Tom Hanks, wife Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus

Oscar-winner actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have announced that they have tested positive for coronavirus, the first celebrities to go public with a diagnosis.

The American actor and filmmaker posted a message on his Instagram — alongside a picture of a latex glove in a bin — that the couple, both 63, had felt ill before being tested. The married couple was in Australia for production of Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley movie, in which Hanks is playing Presley’s iconic manager Colonel Tom Parker.

His message read: "​Hello, folks. 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?"

The news came following US President Donald Trump announcing a 30-day suspension on travel from Europe to the United States due to the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier on Wednesday, the World Health Organisation officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

There have been more than 115,000 cases of coronavirus confirmed worldwide, and the disease has killed more than 4,200 people.