COVID cares not of fame

As the coronavirus roars on, it has shown that even people at the top of the charts are just as susceptible as everyone else in contracting the virus. The same symptoms, the same fear, the same sickness, it is all similar. Among those sick are Kanye West, Tiffany Haddish, Tom Hanks, Robert Pattinson, and now even the President of the United States Donald Trump along with countless others and more to come.

“It’s hard to see everyone be affected by this, even celebrities.” says Jessica Davis, clerk for the city of Arkadelphia. “No one should have to go through that no matter who they are.”

Davis was among the first to contract the virus in early March before information on what was happening came to light. Not only that, but she contracted it again months later. She had a fever, chills, lost the ability to smell and taste, and for a while lost human contact due to the fast spread of the disease both times.

“I’m really not surprised to hear of these famous people getting it,” says Thomas McKim, a computer engineer in Dallas, Texas. “I can’t go back to my office until the first of the year even when I have never had it and I am following all of the guidelines. It’s irritating to see them out and about and with much better treatment than a majority of the people in the world.”

However, there are a handful of celebrities who have contracted the virus but are also using their platform to spread awareness of the dangers that come with it such as Dwanye ‘The Rock’ Johnson. In a video he posted to his Instagram account, he shared with his followers that his family contracted the virus and it has been a challenging experience.

“With my age and health issues I can’t do much now with what’s going on.” says Steve Jordan, a retired resident of Arkadelphia.

Through it all, however, Johnson expressed that this is a teaching moment and wants to be used as an example to wear a mask no matter where someone is from or their situation.

“But I’ll look through the news and read articles and see these celebrities attempting to use their power for good,” Jordan said. “It’s nice. And I hope it works.”