Word to the wise: don’t risk getting COVID-19 from your partner. Yes, this applies even if you’re married to Idris Elba.
Days after Elba revealed his diagnosis on social media, his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba confirmed she’s also tested positive for COVID-19 on the first episode of “Oprah Talks COVID-19.”
Many online noted that the turn of events seemed inevitable, as the Elbas weren’t social distancing during his initial announcement.
The former Miss Vancouver told Oprah she wasn’t surprised about her health status over a FaceTime interview for the Apple TV+ series, considering she planned to stay by her husband’s side in spite of his potential exposure.
“I wanted to be with him, that’s your instinct as a wife. You just want to go and take care,” she told Winfrey.
Dhowre added that she could have stayed in a separate room from the British actor — which would have followed protocol for living with someone who may have coronavirus — but that ultimately she made the decision to “be with him and, you know, still touch him.”
It’s too bad Dhowre didn’t try the million other ways people are staying intimate without physical affection during a pandemic, or consider how the virus might adversely affect her. While most cases are mild, even healthy, able-bodied people can be hit severely and experience frightening symptoms.
The couple also reasoned that she likely had COVID-19 prior to testing.
“If I had caught it, she had certainly caught it in that time period, as well,” Elba said.
Weird rationale for resigning themselves to joint quarantine, ignoring health experts, and potentially getting trapped in a re-infection loop, but OK. The two are asymptomatic, but that just means they’re the most likely carriers to spread COVID-19.
Although empathy for the Elbas has been expressed (who hasn’t let love overpower their common sense before?), the pair’s actions after getting tested are still worth side-eyeing. Especially since being celebrities has given them the privilege of testing, which many vulnerable people can’t access.
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