Actor Kristofer Hivju, the Game of Thrones star best known for portraying fan favorite character Tormund Giantsbane, is the latest famous person to be diagnosed with COVID-19. On his official Instagram account, the Norwegian actor broke the news to his followers, revealing he'd just tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus. Posting a photo of himself alongside his wife from their home in Norway, Hivju relayed this message to his followers in the caption of the post.

"Verified Greetings from Norway! Sorry to say that I, today, have tested positive for COVID19, Corona virus. My family and I are self-isolating at home for as long as it takes. We are in good health - I only have mild symptoms of a cold. There are people at higher risk for who this virus might be a devastating diagnosis, so I urge all of you to be extremely careful; wash your hands, keep 1,5 meters distance from others, go in quarantine; just do everything you can to stop the virus from spreading. Together we can fight this virus and avert a crisis at our hospitals."

Kristofer Hivju also goes on to recommend people visit the official websites for their respective countries' Center of Disease Control, which offers various guidelines and recommendations for people to stay safe and avoid the spread of the virus. The Game of Thrones star also stresses how the elderly and people with pre-existing medical conditions are especially at risk, so even those of us feeling healthy should still practice all forms of social distancing for the foreseeable future. Whether you personally fear the virus or not, the fact is you very well may have it without even knowing it, spreading it further into your community and potentially bringing serious harm to the most vulnerable of us.

Last week, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus while working on a movie in Australia. After spending several days in isolation, the acting couple has since left the hospital to continue their recovery at home. This week, Quantum of Solace star Olga Kurylenko revealed her own coronavirus diagnosis as well, telling her fans on Instagram she had quarantined herself at home. On Monday, Idris Elba tested positive for the virus.

As more and more celebrities continue to reveal they've contracted the coronavirus, it becomes more apparent just how widely the contagion is spreading. For some people, it may have been easy to write off the seriousness of the illness as no one they knew had been diagnosed with it. Now that many of our favorite stars are picking up the virus in various places in the world, it may just be a matter of time before many people we know personally start getting the sickness as well. Worse yet, given the rapid spread, there's a good chance many people we know personally might be carrying the virus, totally unaware of what's in their body.

It's not clear when or where Hivju picked up the virus, but the actor had reportedly been cast in season 2 of The Witcher for Netflix just last month. That series has since shut down along with many other productions in the interest of safety. If Hivju had been on the set recently to film his scenes for the series, then it would obviously be wise for all of the cast and crew from that production to get themselves tested as well. This news comes to us from Kristofer Hivju on Instagram.