LONDON, 04 April. - (ANA)  - One thing the coronavirus pandemic has proved is that it makes no difference who you are - no one is immune from Covid-19.

 

Politicians, sporting stars and Hollywood celebrities are among those contracting the virus. On April 2, it was confirmed that comedian Eddie Large had sadly died after contracting Covid-19.

 

Here's a round-up of public figures around the world who have been diagnosed with Covid-19, are experiencing symptoms, or have sadly died from the virus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus, Downing Street confirmed on 27 March.

 

Mr Johnson will now self-isolate in Downing Street, while remaining in charge of the government's handling of coronavirus.

 

 

 

Within hours of Boris Johnson's announcement that he had tested positive for coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock also confirmed he had contracted Covid-19. 

 

He wrote on Twitter: "I‘ve tested positive. Thankfully my symptoms are mild and I’m working from home & self-isolating."

 

He came out of isolation on April 2.

 

 

 

England's Chief Medical Officer has announced he is in self-isolation at home after experiencing coronavirus symptoms.

 

 

 

Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, is self isolating after developing coronavirus symptoms.

 

 

 

Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate change activist, has revealed that she has self-isolated after showing coronavirus symptoms.

 

Ms Thunberg, 17, took to social media to urge young people in particular to take the virus seriously, noting that she did not feel particularly ill.

 

While Ms Thunberg has not been tested for coronavirus, because her home country of Sweden does not currently test for it outside hospitals, she said it is "extremely likely" she has had it.

 

She urged people to practice social distancing "whether you feel ill or not", in line with widespread guidance which aims to prevent transmission from person to person.

 

 

Michel Barnier

 

The EU's Brexit negotiator has tested positive for coronavirus. The French politician took to Twitter to share the news on 19 March.

 

 

The French politician wrote: "I would like to inform you that I have tested positive for #COVID19. I am doing well and in good spirits. I am following all the necessary instructions, as is my team."

 

"For all those affected already, and for all those currently in isolation, we will get through this together."

 

 

 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife has tested positive for coronavirus.

 

On March 12, the Prime Minister's office said Mr Trudeau was not showing any symptoms of  the virus, but he would stay in isolation for 14 days and work from home.

 

 

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau came down with flu-like symptoms after travelling to London.

 

Mrs Grégoire Trudeau was in London to speak at a WE day event at Wembley about women's empowerment alongside former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard and pop star Leona Lewis to an audience of 13,000 young people.

 

Begona Gomez, the wife of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has also been infected. The government said that Mrs Gomez and the prime minister are in good health.

 

 

 

Minister Nadine Dorries self-isolated at home after being diagnosed with the illness.

 

Fellow health minister Edward Argar also self-isolated at home "as a precaution", after having lunch with Ms Dorries on the day she started to feel unwell.

 

 

Ms Dorries said she felt weak and tired.

 

"But [I] didn't start with the first symptoms (cough) until 10.45am on Friday," she wrote on Twitter.

 

Ms Dorries said it had been "pretty rubbish, but I hope I'm over the worst of it now".

 

"More worried about my 84-year-old mum who is staying with me and began with the cough today."

 

 

 

Italian politician Nicola Zingaretti has tested positive to coronavirus.

 

The leader of the co-ruling Democratic party is the first leading Italian politician to test positive.

 

Mr Zingaretti is the brother of Montalbano star Luca Zingaretti.

 

 

 

The vice president of Iran, Masoumeh Ebtekar, is the seventh government official to test positive in a country afflicted with the coronavirus.

 

 

 

 

 

On March 25, Clarence House confirmed Prince Charles has tested positive for coronavirus.

 

"He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual", the statement said. He came out of isolation on March 30.

 

The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have Covid-19, Clarence House said.

 

 

 

Monaco's Prince Albert II tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the principality said in a statement on March 19, adding there were "no concerns for his health".

 

The titular head of the Mediterranean enclave is continuing to work from his private apartments at the royal palace, the statement said.

 

 

 

 

 

Comedian Eddie Large has died after contracting coronavirus, his agent confirmed on April 2.

 

The Little And Large star died aged 78.

 

 

 

Tom Hanks announced on March 12 that he and wife Rita Wilson have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

 

The Oscar-winning actor, 63, had been in Australia filming an upcoming Elvis Presley biopic and said he started experiencing symptoms of the virus.

 

Hanks said he felt like he had a cold, while Wilson, also 63, suffered from chills.

 

They both tested positive for coronavirus, Hanks said on Instagram earlier last month.

 

"Well, now. What to do next? The medical officials have protocols that must be followed," he said.

 

"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?"

 

They have since returned to their home in America after self-isolating in Australia.

 

"We'll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves!"

 

The pair have now recovered and returned to Los Angeles.

 

 

 

 

Comedian Lee Mack said on March 26 that he was self-isolating at home after developing symptoms.

 

A spokesperson for the star of Not Going Out said that while Mack had “not been tested for the virus”, he has been staying indoors with his wife and children after feeling ill.

 

“He said the worst symptom so far is the avalanche of jokes about him Not Going Out,” Lee’s spokesperson said.

 

“He laughed on day one but now it’s day 10 it’s becoming a struggle.”

 

 

 

American actress Debi Mazar confirmed on social media that she had contracted Covid-19, but was OK.

 

Mazar posted on March 21: "About a month ago my entire home (husband and two teen daughters) got an odd bug - low-grade fever, headaches, sore throat, body aches, ears ringing and a dry cough. It cleared up quickly.

 

She said she assumed it was seasonal, but "it felt unusual/different".

 

On March 15 she woke up with the same symptoms, but this time with "super-intense body aches" and a fever.

 

"I had had cocktails the evening prior, and smoked a few cigarettes. I figured I had jacked my immune system from having a fun night with friends. I called a doctor/friend to ask if I could get the Covid-19 test," she wrote.

 

Mazar was told she did not meet the criteria: "I hadn’t recently travelled out of the country and I hadn't been with someone who had actually tested positive.

 

"I found this kind of a crazy criteria for a New Yorker as I had taken the subway, gone to the theatre, the grocery store, the pharmacy, hair salon, etc.

 

"I was the mum who was trying to prepare the home and get supplies and bleach wipes, dry goods, extra food etc.

 

"Because we have Italian family in Italy and we follow the news closely, my biggest panic was why were they not closing schools in New York City and forbidding movement outside the home without permission, like China and all of Europe?"

 

Mazar was eventually tested and sent home to self-isolate. She later received the news that she was positive.

 

"One day I feel crappy and the next I’m normal. Today my lungs are heavy, but I’m tough. I can breath, and I’m going to heal here, in my own home," she said.

 

"My family is under quarantine for 14 days. They have no symptoms. I think we all had it possibly already? Who knows."

 

 

 

 

British actor Idris Elba confirmed he had tested positive for Covid-19 in a video posted on Twitter on March 16.

 

He said he felt “OK” and had “no symptoms so far” but had begun self-isolating after discovering he had come into contact with another known case.

 

The 47-year-old had attended the same We Day event at Wembley Arena on March 4 as Mrs Trudeau. 

 

 

 

On April 3, singer Pink said she had tested positive for Covid-19 and announced she is donating $500,000 each to two emergency funds.

 

In a pair of tweets, she said she and her three-year-old son were displaying symptoms two weeks ago, and she tested positive after accessing tests through a primary care physician. 

 

 

Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko revealed on March 15 that she had tested positive. The 40-year-old, who starred in Quantum of Solace, said she had been "ill for almost a week" with fever and fatigue before being diagnosed.

 

 

Kristofer Hivju, the actor best known for his role as Tormund Giantsbane in Game of Thrones, self-isolated at home with minor symptoms after testing positive for the virus.

 

 

Former GMTV host Fiona Phillips told fans she had symptoms including a sore throat and dry cough but was "fine" and "not suffering".

 

Phillips, 59, tweeted: "I am in bed with #coronvirusuk It's not a very pleasant bedfellow, but nothing more than sore throat, dry cough, headache & tiredness. As long as it stays that way....DON'T panic!"

 

 

 

Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a prison sentence for sexual assault and rape, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the head of the state corrections officers union.

 

Weinstein, 68, has been placed in isolation at Wende Correctional Facility, said Michael Powers, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.

 

Mr Powers said he is concerned about the corrections officers, who he said lack proper protective equipment. Several staff have been quarantined, Mr Powers said.

 

Weinstein arrived at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo, New York, on March 18 after being housed at New York City's Rikers Island jail.

 

He was sentenced to 23 years in prison on March 11 for sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress.

 

 

 

Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo said he had tested positive for coronavirus and had gone into self isolation with his family.

 

"We are currently all in good health but I developed a cough and a fever and decided to get tested, and the result came back positive," Domingo wrote on Facebook.

 

Previously one of the opera world's most feted artists, Domingo's reputation is now in tatters after an investigation by the American Guild of Musical Artists concluded he had behaved inappropriately with female performers.

 

The singer has publicly apologised to the women who accused him of sexual harassment.

 

 

 

Dancing On Ice star Linda Lusardi returned home on March 29 after a stay in hospital with Covid-19, her husband Sam Kane has said.

 

Lusardi, 61, and Kane, 51, were admitted to hospital with the disease around March 19.

 

While Kane was discharged a few days later, Lusardi's condition was considerably worse.

 

Kane provided updates on her status to worried fans, revealing she was breathing with the help of oxygen equipment, while Lusardi herself tweeted she had "never felt this ill".

 

However, Kane tweeted on Sunday night that Lusardi had recovered sufficiently to be sent home, saying: "So blessed to be spending tonight with my beautiful girl at home by my side. God bless the NHS. So happy to have her home."

 

Lusardi and Kane have urged fans to follow the advice of experts on self-isolation.

 

The former glamour model tweeted after being admitted to hospital: "I wouldn't wish this on anyone. So stay safe everyone and follow the advice of the experts - please take care of yourselves, loved ones and each other."

 

Lusardi, whose TV appearances include Emmerdale, Dancing On Ice and Loose Women, found fame in the 1970s and 80s, and in a 2005 poll was voted the UK's most popular Page 3 girl ever.

 

 

 

 

Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chelsea

 

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus as the pandemic continued to strike the sporting world.

 

Chelsea said the full men's team squad, coaching staff and a number of backroom staff would self-isolate after Hudson-Odoi returned a positive test.

 

 

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal

 

Arsenal confirmed  that their Spanish head coach Mikel Arteta had tested positive for coronavirus and that the entire Gunners first-team squad would be placed into self-isolation. 

 

Arsenal managing director Vinai Venkatesham said: "Our thoughts are with Mikel, who is disappointed but in good spirits.

 

"We are in active dialogue with all the relevant people to manage this situation appropriately, and we look forward to getting back to training and playing as soon as medical advice allows."

 

 

Evangelos Marinakis, Nottingham Forest

 

Arsenal's league match at Manchester City was postponed and several Gunners players went into self-isolation after Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis contracted the virus.

 

Marinakis, 52, met a number of Arsenal's players and staff when the Gunners faced Olympiakos in a Europa League tie in February.

 

 

Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets

 

Kevin Durant was among four members of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team who tested positive for the coronavirus. The team announced on March 18 that multiple players were diagnosed with the disease, without disclosing names. Durant, a former NBA MVP and one of the biggest names in the sport, told The Athletic: “Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine. We’re going to get through this.”

 

 

Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz

 

Utah Jazz NBA player Rudy Gobert has confirmed he has Covid-19.

 

"What would kill the NBA season is if more players catch it," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in an interview on CNBC.

 

He called the hiatus a matter of "us being vigilant, as all businesses should be".

 

"Businesses are going to have to be incredibly vigilant, and that's hard," Cuban said.

 

A day after the NBA put its season on temporary suspension, a second member of Utah Jazz, Donovan Mitchell, tested positive for coronavirus.

 

The league said its suspension would last for at least 30 days - possibly a conservative guess - as teams undertake the task of identifying any player or referee who has had recent contact with the Jazz, then putting them into isolation for the required two weeks.

 

 

 

Former Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini, now at Sampdoria, has also tested positive for coronavirus.

 

 

 

Colombian cyclist Fernando Gaviria, who was participating in the UAE Tour prior to its cancellation last month, has confirmed he had the virus.

 

Gaviria, who had remained in quarantine in the UAE, said in a video message on Instagram: "There are many rumours circulating in regard to my state of health, but I'm fine. I've been here, undergoing regular tests, which have returned positive for the coronavirus, but I'm feeling fine."

 

Other riders and staff from Gaviria's UAE Team Emirates had been in voluntary quarantine since February 27 but have now announced they are to travel to Europe.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/04 April 2020 - - -