Tom Hanks Details Coronavirus Symptoms, Including “Bad Body Aches”

Days after briefly mentioning his coronavirus diagnosis on last weekend’s remote episode of Saturday Night Live, Tom Hanks is offering more insight into what he went through while quarantined in Australia.

The Oscar-winning actor spoke with “The National Defense Radio Show” Thursday, and said the virus affected him and wife Rita Wilson differently.

“Rita went through a tougher time than I did,” Hanks told host Randy Miller. “She had a much higher fever. She had lost her sense of taste and sense of smell.”

“I had some bad body aches and was very fatigued, and that’s how the COVID-19 went through us,” he said.

Hanks noted that they were isolated in an Australian hospital for three days after they first tested positive.

“The main reason we were isolated was to not give it to anybody else,” he explained. “It was relatively early in Australia’s response to the coronavirus, and they wanted us to not give it to anyone else. That’s why we were in lockdown.”

While undergoing treatment, Hanks said he tried to stay active by doing a 30-minute routine of stretching, floor exercises and “old man kind of things,” but he never made it through the full session. “I was wiped after 12 minutes,” he said.

The radio show brought Hanks on because of his volunteer work with veterans and their families.

Carnival’s Costa Deliziosa Cruise Ship to Let Off Passengers in Genoa

Carnival Corp. will dock one of its last remaining ships stuck at sea in Genoa, Italy, next week, allowing nearly 2,000 guests trapped on board to return home.

The latest development could help bring to a close a dramatic series of weeks for Carnival, which has struggled to find ports to accept some of its ships after the coronavirus pandemic suspended sailing in mid-March. Aside from Costa Deliziosa, only one other Carnival ship is still actively seeking a port where its passengers can disembark.

The cruise ship set sail from Venice in early January for an around-the-world trip. There are currently no Covid-19 cases reported on the ship, Carnival’s Costa Crociere unit said in a statement.

Costa Deliziosa will stop first in Barcelona on April 20, where 168 Spanish nationals on board will be allowed off the ship. Costa Deliziosa will then sail to Genoa where the remaining passengers will disembark.

— With assistance by Jonathan Levin

Maduro Says Elections in Venezuela Not a Priority Amid Virus

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said it would be “irresponsible” to call for National Assembly elections amid the coronavirus outbreak. He spoke in an interview on state television.

• “At this point I really don’t know if there will be elections this year. Because we have this priority and it would be irresponsible of me to say that there must be elections either way.”
• Attending to the coronavirus pandemic and the economy come first, Maduro said.
• Legislative elections are due to be held in 2020 by law but High Court deliberations could rule them out.

Veterans are entitled to free hearing aids through the VA

Readers: As I mentioned a few weeks back, Nano Hearing Aids — nanohearingaids.com — was giving away 24 pairs of hearing aids through this column.

The company is in the process of contacting the people it picked for this giveaway based on their need and their inability to pay for hearing aids on their own. Here is the ninth lucky winner:

Winner 9

Nano: I hope you consider me for a pair of hearing aids in your giveaway promotion.

I am 59 years old and blind. It is important that I have good hearing to help make up for my lack of eyesight.

I have a pretty good HMO, but unfortunately, it does not cover hearing aids. I have been to an audiologist and have been fitted for a pair. But when it came time to purchase them, I couldn’t come up with the money I needed.

You’ll be doing my wife a great favor by providing me with hearing aids as I am constantly annoying her by asking, “What?” LOL.

Anyway, thank you for reading this and for considering me. C.M.

Special note to veterans

A lot of you vets have been asking for the free hearing aids that are being given away. And Nano Hearing Aids has been wonderful in granting as many of those requests as possible, along with giving devices out to non-veterans as well.

But people who have served in the Armed Forces should know that vets are entitled to free hearing aids through the federal Veterans Administration. You can get all the information you need at www.prosthetics.va.gov/psas/hearing_aids.asp. It’s a benefit you are entitled to, so go for it.

Guatemala says 19 more deported migrants test positive for coronavirus

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said on Saturday that 19 more Guatemalans deported from the United States to the Central American nation have tested positive for coronavirus.

Expanded COVID-19 testing welcomed at Alberta care homes despite staffing concerns

As Alberta continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on long-term care facilities, provincial health officials have expanded testing protocols.

Philippines Says It Still Has Monetary Space After Easing Steps

The Philippines still has ample monetary space after recently cutting its key interest rate and approving a policy that effectively reduced the reserve requirement ratio for banks, central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno said.

The new rule allowing banks to count lending to micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises as compliance to the reserve requirement can effectively be seen as “more than a 2 percentage points cut,” in the reserve ratio, Diokno said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel on Sunday.

The central bank lowered its key rate by 50 basis points to 2.75% in an unscheduled move on April 16, bringing this year’s total reduction to 125 basis points. It also slashed the reserve ratio by 2 percentage points earlier this month. The bank has purchased government debt and provided a slew of relief measures to lenders to help them cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

— With assistance by Clarissa Batino, and Cecilia Yap