Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson contracted COVID-19 overseas and brought the virus into Australia, health authorities say, before potentially exposing hundreds of fans they came into contact with.
The Hollywood power couple, who shook hands and posed for selfies with hundreds of adoring locals across Australia’s east coast, announced their diagnosis on Thursday, a week after touching down in Brisbane.
‘Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches,’ Hanks wrote.
‘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?’
Hanks and Wilson, both 63, are in a stable conditions at Gold Coast University Hospital, where they will spend the next 14 days in quarantine.
Queensland Health authorities are now scrambling to trace people from Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast who may have been exposed to the virus by the couple.
Singer-songwriter Rita Wilson shared this picture from Sydney Harbour on Monday March 9, writing: ‘Can’t get enough of Sydney!’
Queensland Health officials said all seven new cases reported in the state on Thursday – including Hanks and Wilson – ‘contracted the illness outside Australia and travelled to Queensland with the virus’.
The Forest Gump actor is in Australia to film an untitled Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis Presley movie produced by Warner Bros, while his singer-songwriter wife tours the country.
Hanks landed in Sydney on January 26, Australia Day, before heading to rural New South Wales on February 2.
While out of the city, Hanks was snapped with a fan at Mavis’s Kitchen at Mt Warning, a mountain in the Northern Rivers region of the state.
Hanks then flew back to the US for the Oscars on February 10.
On February 27, Wilson attended a fundraiser in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.
She was photographed rubbing shoulders with other Hollywood A-listers including Renee Zellweger and Martin Short, singer Nick Jonas and designer Tom Ford.
It’s believed the Hanks and Wilson then returned to the Gold Coast sometime last week.
Actor Tom Hanks shared this picture on Thursday when announcing his positive test result to his 7million Instagram followers
Ms Wilson performed in the Utzon Room of the iconic Opera House on Saturday, March 7. She snapped this photo outside the venue
Rita Wilson, 63, performed on the Today Show (pictured) and was also interviewed by Today Extra’s David Campbell and Belinda Russell
On Friday, March 6 the couple were snapped doing the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, a popular 3km trail along the cliffs between Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs beaches
During their second visit to Australia, the couple have visited a number of crowded Sydney hotspots including Bondi Beach and the Opera House.
They have also been snapped in hundreds of fans’ photos posted on social media.
On Thursday, March 5, Ms Wilson performed at Emporium Hotel South Bank in Brisbane. The gig was promoted as an ‘intimate evening’ with the prolific singer-songwriter.
‘Beautiful Brisbane!!! Thank you SO MUCH for the warmest welcome at my show!!! You sold it out, danced in the aisles, sang along!’ Ms Wilson wrote on Instagram after the show.
The couple then travelled to Sydney, where Ms Wilson performed in front of 207 people at the Utzon Room of the iconic Opera House on Saturday.
‘Cannot believe I get to perform here! Sydney! You’re gorgeous!’ she wrote.
The singer also shared smiling snaps in front of the Opera House and admired the famous venue from a boat on Sydney Harbour.
On Friday, March 6 the couple were snapped doing the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, a popular 3km trail along the cliffs between Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs beaches.
On Sunday the couple dined at Justin Hemmes’ restaurant Mr Wong in Sydney’s CBD.
The following morning, Ms Wilson performed on the Today show. She was also interviewed by Today Extra’s David Campbell and Belinda Russell.
Staff and presenters who came into contact with Wilson have been sent home.
‘We are taking all the appropriate precautions according to the government guidelines and supporting our people,’ a Nine spokesman said.
Hanks and Wilson’s sons reacts to his parents’ positive results
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s sons Chet and Colin have taken to social media to react to the news of their parents’ coronavirus diagnoses.
Chet Hanks, 29, posted a video to Instagram telling fans his parents called him to tell him of their positive test results.
‘Wassup everyone. Yeah, its true my parents got coronavirus. Crazy,’ he said.
‘They’re both down in Australia right now because my dad was shooting a movie down there. I just got off the phone with them.
‘They both are fine. 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.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s sons Chet (right) and Colin (left) took to social media to react to the news of their parents’ coronavirus diagnoses
‘I don’t think it’s anything to be too worried about. I appreciate everyone’s concern and the well wishes. I think it’s all going to be alright. I appreciate it. Everybody stay safe out there. Much love.’
Hanks’ other son Colin, from a previous marriage, took also took to Instagram to react to the news of his father and step-mother’s test results.
‘We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from everyone. My parents are receiving excellent care in Australia and doing well (and in good spirits) given the circumstances,’ the 42-year-old wrote.
‘Despite the fact I’m in LA and haven’t seen them in over three weeks, we have been in constant contact and am confident that they will make a full recovery.’
Hanks’ other son Colin, from a previous marriage, took also took to Instagram to react to the news of his father and step-mother’s test results
Prior to their coronavirus diagnosis, Hanks and Wilson were rumoured to be staying at the $900-per-night Peppers Broadbeach, in Queesnland.
It’s the very same hotel building where a 44-year-old Chinese national, who later became one of Australia’s first cases of coronavirus, was staying.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk downplayed the risk to fans who met the couple, saying the risk of the virus spreading was only for those who had ‘over 15 minutes of being in very close proximity’.
‘So a selfie wouldn’t count as that. It clearly shows the coronavirus knows no boundaries so everyone let’s do the right thing, let’s follow our health authorities,’ she told reporters on Thursday.
Ms Palaszczuk went on to say the couple, who have been married for 32 years, are getting ‘the best treatment in our hospitals just as we provide to everybody else’.
‘I’m very confident with the physicians we have, they will be treating Tom and his wife. We wish them all the best for a speedy recovery.
‘Our experts will now work very closely with him, with Baz and all of the cast and crew and then those who have been in close proximity will self-isolate.’
During their stay in Australia, the couple have visited a number of crowded Sydney hotspots including Bondi Beach and the Opera House
During the pair’s visit to Sydney, Hanks snapped pictures from the boardwalk of world-renown Bondi Beach
But health experts warned anyone who got an autograph from or took selfies with Hanks and Wilson should call their GP if they develop flu-like symptoms.
‘If you’ve been in contact with them casually, and have symptoms, then I would ring your doctor,’ infectious disease expert Peter Collignon told the Daily Telegraph.
‘This is where nothing is black and white. None of these definitions are perfect but they cover the vast majority of situations.’
The Health Department said the time between when a person is exposed to the virus and when symptoms first appear is typically five to six days, but it can take up to 14 days for symptoms to appear.
Director General of Queensland Health Dr John Wakefield didn’t confirm the pair being treated at GCUH as Hanks and Wilson, but said: ‘Whether you are from Hollywood or Helensvale you will get great care in our health care system and we will look after you.’
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said the Hollywood power couple couldn’t be in better hands.
‘The one thing I can reassure Queenslanders is if you are going to get sick, if you are going to get COVID-19 anywhere in the world, Queensland is where you would want to get it,’ he said.
Warner Bros, who is producing the upcoming Elvis movie Hanks is currently filming, released a statement on Thursday morning saying a cast member tested positive for COVID-19.
‘We are working closely with the appropriate Australian health agencies to identify and contact anyone who may have come in direct contact with the individual,’ the statement said.
‘The health and safety of our company members is always our top priority, and we are taking precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world. The individual who tested positive for COVID-19 is currently receiving treatment.’
As of early Friday morning there are 158 cases of coronavirus in Australia, including three deaths.
Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks and his singer-songwriter wife Rita Wilson pictured together at the Oscar Awards in February 2020