Stephen Amell, the Arrow himself, had a battle with COVID-19. The actor known best for portraying Oliver Queen on the CW recently revealed on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast that he tested positive for the virus and his time fighting it was anything but pleasant. The actor had a firm feeling that the symptoms he was experiencing with the COVID-19 virus despite not having gotten a positive test result yet and when the test came back positive, he had some interesting revelations about how this disease could be spreading if not for the precautions and knowledge of it.
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“I started to notice something on a Monday but didn’t have a … test result,” Amell said on the Inside of You podcast. “Phoned up the people at CTEH, had them come to my apartment, test me. Came back positive the following Wednesday, got tested again, came back positive again. But, frankly, at that point I didn’t need a second positive test because those first couple of days, just really … they just, they just sucked.” Prior to catching it, Amell had underwent what he estimated is about “40 negative tests” which built his confidence about not catching the virus with his lifestyle.
Like some others out there, Amell had been confident he would not catch the COVID-19 virus. “Oh, I always knew that it was a possibility, number one, and I felt a great deal of pressure to not get it,” he said. “And this is something that I got into once I got a positive test … a lot of the mental fear … but to answer this … question first, I’ve always been really good about … mask wearing about social distancing, following the rules.”
The issue, he points out, is important to stay informed of. If this were not something which was being paid as much attention as it is, it would be spreading faster than it is. “If this wasn’t called COVID-19, I wouldn’t have missed a day of work,” Amell declared. “I would have felt sh**** on a couple of the days, but I … would not have missed a day of work… I have gone to work feeling worse than, than I did … but then … all you’re dealing with is … a flu where you’re feeling really run down or you’re, you’re injured from a stunt or something.”
Ultimately, Amell hopes people learn from stories like his and put themselves in the best possible position to be safe and avoid the virus.
“Take it from a guy who’s only sense of anxiety and panic has been the concept of contracting COVID, and I’ve never worried about the lethal aspect of it because the numbers suggest that I will get it, and maybe I’ll be asymptomatic or maybe my symptoms will be light, and I will come out the other side and I will be okay, which is what happened,” Amell says. “My anxiety came from the idea that I would be letting hundreds of people down. Right… I didn’t have anxiety about the fact that I would give it to other people, which again I possibly did, which is unsettling in and of itself. But, you have to understand that because of this anxiety, I have actively, actively, actively tried to avoid contracting this virus. And guess what? I f****** got it anyway. So be smart.”
