Mighty contract COVID-19: Prince Charles, Idris Elba and Tom Hanks among affected
From royalty to politicians, sports personalities and actors, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has not spared anybody, as it continues to hit the high and the mighty across the world.
The European Union's Chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier; the Hollywood star, Tom Hanks; Prince Albert of Monaco and the 71-year-old heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, have all tested positive for COVID-19, as the virus continues its onward march across the globe.
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As governments across the world struggle to contain the spread of the disease, which has so far infected more than 420,000 people globally, royalty, political figures, celebrities and sports personalities are not spared the rampaging effects of the pernicious virus.
The personal doctor of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has also tested positive for the virus, forcing the chancellor to undergo self-quarantine.
Yet the list of celebrity patients grows every day, raising questions about privileged access.
The pandemic has so far spread to at least 170 countries, with the global death toll from the disease surpassing 18,000 as of yesterday
Ghana has stepped up its preventive protocols to curtail the spread of the COVID-19, even though it has recorded 68 confirmed cases so far, with three deaths, out of the 863 people who have been tested so far.
Burkina Faso touched
In neighbouring Burkina Faso, the Foreign Minister, Mr Alpha Barry; the Mines Minister, Mr Oumarou Idani; the Education Minister, Mr Stanislas Ouaro, and the Interior Minister, Mr Simeon Sawadogo, have all tested positive for the COVID-19.
In Nigeria, the influential Chief of Staff, Mr Abba Kyari, has also tested positive.
Mr Kyari, who is in his 70s, is an important figure in President Muhammadu Buhari's government.
Royals affected
The septuagenarian Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, is displaying mild symptoms "but otherwise remains in good health" and is self-isolating on the Balmoral estate, Royal Deeside in Aberdeen in Scotland.
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, has also been tested but does not have the virus.
Prince Albert of Monaco in France has also tested positive.
The titular head of the Mediterranean enclave of Monaco is continuing to work from his private apartments in the Royal Palace.
Political elites
In the field of politics, the US Republican Senator of Kentucky, Mr Rand Paul, became the first US senator to test positive for the virus.
Also in the United States, the Mayor of Miami, Mr Francis Suarez, contracted the COVID-19 on March 13.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, on March 12, tested positive for the COVID-19 following a trip to the United Kingdom.
The wife of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, Begona Gomez, has also tested positive.
Spain is expected to announce a lockdown, as the number of diagnosed cases exceeds 6,000.
A minister in the UK Health Department, Ms Nadine Dorries, was the first British politician to test positive for the COVID-19 on March 10.
The Iranian Vice-President, Mr Massoumeh Ebtekar, is the country’s topmost official to be infected by the virus.
Several other senior government officials, including Mr Iraj Harirchi, Iran’s Deputy Health Minister, are also stricken.
The Australian Home Affairs Minister, Mr Peter Dutton, is currently under quarantine in hospital after contracting the virus.
The French Culture Minister, Franck Riester, is also under quarantine after contracting the virus.
France has imposed a partial lockdown to check the spread of the COVID-19.
The local leader of Spain’s Catalonia Region, Mr Quim Torra, said on March 16 that he had tested positive for the COVID-19.
The Israeli Ambassador to Germany, Mr Jeremy Issacharoff, also tested positive for the COVID-19 on March 17.
Mr Friedrich Merz, 64, who has been campaigning to lead Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at a congress planned for this year, has also contracted the global pandemic.
Celebrities:
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, the popular Hollywood couple, announced on March 11 that they were infected by the coronavirus disease and were placed in quarantine in a Gold Coast hospital in Australia.
The African saxophone legend, Manu Dibango, has died in Paris after catching the COVID-19.
Dibango – best known for his 1972 song ‘Soul Makossa’ – is one of the first global stars to die from COVID-19.
The best-selling Chilean writer, Luis Sepulveda, who lives in northern Spain, is also infected.
Reports said he showed symptoms of the COVID-19 in February, after returning from a literary festival in Portugal.
Olga Kurylenko, the French actress who starred in the Bond movie ‘Quantum of Solace’, announced on March 15 that she had tested positive for the COVID-19.
The British actor and musician, Idris Elba, also tested positive for the COVID-19 on March 16.
In a video posted on Twitter, he said although he had no symptoms, he was isolating himself from others.
Sporting personalities
The Head of Japan’s Football Association, Mr Kozo Tashima, tested positive for the virus on March 17.
Tashima is also the Deputy Head of Japan's Olympic Committee.
Atalanta goalkeeper, Marco Sportiello, also tested positive for the virus on March 24.
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, on March 12, also tested positive.
The 37-year-old was the first in England's Premier League to be diagnosed with the COVID-19.
He has since recovered.