Sean Penn tests positive for COVID-19

Sean Penn has been tested positive for the novel virus. The 59-year-old star was at the free Malibu testing site set up by his organisation CORE (Community Organised Relief Effort).

Los Angeles: Actor Sean Penn was spotted getting tested for coronavirus with a nasal swab here.

The 59-year-old star was at the free Malibu testing site set up by his organisation CORE (Community Organised Relief Effort), according to sources.

He kept his backpack on as he leaned back in an outdoor chair to be tested by a staff member in a mask, gloves, face shield and hazmat suit.

CORE, which Penn founded in 2010 to help with earthquake relief in Haiti, is now collaborating with LA Mayor Eric Garcetti to combat the ongoing health crisis. The non-profit's goal is to establish free drive-in testing sites in Los Angeles, working with both the mayor and fire department, according to USA Today.

Penn's goal is to "save lives and alleviate depletion of resources" with the program. He himself works at the testing site in Malibu where he lives.

READ |Sean Penn to run coronavirus testing centre

"We have an infrastructure in place to respond, and so we decided that we would if we could be value added. It's something that we can adapt to very quickly with the training of the Los Angeles Fire Department initially. And then we're able to take all those firemen and put them back in to serve the people in the way that we need them to," he said last week.

From IANS inputs.