Actor Idris Elba has responded to criticism over his decision to self-isolate himself along with his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba, after he tested positive for the coronavirus, and his spouse had not.
Elba initially confirmed he'd tested positive for the virus on March 16:
[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/ECe0TK7c-Q0L14jDU.mp4||ECe0TK7c]]
The Luther actor first updated his fans about his condition in a tweet, writing: "This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how I'm doing. No panic."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/idriselba/status/1239617034901524481]]
Per The Daily Mail, in a later live vlog update on Twitter, Elba spoke about how some members of the general public had responded to his announcement, stating: "There was so many positive responses to, you know, me talking about it. Some negative too. But there were some definite positive ones. I certainly felt… my wife and I felt like it was the right thing to do, to share it with you guys [sic]."
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/idriselba/status/1239991405960785920]]
He continued: "Sabrina's good too. Sabrina today finally managed to get a test, and we're thankful for that. Generally, Sabrina's fine. Nervous of course. Worried. Just for clarification, Sabrina wanted to be by my side."
He added: "As much as we talked about her not coming to where I am, she did and wanted to and I love her even more for it and I would do the same for her. As much as I wanted her to keep safe, we presumed if I had it, the likelihood she would have it too, we calculated that risk."
The World Health Organisation designated the COVID-19 virus a pandemic last week, writing in an official statement: "WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
The statement continued: "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."
At the time of writing, there have now been 202,272 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries worldwide, and a total of 8,015 deaths.