Idris Elba's Wife Tests Positive

Sabrina Dhowre Elba has coronavirus
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 23, 2020 12:00 AM CDT
Idris Elba's Wife Tests Positive
Idris Elba, left, and Sabrina Dhowre attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2019, in New York.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Idris Elba did not socially distance himself from his wife, and she has now tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, NBC News reports. The couple was criticized by some for posting a video about Elba's positive test results in which his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, sat right next to him, with some wondering why Elba didn't quarantine himself. But as the couple explains to Oprah Winfrey in a FaceTime interview for her new AppleTV series, they were together last Monday, the day Elba was likely exposed, and continued to be together until he left for New Mexico for work. "If I had caught it, she had certainly caught it in that time period, as well," he explained. "People were right to have highlighted that spatial distancing is important. I think given the context of the video, which was telling the world what has happened to us, we weren't thinking about that specifically."

Added Dhowre Elba, "I could have made the decision to put myself, maybe, in a separate room or stay away, and I'm sure that people are making those decisions. And they're tough decisions to make. But I made the decision to want to be with him and, you know, still touch him. ... I think that’s an instinct as a wife. You just want to go and take care." She adds that symptom-wise, all she has so far are symptoms equivalent to seasonal allergies. Elba, similarly, says he is feeling OK so far, but they acknowledge they could still develop symptoms. They are both quarantined in New Mexico, per People. Essence reports that new episodes of the series, Oprah Talks COVID-19, will be released each week. In addition to talking to experts and those affected by the virus, Winfrey will also discuss mindfulness and advice for keeping spirits high. (More coronavirus stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X