To say that fans of actress, Zainab Balogun, were shocked when she took to her social media page to disclose that she tested positive for COVID-19 towards the end of 2020, would be an understatement. The ‘Royal Hibiscus’ actress told Saturday Beats that she was shocked as well. She said, “I was extremely shocked when I got the results. I was convinced that I didn’t have COVID-19 but decided to take the test in solidarity with a friend who was not feeling well. I assumed the symptoms I had, such as a cough, were related to my seasonal asthma and allergies. The coronavirus was the last thing I thought I had.”

Sharing her isolation experience, ‘The Wedding Party’ actress noted that she spent Christmas and New Year away from her family. “After testing positive for the virus two days before Christmas, I immediately isolated myself from my family. Thankfully, they all tested negative. It was really a lonely experience without normal interactions. I spent Christmas and New Year away from my family, and that was very hard,” she said.

Balogun also stated that she wanted people to take the virus more seriously, and that was why she shared her experience on social media. She added, “I am familiar with the nonchalant attitude that many people still have about the virus. There are too many talks of it not being real. I want to lend my voice to clarify some of those rumours and encourage people to take the pandemic seriously. I know of at least 15 people who died from COVID-19, and that changes my perspective greatly.

“Unfortunately, people often fail to believe until it hits close to home. COVID-19 is not fake. The number of people dying is not fake. The numbers in the morgue don’t lie. The virus has no preference for rich or poor. It is neither malaria nor a simple cough/cold. We have a responsibility to ourselves and families to be safe and take things seriously. We should not wait for it to get close to home.”