Dead, ill, cured: celebrities hit by coronavirus

PARIS: From world leaders and royalty to musicians, sports stars and actors, the coronavirus has hit millions around the world, including the rich and famous. Here is a roundup of high-profile figures who have died, been infected by or cured of COVID-19.

- Deceased –

Jazz great Ellis Marsalis died on April 1 aged 85 after contracting the virus. Veteran Afro-jazz star Manu Dibango, 86, and revered American playwright Terrence McNally, 81, both died on March 24, following coronavirus complications. Senegal´s Pape Diouf, 68, ex-president of French football club Olympique de Marseille, died March 31 in Dakar. Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz died March 21, aged 76. Former Republic of Congo president Jacques Joachim Yhombi Opango died in France on March 30, aged 81. Mahmud Jibril, former head of the Libyan rebel government that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, died April 5.

- In hospital –

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital on April 5 and is battling the virus in intensive care after his diagnosis on March 27. Marianne Faithfull, 73, a 1960s icon and celebrated singer songwriter, was hospitalised in London on April 4 after testing positive. Chilean author Luis Sepulveda, 70, has been hospitalised in Spain after first showing symptoms on February 25.

- Infected –

Michel Barnier, who leads the EU´s negotiations with Britain on Brexit, announced March 19 that he had the virus and is now recovering at home. Britain´s Prince Charles tested positive and completed seven days in self-isolation, in line with British government advice, but is isolating another week as a precaution. Prince Albert II of Monaco, who had tested positive, came out of quarantine on March 31. Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actress and singer Rita Wilson, have recovered and returned home to Los Angeles after being quarantined for two weeks in Australia. British actor Idris Elba, who tested positive but was asymptomatic, announced the end of his isolation March 31. Nobel laureate and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari has contracted the virus. In Italy several football players at Juventus are infected, including France´s 2018 World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi, asymptomatic but in quarantine, and Argentinian attacker Paulo Dybala, who said March 27 he felt “much better”. Former AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini and his footballer son Daniel are also positive. American business tycoon and New York Knicks owner James Dolan has also tested positive. In England, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tested positive on March 12 and is now recovered. Among the 14 NBA basketball players who have tested positive, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Christian Wood and Marcus Smart have since said they have recuperated. Spanish opera star Placido Domingo, 79, who had tested positive and been hospitalised in Mexico, was released March 30 and is being treated at home.

- In isolation... just in case –

On April 2 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu re-entered precautionary quarantine after Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, a leading member of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, tested positive. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has remained in isolation though his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, who had tested positive, is now recovered.