Rita Wilson Shares COVID-19 Experience & “Extreme Side Effects” Of Chloroquine

(Left) Facebook / Tom Hanks (Right) Instagram / Rita Wilson

Rita Wilson opened up about her personal experience of having the coronavirus and the “extreme side effects” the prescribed medication had on her.

Rita Wilson and husband, Tom Hanks, were two of the first celebrities to publicly share that they had tested positive for the coronavirus. On March 11, 2020, Tom posted on his social media that they were symptomatic and were tested for the coronavirus, which was positive.

They were in Australia at the time, to begin filming the Elvis Presley biopic in which Tom was to play Presley’s longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

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On Saturday (March 28) eighteen days after they released the public statement of the positive diagnosis, Tom took to Twitter to share they were back home in Los Angeles and sheltering in place like the rest of America.

During an interview with CBS This Morning, Rita shared her first signs of the virus, the symptoms that followed, and the effects the medication, chloroquine, had on her.

“I was very tired, I felt extremely achy, uncomfortable, didn’t want to be touched and then the fever started. Chills like I’ve never had before. Looking back I also realized that I was losing my sense of taste and smell, which I didn’t realize at the time.”

Rita revealed that her fever got up to about 102 on the ninth day and that is when they gave her chloroquine, a drug that has been used to treat malaria in the past and is currently being used to treat those infected with the coronavirus.

Rita stated in the interview:

“I know people have been talking about this drug, but I can only tell you that I don’t know if the drug worked or it was just time for the fever to break.”

Rita shared the adverse reactions she had from taking the drug chloroquine.

“The chloroquine had such extreme side effects, I was completely nauseous and I had vertigo. I could not walk and my muscles felt very weak. I think people have to be very considerate about that drug, we don’t really know if it’s helpful in this case.” 

Rita shared that her husband Tom Hanks had a milder case of the coronavirus and his symptoms were not as bad as hers. Tom had a lower grade fever, and he did not lose his sense of taste and smell. However, it took them the same amount of time to recover from the virus and they are believed to have contracted the virus at the same time.

Watch the full interview with Rita Wilson below.

For more information on COVID-19 and ways to protect yourself, click here.