After news broke that beloved Hollywood couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson had contracted coronavirus while visiting Australia, the world was devastated. Tom himself shared a message about their unfortunate circumstances Instagram on Tuesday. While he and Rita are in Australia to film the upcoming Elvis Presley biopic, in which Tom will be playing Colonel Tom Parker, they began to experience flu-like symptoms, and found out that they had tested positive for coronavirus. Maintaining his ever-positive attitude, Tom let everyone know that he and Rita would be following all of the necessary health and safety precautions, including being quarantined.
"Hello, folks," he began. "Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive. Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves! Hanx!" Despite his reassuring tone, everyone began to panic. This rapidly-spreading, deadly disease could not have chosen two more widely adored Hollywood treasures to infect, and the possibility that we could lose them both for good was too much for the Internet to handle.
Coupled with Donald Trump banning travel to the United States from Europe and the NBA's announcement that, essentially, basketball is cancelled, the reality of the coronavirus' impact was too overwhelming.
CDC Shows Which Facial Hairstyles Could Prevent Coronavirus
The CDC has released a chart indicating which facial hairstyles are less likely to interfere with respirators that help to prevent the contraction of Coronavirus.
In the most dystopic news you’ve heard today, the CDC has released a chart indicating which facial hairstyles could interfere with potentially life-saving respirators, that are worn to prevent the contraction of diseases like Coronavirus. In the graphic, 13 different styles are check-marked green, meaning that they won’t get in the way of properly sealing the respirator onto one’s face, while 18 other styles have a red “X” under them, indicating that they pose a threat to the mask’s ability to function. This is because hair can get in the way of the respirator’s exhalation valve, rendering it ineffective.
Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images
While the Center for Disease Control advises gentlemen to simply shave their facial hair for the safest respiratory sealing surface, soul patches, sideburns, and most moustache styles are among the 13 styles that have been approved.The CDC actually developed the “educational tool” back in November 2017 to instruct participants of Movember how to safely wears masks in the workplace, but the infographic is more relevant now than ever. In more uplifting news, a vaccine for Coronavirus has reportedly been created by a genetic engineering company in Houston. The scientists at Greffex believe they have found the cure for the fatal disease.