In the early days of the pandemic, Tom Hanks announced that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had contracted COVID-19. We followed his battle with the virus, and he openly shared how he was doing and what symptoms he and his wife had.

Not every celebrity wanted to share their battle with COVID-19 while it was happening. For example, it turns out that actress Salma Hayek actually had COVID-19 early in the pandemic as well. She didn’t tell anyone until now.

In a Zoom interview with Variety, Hayek explained that her battle was so serious that she almost died. She shared, “My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad. I said, ‘No, thank you. I’d rather die at home.’”

Thankfully, the star didn’t die, but a year later, she still isn’t 100% better. Her energy level is lower than it used to be.

At the worst, she was quarantined in one room in her home in London for seven weeks. She was so sick that she was even put on oxygen for awhile.

Even though Hayek has less energy than she did before battling COVID-19, she has returned to work. Her latest role is in a Ridley Scott movie called “House of Gucci” which is about the murder of Maurizio Gucci.

Hayek felt that this particular acting role was the perfect way to get back into acting since it was a small role that didn’t require a lot of time on set. She explained, “It was easy. It was the perfect job to just get back into it. I had started doing Zooms at one point, but I could only do so many because I would get so tired.”

Does it surprise you that Salma Hayek battled COVID-19 early in the pandemic and didn’t tell anyone? Do you know anyone who hasn’t fully recovered from COVID-19 a year after first getting the virus?