Salma Hayek reveals she battled a near-fatal case of COVID-19
Salma Hayek battled a near-fatal case of COVID-19 last year, the 54-year-old actress said in a new interview with Variety. Hayek said she caught the virus in the early days of the pandemic and kept it quiet — until now.
"My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad," Hayek told Variety. "I said, 'No, thank you. I'd rather die at home.'"
She spent about seven weeks in isolation at home and was put oxygen. Hayek, who is married to Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, has a 13-year-old daughter, Valentina.
While she returned to work in April, Hayek said she still hasn't fully regained her energy.
She is not the only celebrity to reveal a battle with COVID-19. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, while in Australia.
They were two of the first celebrities to reveal they had contracted the virus and have since donated their plasma to aid research on a potential coronavirus treatment.
Actor Bryan Cranston revealed he had tested positive by sharing that he was donating his plasma in July.
Actress Alyssa Milano opened up about her difficult battle with the virus, which resulted hair loss, which affects about 26% of people with long-term coronavirus symptoms, according to a survey conducted by Survivor Corps.
Gwyneth Paltrow revealed in a blog post for her lifestyle brand GOOP that she had COVID-19, writing: "It left me with some long-tail fatigue and brain fog."
More recently, Jessica Simpson revealed on Instagram in March she had tested positive for COVID-19.
In April, Luke Bryan revealed he tested positive for the virus and had to miss an episode of "American Idol" while he recovered at home.
Talk show hosts Bill Maher, Ellen DeGeneres and Andy Cohen each said they tested positive for the virus, all of them missing tapings of their shows.
