Tom Hanks announces that he and wife Rita Wilson have the coronavirus

Concord native Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The a two-time Oscar-winning actor confirmed the news in a statement on Facebook posted Wednesday, March 11, explaining he and his wife “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.”

The couple are currently in Australia filming an Elvis Presley project helmed by Baz Luhrmann.

Hanks, star of movies like “Forest Gump” and “Saving Private Ryan,” went on to say that he and Wilson “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?” he added. “We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves!”

It was a characteristically upbeat missive from one of the most beloved Hollywood actors, both within the industry and among the general public. It was also in keeping with the modest and heroic characters he most often plays in movies.

Tom Hanks accepts the Cecil B. DeMille award, presented by Charlize Theron, onstage during the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 5, 2020.Photo: Handout, 2020 NBCUniversal Media, LLC via Getty Images

As the first major Hollywood star to reveal an infection of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, Hanks’ announcement called to mind Rock Hudson‘s 1985 announcement that he had AIDS. That event is remembered today as the moment at which the public at large began to take AIDS seriously. In a similar way, Hanks just given COVID-19 a very famous face, and in doing may have performed a significant act of citizenship and public service.

According to the Center for Disease Control, COVID-19 is particularly risky for people over age 60. On top of that, the American Diabetes Association said people with diabetes generally “face greater risks of complications when dealing with viral infections like flu, and that is likely to be true with COVID-19.” Hanks is 63 and a diabetic.

Hanks, despite (or perhaps partly because of) his unassuming manner, is one of the premiere actors of his era, a winner of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award and Golden Globe’s Cecil B. DeMille Award. He has arguably the best film resume of any living English-speaking actor. He has an almost unerring instinct for quality and works in prestige projects almost exclusively.

Among his many credits are “Philadelphia,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Apollo 13,” the “Toy Story” series, “Road to Perdition,” “The Terminal,” “A Hologram for the King,” “Sully,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Captain Phillips” and the upcoming “Greyhound.” He is slated to play Colonel Tom Parker in the upcoming film about Elvis Presley, scheduled for a 2021 release.