Yesterday, actor Tom Hanks took to Instagram to tell his 7 million followers that he and his wife Rita Wilson had tested positive for coronavirus.
He wrote in the caption:
"Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.
"Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. 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?
"We’ll keep the world posted and updated.
"Take care of yourselves! Hanx!"
And now several eagle-eyed fans of The Simpsons Movie have taken to Twitter, saying the 2007 film predicted the Cast Away actor's coronavirus diagnosis. Yes, really.
In a cameo for the movie, the 63-year-old actor advertises a new Grand Canyon because the old one has "gotten boring".
He adds: "the US government has lost its credibility so it's borrowing some of mine" and then declares, "this is Tom Hanks saying if you see me in person, please, leave me be."
Now, if this doesn't foreshadow Hanks' self-isolation, I don't know what does...
Take a look at the cameo below:This is what the fans have to say about the "prediction":
In a report from the World Health Organization yesterday, they declared that the COVID-19 outbreak is now being officially recognized as a pandemic:
"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.
"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."
As of yesterday's report, there have now been more than 118,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives.