Tom Hanks Shares 'Very Different Reactions' He & Rita Wilson Had To COVID

Tom Hanks describes how he and Rita Wilson had “odd” and “different” experiences with COVID-19

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the world infecting more people, many of them are coming forward to share their experience with the virus and while there are many common symptoms like fever, fatigue, and respiratory illness — the effects of the virus seem to range widely from loss of smell to fevers that last for months. One case study — and perhaps the most famous — is Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson’s experience with coronavirus. Hanks recently revealed that when it came to symptoms, he and Wilson have very “different” reactions to the virus.

The couple first contracted the virus in Australia in March, where they were briefly quarantined, before coming back home to America. Four months later, Hanks tells The Guardian “we’re fine” and that the worst of it lasted for the first two weeks. The couple is now donating their plasma to UCLA as the antibodies in recovered COVID-19 patients are being researched for their potential therapeutic value, but as for their experiences back in March with the virus, Hanks says, “we had very different reactions, and that was odd.”

“My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did,” Hanks elaborated. “I just had crippling body aches, I was very fatigued all the time and I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes. That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway.”

Hanks and Wilson were among the first known Americans to contract the virus, and Hanks said he was very worried at first.

“When we were in the hospital, I said: ‘I’m 63, I have type 2 diabetes, I had a stent in my heart — am I a red flag case?’ But as long as our temperatures did not spike, and our lungs did not fill up with something that looked like pneumonia, they were not worried,” Hanks explained.

In the last few months, many COVID-19 patients and nurses have taken to social media to share their symptoms, hoping to get answers as their experiences sometimes differ wildly from what the CDC has listed as the official COVID-19 symptoms. One woman recently took to Twitter to share how she’s experienced delirium and hallucinations, among other issues.

While others have shared symptoms like irregular heartbeat and fevers that last for weeks.

Stay safe out there and remember to wear a mask, wash your hands, and practice social distancing.