Actor Idris Elba, who has been diagnosed with Wuhan coronavirus, suggested in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey that the global pandemic is Earth’s response to damage inflicted by humanity, which he compared to an infection.

“Our world has been taking a kicking. We’ve damaged our world and, you know, it’s no surprise that our world is reacting to the human race,” the British actor said.

Idris Elba spoke remotely to Oprah Winfrey as part of her new Apple TV+ series Oprah Talks: COVID-19. In the interview, Elba compared mankind to an infection, with the coronavirus as the Earth’s attempt to rid itself of that malady.

“There’s no surprise that a virus has been created that is going to slow us down and ultimately make us think differently about our world and ourselves,” the Luther star said. “That’s like for me, that’s a standout thing that’s very obvious. This is almost like the world’s cry out to like, ‘hey hey hey, you’re kicking me, and what you’re doing is not good. So I’ll get rid of you,’ as any organism would do is try and get rid of an infection and maybe this is it for the world.”

Winfrey concurred with the actor’s insight into the coronavirus.

“I think we all lose as human beings if we just think of this as a physical virus,” Winfrey said. “I think it’s exactly what you just said. That it’s here to teach us, show us something about ourselves as individuals and also as a world of people. And this is a moment for our humanity to either rise or not.”

Idris Elba revealed last week that he has coronavirus, but said that he had no symptoms. “Stay home people and be pragmatic,” he said. The actor’s wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, revealed her own diagnosis on Winfrey’s Apple TV+ show.

Celebrities including Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson; Daniel Dae Kim; Debi Mazar; Olga Kurylenko; and Placido Domingo have said that they contracted the coronavirus.

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