Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has dismissed the fake online report which claimed he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The coronavirus, which originated from Wuhan, China in late 2019, has turned into a globally recognized pandemic, with more than 130 countries currently afflicted with the infectious disease and at least 20 foreign states actively fighting to stop the spread before reaching a point of catastrophe in the infected population. Now, it would seem that the virus is also winding through the United States, with more and more confirmed cases every hour. The pandemic has even reached the entertainment industry, with legendary actor Tom Hanks and his wife both testing positive and putting themselves under quarantine.
But as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread in different communities around the globe, the concern of misinformation and rumor-mongering has also come into attention, the latest victim of which is Daniel Radcliffe, who according to a fake BBC news account, had tested positive for the virus.
The actor was quick to dismiss the rumor, though, and cleared the confusion in a phone interview with the Australian radio show, Smallzy’s Surgery.
“I walked into the hair and makeup room on the play yesterday, and the makeup artist was like, ‘My niece has just texted me and told me you’ve got corona,'” he said. “I was like, ‘What?’ He showed me a tweet, and it was like, ‘Daniel Radcliffe becomes the first famous person to contract coronavirus.
Radcliffe also jokingly said that he looks “ill all the time,” which may explain why the internet trolls chose him:
“I think it’s just because I look ill all the time so you can believably say it about me ’cause I’m very pale,” he continued. “That’s the internet. Flattered they chose me.”
Of course, there’s an abundance of such rumors these days, so people would do well to take them with a grain of salt until solid confirmation from reliable sources. For now, let’s just say that we’re glad the Harry Patter alum is safe and sound.
