Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a surprising update on his personal life. He revealed that he and his wife, Lauren, along with their two young daughters all tested positive for Covid-19.
Fortunately, they’ve made it through and are no longer contagious, but it was far from an easy experience.
“This has been one of the most challenging and difficult things we have ever had to endure as a family— and for me personally, as well,” Johnson said. While he’s been through a lot in his life and career, the fact that his family was affected was “a real kick in the gut.”
“We are counting our blessings right now, because we are well aware that it’s not always that case that you get on the other end of Covid-19 stronger and healthier,” he said. In his case, the silver lining is that his two young daughters had mild cases of the virus, but he and Lauren weren’t as lucky. “We had a rough go, but we got through it.”
His announcement comes at a time of uncertainty in a pandemic that’s been gripping the world for months now. Many U.S. states are starting to loosen restrictions on things like indoor dining and gyms, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods just yet. At this point, the U.S. has tracked more than 6 million cases and more than 184,000 deaths, according to the CDC’s data tracker. That includes nearly 300,000 cases in the past week alone.
Johnson explained that they got Covid-19 from very close family friends who are “devastated” that they infected him and his family. The Johnsons isolated themselves as a family right away to mitigate the spread before it got out of control.
He and his family have been disciplined about quarantining since March, and he now urges everyone to be extremely careful even when seeing close friends and family who have been quarantining in a different household.
“Even if you know them and trust them and they’ve been quarantining like you guys, you still never know,” he said.
He recommended a few actionable steps based on the experience he had being infected with the virus, with the first initiative being to prevent infection altogether. For his part, he’s implementing some increasingly strict new rules in his household, including having people get tested the day before coming over to make sure it’s safe.
Johnson also feels that a strong immune system was a key aspect of his family getting through the virus, so his second piece of advice is to do everything you can to boost yours.
“One of the things we can all do is just do everything we can to boost our immune system— antioxidants, taking our vitamins, staying hydrated,” Johnson said, “It goes back to a philosophy I have in my own two hands. It’s, ‘we’ve got to control the controllables.'”
And for his final piece of advice, Johnson begged fans to wear their masks to protect both themselves and others. He acknowledged that despite the way mask use has been politicized, it’s a simple, fact-based action everyone can take to stay safe.
“Wear your mask,” he said. “It is a fact, and it is the right thing to do and it’s the responsible thing to do not only for yourself, but your family and your loved ones, and also for your fellow human beings.”
Thankfully, Johnson and his family have made it through and are healthy once again, but he hopes that sharing his experience and the measures he’s continuing to take to stop the spread will encourage fans to follow suit and work to prevent the spread of Covid-19. If you’re interested in digging deeper than these basics, the CDC offers comprehensive guides and trackers that you can use to stay informed, keep yourself safe, and help stop the spread of Covid-19.
Watch The Rock’s full announcement here on his IGTV:
