Confirmed COVID-19 cases continue to rise all over the world and the disease doesn’t discriminate when it comes to infection, with both celebrities and normal people testing positive for COVID-19. Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston is the most recent celebrity to come out with his positive diagnosis.
Variety reports that the 64-year-old actor revealed that he tested positive and recovered from COVID-19 on his Instagram page. In the two-minute video he shared on the site, Cranston also revealed that he now has antibodies and has donated his plasma to help with research.
Cranston also showed in the video what the plasma donation process is like at the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center, which is where he donated. Cranston was able to donate 840 milliliters of plasma in aid of coronavirus research and promised to come back to make another donation.
People notes that Cranston still contracted the virus even after being very fastidious with following the safety measures laid out by health officials. In the caption that accompanied the video he posted on his Instagram, Cranston said he only had mild symptoms. In the video, he shares that he felt a “tightness of chest” and a “slight headache” as well as a total loss of his sense of taste and smell.
Aside from encouraging other people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma, Cranston also emphasized the importance of the health and safety measures recommended by health officials, namely handwashing, social distancing, and mask-wearing.
Cranston is just the latest in a growing list of celebrities who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Just last week, actress Anna Camp also revealed that she tested positive for the coronavirus. Just like Cranston, Camp said she followed health and safety measures and only stopped wearing a mask once.
Camp says she was sick for three weeks and also lost her sense of smell and taste, which is a symptom a number of people have reported getting. While she has now recovered, the actress says the whole experience was stressful and panic-inducing.
Other celebrities that have tested positive for the coronavirus like Cranston and Camp include Bollywood royalty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Amitabh Bachchan; news anchors Chris Cuomo and George Stephanopoulos; actors Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Ali Wentworth, Olga Kurylenko, Kristofer Hivju, Idris Elba; reality star Todd Chrisley; singer Marianne Faithfull; and television host Andy Cohen.
These celebrities join a list of confirmed COVID-19 cases that only seem to grow as the days pass by. According to the World Health Organization’s situation report for July 30, there are now 16,812,755 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world, with deaths at 662,095 people.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s update for July 30 puts the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at 4,405,932 people. Fatalities caused by COVID-19 are now at 150,283 people.