Coronavirus: From Amitabh Bachchan to Malaika Arora, celebrities who opened up about their COVID-19 symptoms

Coronavirus can be a deadly infection and it spares no one.

While celebrities have been often talking about the added precaution they have been taking to reduce COVID fear, several stars, in India and internationally caught the infection and opened up about their COVID experience. From mild, moderate or severe, everybody's COVID story and experience was somehow different, and there were lessons to be learnt everywhere.

Although most fought off the virus like champions, terming it to be a "scary ordeal", "emotionally exhaustive exhaustive", here's is a list of some celebrity COVID accounts which detail how coronavirus symptoms can be different and dreary for everyone.

Tom Hanks was one of the first famous faces to have caught the virus and raising awareness, he talked of the many different symptoms and problems he faced, at a time when most of us were blissfully unaware of the predicaments of the infection. The celebrity couple caught the virus in the early days of the pandemic, spent days in recovery in Australia.

The couple’s experience was not just the first insight into the viral illness but also threw light on how COVID-19 symptoms could be different for two people. While Tom suffered from a mild bout of infection, flu-like symptoms, Rita said that her symptoms were slightly more severe, left her drained out to a point she did not want to “be touched”.

Strangely enough, the couple also made news about having lasting immunity against the infection. Reports suggested that the couple, who were diagnosed positive in March still had antibodies, which baffled experts who have otherwise suggested that COVID immunity post-infection may be short-lived.

Actor Varun Dhawan, who had been shooting for one of his upcoming films tested positive for the virus along with co-star Neetu Kapoor. The actor was put under home quarantine. While Varun was lucky enough to not undergo extreme symptoms, he said that he could have been more careful about avoiding the virus.

Varun, who said that good immunity and care got him through the tough days, did add that he experienced severe weakness, and will take time to be fully normal, terming the infection a really serious one. He also added that Amitabh Bachchan, a fellow COVID survivor checked on him every day.

Malaika Arora, along with her alleged boyfriend Arjun Kapoor tested positive for COVID-19 some months ago. While the actress only suffered from "mild" symptoms and was put under home isolation, the two weeks isolation time was excruciatingly tough for her, mentally and physically.

In an interview, she said that COVID can be physically and emotionally exhaustive for even the young and healthy,

“You are so unwell! If you’re asymptomatic, then it’s fine. But if you have symptoms, it’s a huge challenge because you have to take care, be vigilant... it’s not something you can deal within two to three days, the time period is 14 days, which is a long time. But it’s important to stay calm and be positive,”

The 47-year-old, who said that yoga and meditation helped the infection better, she also opened up about experiencing terrible post COVID symptoms, such as fatigue and hair loss, for which she turned to home remedies.

The months of July and August were gloomy for the Bachchans. Veteran star, Amitabh Bachchan caught COVID-19 in the middle of July and spent a long time, under isolation in a hospital facility. While the actor continued blogging regularly from his hospital bed, he often talked of the lesser-known consequences of prolonged isolation- loneliness and mental health.

Sr. Bachchan also had a prolonged COVID-19 battle, only testing negative for coronavirus weeks after being treated for the same. Amitabh's age, frail immunity and health may have been contributing factors to his long battle. Nonetheless, he emerged victorious, testing COVID negative with wishes from his fans and industry friends. One blog post read:

“The mental state sparks from the stark reality that the COVID patient, put in hospitalised isolation, never gets to see another human .. for weeks... There are the nurses and the doctors on visit and medicine care .. but they ever appear in PPE units .. you never get to know who they are, what are their features, expressions because they are forever covered in the units for protection .. all white beings about .. almost robotic in their presence .. they deliver what is prescribed and leave .. leave because longer stay has the fear of contamination.”

Apart from Amitabh, Abhishek Bachchan, wife Aishwarya and 6-year-old daughter Aaradhya also tested positive for the coronavirus days following the former's diagnosis.

While Abhishek, just like his father spent close to 29 days in the hospital, Aishwarya and Aaradhya recovered at home after suffering mild symptoms of the infection.

Genelia Deshmukh is yet another star who talked about the alarming effects of COVID-19 on a patient's mental state. The actress, who was diagnosed with the viral infection detailed how emotionally turbulent the 21 days of self-isolation were for her, away from her family. The actress and mother of two was tested positive in August. Since she was asymptomatic, she was asked to self-isolate and made a recovery. However, doing it all alone, away from her family was the toughest part of the disease.

Revealing the trauma of isolation on her mental health, the mother-of-two penned a note on Instagram, saying

"As much as I count my blessings that my battle with this disease has been much easier but at the same time I must admit that these 21 days in isolation have been the most challenging for me to deal with. No amount of Facetime and digital immersion can kill the evil of loneliness. I am happy to be back with my family and loved ones. Surround yourselves with love that's true strength and it's all one needs. Test early, eat healthy, stay fit- the only way to fight this monster."

The 35-year-old actor, who tested positive for COVID-19 along with his girlfriend Malaika Arora back in September calls his battle with the virus a dreary experience. While Arjun was initially asymptomatic, but soon enough suffered from mild symptoms including cough, fever, body pain and exhaustion.

The actor's experience details how even mild, or asymptomatic bout of the virus can prove heavy for people. From emotional distress, stamina loss, sluggishness and health problems, there were a lot of difficulties Arjun faced:

"Emotionally, the recuperation is unique because nobody knows how to go about it. Even today, I am careful because the doctors have advised me to take it one day at a time. I don’t know how badly my lungs were affected, or how much of my stamina is affected, except that every once in a while, I feel like someone who has recovered from a virus because the fatigue factor is real. I am young, but the senior family members might not be able to cope with this as easily we can.”

36-year-old actor Harshvardhan Ranetested positive for coronavirus after undergoing a routine check. While his symptoms started off unusually, with a stomach bug and a headache, problems became worse when he suffered from oxygen deprivation, midway of his recovery. The actor had to be shifted to the hospital, put under ICU observation where he was provided constant oxygen support- yet another example of how symptoms can go from mild to worse in no time, and turn deadly even for people belonging to a younger age.

Harshvardhan's symptoms were also confused with that of a viral symptom earlier, which led to a late COVID diagnosis and delayed treatment.

Popular celebrity and talk show host Ellen is the latest celebrity to have been infected by the novel coronavirus. While the celebrity suffered from milder symptoms, she admitted to suffering from really terrible backaches during the illness, which zapped out her energy and made her feel very weak.

In a Twitter post, the host described experiencing 'bad, excruciating' back pain, which she didn't know was a typical symptom of COVID:

"One thing they don't tell you is you get, somehow, excruciating back pain," the talk show host said in the video. "Didn't know that was a symptom, but I talked to some other people—back pain."

Popular English singer and popstar attested that COVID diagnosis was one of the most terrifying ordeals she and her family had to undergo. It was Pink's son who first caught the virus, and subsequently, Pink fell victim to it as well, who also suffers from asthma since a long while.

In a video interview, she said,

“There’s no rhyme or reason to this...this is the scariest thing I’ve ever, ever been through in my whole life.”

Adding that she did not have the typical symptoms, Pink said that it was only when she suffered from respiratory troubles she started to suspect something was bad.