Melissa Joan Hart Makes Heartbreaking Plea For Masks While Sick With COVID

“I just wish I had done better,” the actress said

Actress Melissa Joan Hart revealed she has COVID in a candid Instagram video — and she’s understandably feeling a lot of emotions about the diagnosis.

“I am vaccinated, and I got COVID, and it’s bad,” she said. “It’s weighing on my chest, it’s hard to breathe. One of my kids I think has it, so far. I’m praying that the other ones are OK.”

Hart reflected on staying safe from COVID for more than a year — only to come down with it now. “I’m mad. Really mad, because we tried and we took precautions and we cut our exposure by a lot — but we got a little lazy. And I think as a country we got lazy.” A year and a half into the pandemic, a lot of people would probably agree. Pandemic fatigue is totally a thing — but it does have consequences.

Hart also had a pretty good guess as to how she caught the virus– one that will likely resonate with parents nervous about the new school year. “I’m really mad that my kids didn’t have to wear masks in school. I’m pretty sure that’s where this came from.”

The actress is mom to three boys — the youngest of which she said did thankfully mask up at school. “Now if he does get [COVID] I can at least tell him he was a superhero to those in his classroom because he protected his teacher and his classmates from it.”

Hart then choked up as she shared her darkest fear. “I just hope my husband and the other ones don’t get it, because if someone has to be taken to the hospital I can’t go with them.”

The former Sabrina the Teenage Witch star seemed to feel responsible for contracting the virus, saying she was “scared and sad and disappointed in myself.” Her story is a stark reminder that even those who are fully vaccinated and taking the virus seriously can still catch it, no matter how many precautions they’re taking.

In a second post less than a day after revealing her diagnosis, Hart shared that she’d started to feel a bit better and urged fans to “Mask up, isolate, and test constantly!” (You’ll have to watch the funny video she shared to find out more about that testing bit)

Hart wants other people out there, and especially parents, to learn from her situation. “I just wish I had done better, so I’m asking you guys to do better. Protect your families, protect your kids, it’s not over yet. I hoped it was, but it’s not. Stay vigilant, stay safe.”