Hours after Evangeline Lilly said she values her freedom more than her own life, her former Lost co-star Daniel Dae Kim has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Kim took to Instagram on Thursday to share the news and urge his fans to take this pandemic seriously. “I wanted to let you know that yesterday I tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus,” he said.
Kim had spent the past few weeks in New York filming the NBC series New Amsterdam. In a twist of irony, he'll play a doctor who "“gets recruited to help patients during a flu pandemic.” His character will be introduced in the show's April 7 episode titled “Pandemic.”
New Amsterdam was one of dozens, if not hundreds of shows to suspend production in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus. He returned to his family in Hawaii, where he tested positive, though he likely contracted the virus in New York.
“It’s important for you guys to know that I was asymptomatic during all of this time,” he said. He noticed his throat was a bit scratchy once his flight landed, and "to be safe, when I got home I quarantined myself in a room in the house and tried to rest on my own."
Kim's symptoms then got worse, and he experienced body aches, a fever, and tightness in his chest. He immediately went to a drive-through testing facility in Honolulu where he was subjected to a painful test, albeit a necessary one.
“They shove a huge swab into your nose and into your throat,” he said in a 10-minute video before going on to thank the healthcare workers on the front lines of this pandemic. He also apologized to his fellow cast and crew members who he may have unknowingly exposed to the virus.
“For all those out there, especially teenagers and millennials who think this is not serious, please know that it is. And if you treat this without care, you are potentially endangering the lives of millions of people, including your loved ones. So for the sake of everyone else, please follow the guidelines: socially distance, self-isolate, stop touching your face, and of course, wash your hands.”
Kim is the latest celebrity to go public with a positive test following Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, Olga Kurylenko and Kristofer Hivju. While some of expressed outrage that celebrities have been receiving "special treatment," it's important to remember that celebrities are people too -- we just hear more about celebrities being tested because the media isn't covering your Grandma Ruth's test. Kim addressed those concerns in his Instagram post.
“Let me just say that I never asked for or expected special treatment from anyone,” he said. “And let me just add that I believe that healthcare for all is a right, not a privilege. And not just healthcare, but quality healthcare. Everyone who meets the qualifications to be tested should be. Because the virus doesn’t care about race or gender, religion, sexual orientation, whether you’re rich or poor, or your immigration status. Only we seem to care about that.”
Kim recently appeared alongside David Harbour in the Hellboy reboot, and he'll soon be seen alongside Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette in the sci-fi movie Stowaway. For the latest update on Idris Elba's condition, click here.