Fans of Amitabh Bachchan can breathe a sigh of relief as the respected Bollywood actor has now been sent home from the hospital after previously testing for the coronavirus, alongside other members of his family like his son Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Variety reports that Bachchan tweeted about his release from the hospital and expressed his appreciation to the staff of the Nanavati hospital for their “excellent care and nursing.” Bachnan, along with his son Abhishek, were admitted to the hospital three weeks earlier.
Abhishek, on the other hand, has tweeted that he has still tested positive for the coronavirus and has to remain in the hospital in the coming weeks. The younger Bachchan said it is due to his comorbidities but promised to overcome the coronavirus and “come back healthier.”
The Guardian notes that Bachchan’s daughter-in-law Aishwarya and granddaughter Aaradhya have also been released last week, making Abhishek the only member of the Bollywood acting family to remain in the hospital.
Bachchan, who has been in 200 films and was even a member of the Indian parliament in 1984, is one of the most beloved celebrities in India. The Guardian reports that hundreds of Bachchan’s fans trooped to Kolkata’s Amitabh Bachchan Temple to wish the actor well.
The newspaper even talked to a Bachchan fan who said that Bachchan’s fans have been spending “sleepless nights” wishing for the actor’s recovery.
The members of the Bachchan acting family are just the latest superstar actors to test positive for the coronavirus. One of the first A-list celebrities to come out with a positive diagnosis was Tom Hanks, who was in Australia at the time to film an Elvis biopic.
By Hanks’ recollection, the coronavirus kept him so exhausted that he could not even do 15 minutes of a 30-minute workout. The actor even found basic exercises and stretches difficult to do.
Other actors that have tested positive for the coronavirus include Idris Elba, Ali Wentworth, Kristofer Hivju, Bryan Cranston, Anna Camp, and Olga Kurylenko. Other celebrities include singer Marianne Faithfull, reality star Todd Chrisley, television host Andy Cohen, and news anchors Chris Cuomo and George Stephanopoulos.
Both normal people and celebrities can expect even more infections as it does not look like the global coronavirus pandemic is slowing down anytime soon. According to the World Health Organization’s situation report for Aug. 2, there are now 17,660,523 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. Deaths caused by the disease are now at 680,894 people.