Daniel Dae Kim has tested positive for coronavirus.
The 51-year-old South Korean-American actor is best known for playing Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost, as well as from roles in Hawaii Five-O and Angel. Kim recently joined the cast of NBC’s New Amsterdam and had been filming in New York City in recent weeks. Ironically enough, his role on New Amsterdam is that of a doctor who helps patients during a flu pandemic.
Kim said he first felt minor symptoms while on a flight from New York to Hawaii last week. He immediately began self-isolating himself, but after experiencing more concerning symptoms, including a fever, tightness in his chest, and other body aches, a doctor recommended that Kim go to a drive-thru testing site in Honolulu. His results came back positive for COVID-19.
“With the help of medication, bed rest, liquids, and my loving family,” Kim is now on the mend.
In an Instagram video, Kim encouraged “teenagers and millennials who think this is not serious” to reconsider their perspective. “If you treat this without care, you are potentially endangering the lives of millions of people, including your loved ones,” he said. “So for the sake of everyone else, please follow the guidelines: socially distance, self-isolate, stop touching your face, and of course, wash your hands.”
Kim also denounced the increased prejudiced and senseless violence against Asian people in response to the coronavirus. “Yes, I’m Asian. Yes, I have coronavirus. But I did not get it from China. I got it in America — in New York City. 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,” he added. “When people are ill, what matters most is how best to take care of ourselves and one another.”
