hanks, wife Rita Wilson test positive

Hanks said that he and Wilson would be "tested, observed and isolated" for as long as required

Moneycontrol News

March 12, 2020 / 10:20 IST

Hollywood heavyweight and Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, have both tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia.

In a Twitter post, Hanks said that he and Wilson - both 63, were tested after they felt tired and achy with slight fevers. Hanks was in Australia to shoot for Baz Luhrmann film on the life of Elvis Presley.

"To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus and were found to be positive," Hanks said in the tweet.

He added that he and Wilson would be "tested, observed and isolated" for as long as required.

"Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? We'll keep the world posted and updated," he said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show