Idris Elba to Oprah on the Pandemic: We Are Forced to Think Together as a Human Race

Ryan Lattanzio
·2 min read

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Last week, actor Idris Elba became the latest celebrity to test positive for COVID-19, despite experiencing no symptoms. He followed Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson as one of the most prominent people, so far, to speak out about their condition amid the ongoing public health crisis — using their global platform that allowed many to take the virus seriously. Now, as part of her new “Oprah Talks” series on Apple TV+, Oprah Winfrey sat down with Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba (via video chat), both of whom tested positive for the virus. Elba told Oprah, however, that there is a silver lining to the current public health issue.

“It is incredible. One of the upsides of this whole drama is that we are forced to think together as a race,” Elba said. His remarks come in response to how drastically everything has changed in the last week alone, now that social-distancing and self-quarantine are the new normal.

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“Our world has been taking a kicking. We damaged our world, and it’s no surprise that our world is reacting to the human race. It’s no surprise that a virus has been created that will slow us down, and ultimately make us think differently about our world, and ourselves. This is almost like the world’s cry-out, like, hey, hey, hey, you’re kicking me. What you’re doing is not good. So [what] any organism would do is try to get rid of an infection, so maybe this is it for the world.”

Watch the clip below, and you can also check out the conversation in full via the “Oprah Talks COVID-19” episode on Apple TV+.

 

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