Having experienced the devastating effects of Covid-19 firsthand, Tom Hanks is urging people to do their part in preventing the virus from spreading even further.
“The idea of doing one’s part should be so simple,” the 63-year-old actor said on the “TODAY” show Tuesday in his first TV interview since recovering from Covid-19.
“Wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands. That alone means you are contributing to the betterment of your house, your work, your town, your society as a whole and it’s such a small thing,” Hanks said.
“It’s a mystery to me how somehow that has been wiped out of what should be ingrained in the behavior of us all. Simple things. Do your part,” he added.
The 63-year-old actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, both tested positive back in March, both being some of the first celebrities to announce that they had contracted the virus and shocking their fans.
While many of those who are infected with the coronavirus may not experience severe symptoms or even be asymptomatic, Hanks said we shouldn’t forget the fact that “it’s killing people.”
As for their own battles with Covid-19, Hanks told The Guardian that he and his wife had “very different reactions.”
“My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did. I just had crippling body aches, I was very fatigued all the time and I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes,” Hanks told the British newspaper.
Hanks, who stars in the World War II movie “Greyhound” set to premiere Friday on Apple TV+, said Americans need to have the same type of unified spirit now that they had during the war.
“There was a sensibility (during WWII) that permeated all of society, which was, do your part, we’re all in this together,” he said on “TODAY.”
Since recovering, Hanks has been donating plasma in hopes that it would be used for treatment research against Covid-19. In April, he hosted “Saturday Night Live” from his home, joking that he was the celebrity canary in the coalmine when it came to the virus.
CNN’s Frank Pallotta contributed to this report.