Rosie Perez had ‘terrifying’ COVID-19 a year ago

Rosie Perez recently recalled her experience with the novel coronavirus, telling Uproxx she contracted the lethal virus a year ago.

The 56-year-old actress, who currently stars in HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” said she “contracted COVID when we flew to Bangkok,” to shoot the new series.

“At that time, they were saying it’s a new respiratory tract infection. It’s a virus that’s going around. We don’t really know what it is and what it does, but it attacks the respiratory system first and then travels to other parts of your body,” Perez explained.

“And I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was terrifying,” she continued. “I remember my manager was with me, and I said, “Tarik, don’t let me die in Bangkok.” And he goes, “Oh my God, you’re scaring me.” And the head of the ICU says, ‘You should be scared, sir. This is serious. We’re going to have to put her in a separate room.'”

As of Tuesday, there have been over 63 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and over 1.4 million deaths, according to John Hopkins.

Perez added how her doctor also advised face protection in the form of a mask.

“I remember the doctor saying to me, ‘The mask that you have on, the mask that I have on, every time you go outside, every time you meet someone wear that mask — not just for you, but to protect them too.’ And I haven’t forgotten it,” she said.

While production on the HBO Max series was impacted — “We had two and a half more episodes to do,” Perez said of the shut down — the Brooklyn native was impressed with the on-set COVID protocols upon her return.

“I was very nervous, but when I got on set, everything was run so efficiently. I was like, ‘This looks like the movie, “Contagion.”‘ It was bizarre. Standing in line for the COVID test, having hair and makeup with the goggles and the face masks, and then the face shields and the blue emergency room gowns. They took every precaution possible,” Perez said. “They were really professional about it, real champs, and put everyone at ease.”

In addition to Perez, other stars have spoken out about their COVID-19 experiences, including Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, and Ben Platt, among others.