‘Contagion’ Film Consultant Contracts Coronavirus: ‘This Has Become Very Personal for Me’

(Claudette Barius / Warner Bros.)

The subject matter for the film Contagion has hit a little too close to home for the movie's senior technical advisor. Dr. Ian Lipkin, the director for the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University and who served as a medical consultant on the 2011 film, opened up about his diagnosis in an interview with Fox Business

"I would just like to say on this show tonight that this has become very personal to me too because I have COVID as of yesterday and it is miserable," he said after talking about testing for potential treatments. "If it can hit me, it can hit anybody. That's the message I want to convey."

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The interviewer asked Dr. Lipkin if he thinks he knows where he contracted the virus. 

Dr. Ian Lipkin
Fox Business

"I know where I think I got it... but it doesn't matter," he said. "This virus is all over the United States. You can get it anywhere."

Contagion, which stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard, follows a virus outbreak that originates from Asia and is then spread all over the world, taking out a large chunk of the population.

In addition to Lipkin, many stars have been diagnosed with coronavirus, going public with their diagnosis to spread awareness. Watch the clip below for more: 

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