During the early stages of COVID-19’s spread throughout the United States, Idris Elba was one of the few celebrities to share his positive status for the illness. While he said he showed no symptoms and feels healthy, Elba added that his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba—who was sitting next to him as he was addressing the social media masses—would get tested as well. Now, the model/actress has tested positive for the same virus.
In an Apple TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, Mrs. Elba said she certainly was granted the decision to quarantine herself away from her actor husband but opted to remain by his side. “I could have made the decision to put myself, maybe, in a separate room or stay away, and I’m sure that people are making those decisions,” she said. “And they’re tough decisions to make. But I made the decision to want to be with him and, you know, still touch him.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that little to absolutely no contact should occur between a person who has tested positive and a person who is negative. As a means to slow down the virus’ spread, local governments stressed social distancing for a certain period of time, also to keep the healthcare system from imploding due to an influx in positive cases and treatment. However, not taking heed to this advice has led to a significant amount of people to begin to experience symptoms, and in some cases, test positive for the novel coronavirus.
When Winfrey discussed how the pandemic has brought people together, Elba said he believes this is the planet’s way of slowing the human race down. “It’s one of the upsides of this whole drama, is that we’re forced to think of this together as a race, we really are,” he said. “As a human race. But also, our world has taken a kicking. We’ve damaged our world. It’s no surprise that our world is reacting to the human race. It’s no surprise that a virus has been created that is going to slow us down and ultimately make us think differently about our world and ourselves.”
Globally, there’s upwards of 340,000 positive cases. On Sunday (March 22), CNN reports the U.S. has reached 32,000 positive cases, and 400 people have died. Vice President Mike Pence said 245,000 Americans have already been tested with various administrations looking to ramp up the number and speed of testings, similar to South Korea’s methods to get ahead of the virus and ultimately flatten the curve.
Which is why I FaceTimed @idriselba & his wife Sabrina who are safely quarantined together after he tested positive for COVID-19. Idris fills me in on his journey and Sabrina reveals the result of her test after they decided to quarantine together. pic.twitter.com/HETVZeqCPE
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) March 22, 2020
