How Are Selena Gomez and Other Immunocompromised Celebrities Handling the Coronavirus Pandemic?
Hollywood is doing whatever it can to avoid spreading coronavirus (COVID-19), including shutting down productions like Grey’s Anatomy. And though it can’t be avoided, many of those who have gotten it (like Tom Hanks), are doing well. But not everyone can take those kinds of risks. Here’s how celebrities with preexisting conditions, like Selena Gomez, are coping during this time.
Selena Gomez has lupus
Gomez was first diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue within a body, prior to 2015. She underwent chemotherapy and then, in 2017, she had a kidney transplant. The singer and actress has been doing better in recent years, but lupus is not curable.
As of March 19, 2020. Gomez has yet to speak out about how, as an immunocompromised person, she is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. But she did “like” a fan’s remix of her song “Hands to Myself,” in which the lyrics are changed to reflect the importance of social distancing.
Sarah Hyland has kidney dysplasia
Sarah Hyland of Modern Family fame has only recently completed her work on the long-running sitcom. But she’s been dealing with her health issues for many years. Hyland suffers from kidney dysplasia, a condition that has affected her her entire life. She has had multiple kidney transplants, but is facing a lifelong battle.
In a recent podcast episode, as revealed by People, Hyland talked about the stress of being immunocompromised “Say someone gets a 24-hour bug, I get it for a week or more. For me, it’s really dangerous,” she said, adding, “My panic level is pretty high, but I also have a lot of health issues that are very susceptible to stress, so I’m trying to remain calm.”
Hyland is taking the advice of the CDC and health officials everywhere and “staying home.” Along with her fiancé, Wells Adams, she is self-quarantining. “Keep those you cherish safe and home,” she wrote in a March 19, 2020 Instagram post of her and Adams.
Selma Blair and Shannen Doherty have conditions as well
These two close friends (pictured above, with fellow ’90s star Sarah Michelle Gellar), both have conditions that make them immunocompromised. Selma Blair, an actor from such films as Cruel Intentions and (the original) Hellboy, suffers from multiple sclerosis, while former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Shannen Doherty has stage four breast cancer.
Blair first opened up about her condition in late 2018. Multiple sclerosis, also known as M.S., has to do with the nerve cells and is, like the others listed here, an autoimmune disease. Blair hasn’t spoken specifically about her condition, but is encouraging others to be safe, posting on social media about her day-to-day life staying home.
Doherty, meanwhile, was first diagnosed in 2015. She went into remission in 2017, but revealed that the cancer had returned in early 2020. Doherty has been active in posting information about coronavirus, telling people who aren’t practicing social distancing to this of those with compromised immune systems or who have cancer.
