When I saw that Daniel Dae Kim had an over ten minute video revealing his coronavirus diagnosis I assumed I would watch two minutes of it, feel bad and go on with my day. Instead I sat there, mesmerized, wanting to make him soup, tea and basically wait on him hand and foot. To be clear he’s not that sick anymore but I would still do so much for that man. I also came away from it feeling better about this horrible situation and thinking he would make an amazing politician.
Daniel revealed that he was feeling poorly with a mild fever and pressure in his chest after returning to Hawaii when the production shut down on his show New Amsterdam, filmed in NY City. He’s been home since last Sunday. He sequestered himself in another area of his home, separate from his family. There’s drive through testing available in his area so he took a test and continued to self isolate. He found out three days later it was positive. He felt better after taking the treatment for it (he doesn’t specify which medication he took) and is on the mend. Luckily none of his family caught it! They all got tested from the same facility and came back negative. I can’t do this justice so please watch his video above if you have the time. (You know you have the time.)
Yesterday I tested positive for COVID-19. For the past several weeks I was in NY shooting a role on a TV series where, ironically, I play a doctor who gets recruited to a hospital to help patients during a flu pandemic. [I went] back to Hawaii and to my family [when production stopped].
How he noticed he was sick and got a diagnosis
It’s important for you guys to know I was asymptomatic during all this time. As the flight was close to landing I started noticing some scratchiness in my throat. My family doctor told me to monitor my symptoms. To be safe, when I got home I quarantined myself and tried to rest on my own. Later that night I started feeling tightness in my chest, body aches and my temperature started to rise. He told me to get tested. The next day I went to a drive through testing facility that had just opened in Honolulu. They told me they would have my test results in three days. In the mean time my doctor prescribed some medication and I went straight home. That was the only time I left my house.I never went to the hospital but with the help of medication, bedrest, liquids and my loving family I didn’t need to. I actually started feeling better the day after. Today even though I’m not 100% I’m pretty close. Thankfully for me it wasn’t a matter of life and death.
He worried people would think he got special treatment
I debated about actually publicly talking about my diagnosis. Because I’ve read some backlash against those who did, saying they got special treatment. Let me just say, I never asked for or expected special treatment. I believe that healthcare for all is a right not a privilege. Not just healthcare but quality healthcare. I was fortunate and I’m grateful.He decries the violence against Asian Americans
Please stop the prejudice and senseless violence against Asian people. Randomly beating elderly sometimes homeless Asian Americans is cowardly, heartbreak and it’s inexcusable. Yes I’m Asian and yes I have coronavirus, but I did not get it from China I got it in America. And despite what certain political leaders want to call it, I don’t consider the place where it’s from as important as the people who are sick and dying. The point is, the name calling gets us nowhere. When people are ill what matters most is to take care of ourselves and one another.
Daniel also chastised young people and told everyone to follow the guidelines. He thanked his doctors and he thanked healthcare providers “on the frontline of this fight” for risking their lives. Plus he thanked “everyone who continues to work at grocery stories, and pharmacies, airlines, taxis and ridesharing cars” and told them they’re “the glue that is keeping us together.” He apologized to everyone he came in contact with, told people to patronize local businesses and thanked his family and fans. I love him! Ok so now I have another show to binge! Also his words on the violence and prejudice against Asian Americans were fire. I could watch this on a loop all day.
Oh no I accidentally downloaded too many photos of him. It’s Friday bitches.
Photos credit: Avalon.red and WENN
Not really about Daniel Dae Kim, but I’m in Canada and our testing guidelines are different than in the US, but why are so many celebs and pro athletes who are asymptomatic getting tested when “normal” people with symptoms aren’t? Are the tests reserved only for people with insurance?
Lala,
I went to see my MD for my bi annual checkup and we had a conversation about this and yes, it would have something to do with insurance and paying for it.
One, at the time of my visit she was not able to access test yet and is trying because pretty much all of her clients are over 65 and on Medicare/Medicaid.
But, with my insurance, which is alright, I will have access to it before her senior clients because I can pay for it (co pay and my claim would be paid hella quick).
She told me to keep in touch if I am feeling some kind of way (I have severe allergies and thankful she gave me a script that is keeping those symptoms at bay and I can focus on if I have any signs of COVID-19) but so far so good and I am avoiding it because I know who most of her client base is and if push comes to shove I will just call around and see if I can find a test.
In that instance, I am privileged. Many of the elderly are not. Which is why it boils my damn blood seeing those barely legal morons on the beaches in Florida.
Tiffany, you should double-check with your insurance before you pay anything. Many payers are waiving cost-share for testing.
@EB, they are covering it. We got a company wide email about it.
I have great insurance, and I didn’t get a test at first. I think it’s more of a case of doctors willing to bend over backwards for the famous and well-connected.
At least among basketball players I assume it’s because there were some early cases, and basketball is a sport where the players are literally in each other’s faces with tons of body contact. Athletes more than others, I suppose, are in very close contact with each other through workouts and games.
Could celebs be buying the tests from overseas?
I have no idea, but it’s all par for the course. And Senators profiting from an epidemic. Disgusting.
They travel more for work than your average job and are more likely to come in contact with people who are also traveling a lot. So, there is more reason to suspect they might have it than someone who hasn’t been traveling much and/or doesn’t know anyone who has been traveling. Like the case with Sophie Trudeau possibly infecting Idris Elba. He didn’t need to be sick to know he had been exposed. That world is pretty small. So, it’s easier to figure out when you might have been exposed.
Or Idris Elba possibly infecting Sophie Gregoire Trudeau
In my state, it’s a shortage of testing supplies. The governor put out a call to researchers and dentists and labs for swabs and other materials. Without the basics, they have to limit testing. And no support from the feds to get these crucial things. It’s terrible.
It used to mostly be about if you had known exposure, or earlier on, the availability of tests based on your symptoms. The virus is expanding more rapidly than testing, so…
He states quite clearly that he went to a drive-thru testing facility–anybody can do that; he also states he had symptoms.
In California, where we have one of the largest numbers of cases in the US, it’s not about insurance or payment but the lack of supplies. My understanding is that the tests hit a bureaucratic mess of laws because it’s new. Some of the kits sent by the CDC to various labs did not meet the rigorous standards for new tests, so those labs didn’t use or reproduce the kits they were sent. This created an initial shortage that has only backed up as things progressed.
For now, they are not testing people who are asymptomatic (because there aren’t enough to test literally everyone) unless a member of the household is confirmed positive. This may not be the case all over California (big state), but that’s what’s happening in my area. As more tests are distributed, the intention is to have them available to everyone, on demand, at no cost. I haven’t seen that happen, but that is what we (my husband and I) have been told.
Right now, they are testing symptomatic people & having everyone shelter in place.
He’s so handsome, with such an honest face. This made me sad. I’m glad he is OK now
I love how he begins it by saying he looks bad! No, DDK, you do NOT look bad at all.
RIGHT ??!!!!
I was like, ‘I don’t get it. Are you making a funny?. 🙂
He’s wonderful, I have just loved him since Lost. I always root for him to get good roles and I’m glad he spoke out. He’s just a gem.
Speaking of Lost, I was just thinking that he has not aged a day since then, he looks greatttttt. Good genes, good personality shining through.
Yeah, I always had the hots for him when Lost was on.
Also, of course celebs and rich people will get priority over us peasants. Same as it ever was.
He’s beautiful inside and out.
Why are my men (he and Idris) getting infected? Who is trying to kill my husbands?!!😩😭😭
I like DDK a lot, very sorry to hear he’s been ill, and I appreciate what he said here. I’m also really glad he smartly quarantined himself away from his family, which had to be tough considering he was away for work for a while too. He’s fortunate to have had access to the drive through testing. They’re trying to do one near me but it’s not up and running yet.
I’ve seen several people say it started with a scratchy throat, which keeps making me so nervous, I’ve had a scratchy throat for like 2 weeks now. I’m 99% sure it’s allergies or a mild cold, because I haven’t had any chest tightness or fever, but every time it feels bad, I have a little mini panic attack. Thankfully I haven’t really been out much at all, and when I do I’m extremely careful. The best advice I’ve seen is don’t act like you could get it, act like you HAVE it and prevent giving it to others.
I am the same. I’m WFH and have been taking conference calls outside to get some fresh air and watching tree pollen rain down. I am 99% certain my slightly scratchy throat and slightly tight chest are from allergies (I have mild asthma) as I get these symptoms every year around this time. But still there is that 1% nagging doubt. Stay well everyone!
Me, too, with the allergies. Take an expectorant for tightness of the chest. I havent seen any shortages, so it should be easy to get.
lucy2, I hear you on your mini panic attacks. My son and I both had scratchy throats, which developed into runny noses and coughs. No fevers, no shortness of breath. I’m fine but my son’s cough is persisting even after 3 weeks, which is scaring the crap out of me because he was hospitalized with pneumonia a few years ago. We have drive thru testing in our area but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t qualify. These are scary times. Hang in there.
Hey you guys, I also started with a sore throat…but in my case i was travelling back from Madrid, I had the regular flu symptoms, nothing to worry about, well I just founf out I have the virus, but it’s ok, most people won’t get bad symptoms, but we do need to do the quarantine and avoid contact with more vulnerable people.
That’s the best we can do, so let’s be positive 🙂
Ugh, same with slightly sore throat and vaguely sometimes runny nose. My chest is fine except whenever I read the words “tightness of chest” or “difficulty breathing” and then I suddenly forget how to breathe, lol. My kids have had varying things wrong with them in the past month and it’s honestly hard to tell where one virus ends and another begins. I really wish we could all know if we either have it or had it but without major symptoms so we could stop panicking at every throat tickle.
Someone who has it told my friend (who then told me) that her earliest symptoms included not only a scratchy throat and fever, but also a pretty bad headache.
What a wonderful, sweet, kind, caring, funny, compassionate, dream of a man. That is a great video, all the way through to the end.
How are all these guys getting tests?? Can they share their secrets? I don’t think it’s special treatment but our state is so behind I’m jealous. The mobile centers here still don’t take a lot of people.
I had a friend all yesterday try to get tested. They got the royal runaround. No tests in their part of NJ. They had to do a tele-conference with a doctor at midnight and yes, they have all the symptoms and have a job which puts them at contact with large amounts of travellers. They were told to stay home but could not get a test.
At home with their 80 y.o. mother who has had cancer twice. The government is broken. Vote out the bonehead in the WH in November.
Sounds like he went through the normal/recommended process of getting a doctor’s order for the test. He said he didn’t get special treatment, didn’t expect it, and was mortified to imagine that people would think he did.
That was a truly lovely sentiment. As an Asian-American in this racist hellscape, he’s opened himself up to a lot of nonsense from idiots with this video. Brave. Feel better soon, you gorgeous gorgeous man. Lookin all hot with that goatee…
Soooooo I’m gonna be purely superficial here. Sure, the video displays an intelligent, emotionally intelligent, and articulate man. But also? Wow …. Face. Voice. Shoulders.
I’ve never seen him in anything before and that CLEARLY has to change.
On a more important note, I’m glad he’s getting better and his family is ok. I hope testing becomes more widely available in the States and other countries where it isn’t, and I hope his voice helps turn that around.
But back to being superficial … What’s the best thing he’s been in? What should I binge while I practice social distancing?
Lost. He was in Lost. And Hawaii 5-0
Thanks! I’ve heard that Lost ended badly. Is it worth it for the ride?
Skip the last couple of seasons. Kinda went off the rails.
I loved Lost, although I may be in the minority who thought the ending was fine. The last couple seasons were a bit crazy but I happily stuck with it because I had come to feel like I knew the characters so well. I then watched the whole thing again with my son and was happy to see that it held up. I am actually feeling nostalgic for it right now, tbh.
He only has a brief part in Always Be My Maybe on Netflix but that is awesome and you should watch it. He’s been in a lot of TV shows. I’ve heard that Hawaii 5-0 was decent. Let’s see where you can watch that. It’s only on CBS All Access damn.
Always Be My Maybe is on my list! Will give it a whirl this weekend. Thanks!
It is so much fun!
He is also the producer of The Good Doctor and makes appearances on that show.
The first few seasons of Lost, maybe. He was on five or six seasons of Hawaii 5-0, also. Gorgeous scenery and not just the actors.
I would recommend Lost. It was a great ride and heck, what else do we have to do? The character development was very, very well done.
Lost was filmed in Hawaii and I kind of love how many cast members now live in Hawaii. I suppose it would be easy to develop a love for that place.
Interestingly, Evangeline Lilly was also on Lost. I wonder if her cavalier attitude towards this virus has anything to do with Daniel’s post. He certainly countered her foolishness beautifully.
Oh, and um yum. I would like to social distance with that human. Am I right? XO Handsome and well spoken. Whew. XO
The first few seasons of Hawaii 5-0 were great fun.
I liked that Alex Loughlin and Scott Caan were about the only Caucasians in the main cast. Otherwise, it was pretty diverse.
He and Grace Park quit because of lack of pay equity among the cast. I would have fired incredibly annoying Caan idiot to keep them both.
He was in one of my favourite episodes of Star Trek Voyager back in the day! Still looks exactly the same, 20 years later.
Those cheekbones don’t age.
He is a class act.
What a great video. I’ve never heard of him before, but I’m impressed.
My best friend who lives several states away from me is NOT practicing social distancing. She’s 71 and continues to meet with people for things that really aren’t urgent. We’ve had some discussions and she’s ticked off at me. She’s being as idiotic as these people flocking to the Florida beaches.
My dumb azz brother went to a movie last night! Wtf!
@JOANNA-all of the movie theaters in my area are closed…wtf?!?!
Where are my fellow CBers getting your CV19 news nowadays? I am in California and yesterday the Governor ordered a shelter in place for the next month, and the only place I could find this news within the hour was on Facebook (and they got it from Buzzfeed). I am trying to get my news from reputable sources, but places like the BBC aren’t local and don’t have news on my state or region. Further, I really need balanced sources and not rumors or fear-mongering, but also breaking news (and these two seem to be in conflict with each other quite a bit). Where do y’all get your news?
Your local and state Public Health agencies are the primary sources for everyone and for the media too.
Wash post, NY Times have lifted paywalls for CV coverage.
More depth on policy and science, the Atlantic and STAT News.
But bookmark Public Health. They’re there for you and they know communication is part of the job.
And of course support local journalism.
You can also set up a Google alert for COVID 19 + (your location)
@who, this is great advice. Thank you.
Almost all of what I get is from sources shared on FB. It’s not ideal but at least the Miami Herald and others have lifted their paywalls for now. I try to hunt down backup sources for my information as much as possible.
I work in media, and I would say Twitter is the best for news. You’ll often hear about breaking news there before news outlets cover it, and you will find links to reputable news sources on there. I follow Gov. Newsom (and he actually follows me back, to my surprise!) on Twitter as well as L.A. Mayor Garcetti. They live stream their press conferences. You might want to follow the closest big city mayor to you, like London Breed in San Francisco, if you don’t live in SoCal. Also, TV station websites like ABC7 in L.A. are helpful for breaking news but not anything too deep. I would also say the L.A. Times, but you’ll need a subscription because they’re not making the bulk of their coronavirus coverage free like the NYT is. To be honest, I read the NYT more than the LAT. I also read papers like the South China Morning Post.
@wtw, thank you for this. I’m in Orange County, so while LA is the closest big outlet, the county declarations are sometimes different. I’m not on Twitter, but maybe this is the impetus.
I have come back to read this article twice. He is SO gorgeous.
It’s nice to see a celebrity doing the responsible thing and staying home, especially given that he’s tested positive. I haven’t watched anything with him in it but I’m sure I’ll make it a point to during this quarantine.
I love that he says excuse my appearance as if he doesn’t look more gorgeous than ever. If that’s his bad day then dang. I’m glad he is at home and I wish him the absolute best in recovery.
I’m about 99% sure i have this nasty Coronavirus too. I’m going to be getting tested later today. I’ve been sick for 3 days, and it’s been horrible. At times i’ve felt like i couldn’t breathe and it was terrifying. I’m waiting to hopefully start feeling better but so far i just keep getting worse. I have 2 kids, including a 1-year-old, and i’m very scared of leaving them. Of course i’ve been quarantined in the house.
I’ve loved Daniel as an actor since “Lost” and he’s also been one of my main celebrity crushes for the past 15 years. I’m glad he seems like as decent a person as i had always hoped he was, and am happy he’s doing better!
Sending you good thoughts!
@k-peace, how scary this must be for you. I’m so sorry. I imagine it’s also really hard to care for a one-year-old with the illness, panic, and fear. Please take care and keep us updated. I’ll be thinking about you and sending good energy your way today.
Please keep us updated, K-Peace. Take care.
Hoping it’s just a bad flu… Take care of yourself!!
Coronavirus will be another crystal-clear example of how racism operates in this country. Calling it the “China Virus” is really nothing but racism if you consider Europe is the current epicenter of the epidemic and that’s where most countries nowadays are importing it from (in fact, the current new cases in China aren’t local, but imported from there). And it’s also important to notice that, even if the virus originated there, it’s Asians who are giving the rest of the world a lesson on how the virus is supposed to be fought, and Europe is teaching people about the mistakes you’re not supposed to make.
Italy’s biggest mistake? Taking this seriously way too late, ignoring how vulnerable they are because of their huge elderly population. Florida’s making the same mistake and is headed in the same direction. In Italy’s defense, nobody knew just how serious the virus was back then. Florida has no defense, and it breaks my heart to think what’ll happen there will stem from nothing but selfishness.
DDK is my forever bae. Every single thing he says, always, is wonderful. I totally encourage any cber who doesn’t want to be disappointed in their crush to look at DDK.
I hope he gets more work after this, he’s underrated, as both a social activist and actor.
Such a beautiful human being! I am glad he shared his views – he has a platform with his celebrity that can hopefully raise some awareness to stop using the racial slurs and misinformation about this virus. He isn’t obligated to, but chose to be open and real. I so admire that.
He’s definitely on my radar after this.
I don’t understand. I think I need more pictures. Preferably without a shirt.
😀
He’s got Obama energy that is instantly reassuring. Calm, intelligent and reflective – not reactive, defensive or aggressive. Glad he seems pretty well, considering.
He does. I get tears in my eyes at the mere sight of Obama. Tearing up now watching this.
Celebitchy, there is no such thing as too many pictures of this man.
Can I be entirely superficial for a moment and *sigh* 😍😍
What a mensch! I didn’t know who he was before today, but he’s on my radar now!
<3 My new celebrity crush!