Gemma Whelan’s husband has battled coronavirus.
The former ‘Game of Thrones’ actress admitted it was "pretty scary" when her spouse Gerry Howell – with whom she has two-year-old daughter Frances – fell ill because there was a point where she worried he would need to be admitted to hospital but thankfully he is now feeling much better.
She said: "It got pretty scary. By day five he was still really unwell and I wondered, ‘Is this the time I need to make a call?’ but thankfully that was the low point."
Gemma, 39, believes both she and Frances were also stricken with a "mild" form of the virus.
She added: "Frances and I had a few days of coughing so I think we’ve also had it but mildly, although none of us has been tested."
The ‘Killing Eve’ actress was grateful for the kindness of neighbours, who ensured her household had what they needed but found it difficult explaining to Frances why she had to stay away from Gerry – who works in patient liaison in London’s Maudsley Hospital – when he was isolating in a spare bedroom.
She told You magazine: "Tracking back it was fairly inevitable that he would have had contact with the virus because he works opposite King’s College Hospital where the first London cases were. He didn’t feel well so he went into the spare room.
"I put trays of food outside the door and neighbours kindly sent us round oranges, vitamin C and paracetamol. But the hardest thing was trying to keep our two-year-old daughter Frances out of his room and telling her that she had to stay away from Daddy."