President Donald Trump reportedly was saved from mistakenly tweeting that the actor Tom Hanks had died from the novel coronavirus.

The president's diplomats had misunderstood reports that Hanks had been "discharged" from the hospital, according to the Australian newspaper The Courier-Mail.

US Embassy officials checked with the Australian authorities to clear up their confusion over Hanks' health, and confirmed that he was in fact still alive.

"It turns out that the President nearly exaggerated Tom Hanks' death," a source told the paper.

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President Donald Trump was saved from mistakenly tweeting that Tom Hanks had died from the novel coronavirus after his diplomatic staff misunderstand reports about the actor being "discharged" from an Australian hospital, according to the newspaper The Courier-Mail.

Hanks last week announced that both he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had contracted COVID-19 while he was in Australia filming Baz Luhrmann's coming movie about Elvis Presley.

There was apparently confusion in the White House, however, when officials informed Trump that the actor had been "discharged" from the hospital.

According to The Courier-Mail, officials feared Trump was preparing to tweet about Hanks' health before Australia-based US Embassy officials contacted the Australian health authorities and confirmed that the actor was in fact still alive.

A health official in Queensland, Australia, reportedly assured US officials that Hanks was alive and recovering from COVID-19.

"It turns out that the President nearly exaggerated Tom Hanks' death," a source told the paper.

There were 607 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia as of Thursday morning. Over half of the cases were in the coastal state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that starting Friday anyone who isn't a citizen or resident of Australia or a family member of a citizen or resident will be barred from entering the country.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Trump had to be stopped from tweeting that Hanks had died. In fact, it was Trump's diplomatic officials who were afraid he might have tweeted that, based on their confusion about what "discharged" meant, according to the Courier-Mail report. The officials, once armed with the correct information, saved Trump from making a mistake, the paper said.