Rita Wilson opens up on COVID-19 battle, says 'chloroquine had extreme side effects'

Rita Wilson shared exactly how she was feeling as she and her 60-year-old husband Tom Hanks battled the novel virus in quarantine in Australia. Wilson shared that her fever subsided after taking chloroquine, but it "had extreme side effects."

Washington D.C: American actor Rita Wilson and her husband Tom Hanks were the first celebrities to reveal they tested positive for the coronavirus last month. Now, Wilson has opened up in greater detail about the couple's symptoms and their experience with the controversial drug chloroquine.

According to Fox News, 60-year-old singer Wilson conducted her first interview post-coronavirus on Tuesday morning's episode of CBS' The Talk with Gayle King.

The Hip Hop Hooray songstress shared exactly how she was feeling as she and her 60-year-old husband Hanks battled the novel virus in quarantine in Australia.

Wilson detailed her symptoms to King, "I was very tired. I felt extremely achy. Uncomfortable, didn't want to be touched and then the fever started. Chills like I've never had before. Looking back, I realise I was also losing my sense of taste and smell which I didn't realise at the time."

Wilson shared her fever reached its highest temperature about nine days following her positive test results. "I think it got close to 102," she said.

The Let Me Be singer revealed that she was given chloroquine, a drug that has been used to prevent and treat malaria that is being studied as a possible coronavirus treatment.

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Wilson shared that her fever subsided after taking the medicine, but she's not sure if it's the reason it went away. She explained, "I can only tell you that I don't know if the drug worked or if it was just time for my fever to break, but my fever did break. But the chloroquine had extreme side effects."

The Angel of Morning songstress shared that after being treated with chloroquine, she felt "completely nauseous" and suffered from vertigo.

She said that she couldn't walk and her muscles felt very weak. The star added, "I think people have to be very considerate about that drug. We don't really know if it's helpful in this case."

She admitted that her husband, Hanks experienced "milder symptoms," and "He didn't have as high of a fever. He did not lose his sense of taste or smell, but it still took us the same time to get through it."

The pair reportedly spent five days in a Queensland, Australia, hospital before remaining in isolation for weeks. Following their recovery, the duo was spotted for the first time at their Los Angeles home in late March.

Wilson confirmed that while she and Hanks still do not know for sure where or from whom they contracted the virus, they've learned they were both exposed to it "at the same time."

The New Girl songstress and Hanks were in Australia when their tests for the novel virus came back positive.

The Forrest Gump star Hanks had been in the land down under filming an upcoming Elvis biopic before director Baz Luhrmann suspended filming.

"All I can say is all of our close contacts, family, our work team, no one has tested positive," Wilson added.

With inputs from ANI