Rosie Perez reveals she caught COVID-19 back in December

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While COVID-19 didn’t start to ravage most of the United States until March, Rosie Perez revealed she caught the virus back in December.

The 56-year-old actress was flying to Bangkok, Thailand to film her new HBO Max series The Flight Attendant, when she caught the virus, she revealed in a new interview for Uproxx. 

She said the whole experience was ‘terrifying,’ and recalled even telling her manager, ‘don’t let me die in Bangkok.’

Early case: While COVID-19 didn’t start to ravage most of the United States until March, Rosie Perez revealed she caught the virus back in December’

HBO shut down production in March, with in the middle of the show’s sixth episode (of eight).

‘I had contracted COVID when we flew to Bangkok. And 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 began.

‘And I was like, “Oh my God.” It was terrifying. 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.” 

Contracted: 'I had contracted COVID when we flew to Bangkok. And 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 began

Contracted: ‘I had contracted COVID when we flew to Bangkok. And 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 began

She added the ‘head of the ICU told them, ‘You should be scared, sir. This is serious. We’re going to have to put her in a separate room.” Because it was new. [This] was in December.”

Perez added that the doctor’s warning about wearing a mask every time you go outside is something she never forgot. 

‘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.

Scared: She added the 'head of the ICU told them, 'You should be scared, sir. This is serious. We’re going to have to put her in a separate room." Because it was new. [This] was in December'

Scared: She added the ‘head of the ICU told them, ‘You should be scared, sir. This is serious. We’re going to have to put her in a separate room.” Because it was new. [This] was in December’

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

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

Perez added that shutting down the show was ‘tough’ because, ‘it was a good gig for a lot of hard-working people.’

‘The only person who remained steadfast was Kaley. She kept saying, “Just relax, Rose. We’re going to go back. I know HBO believes in this, just relax,”‘ Perez said.

Perez also joked that she usually takes a week off to celebrate her birthday, though Cuoco said, ‘I think you should hold off on that because I think we might go back,’ and that was, ‘exactly when we went back.

Relax: 'The only person who remained steadfast was Kaley. She kept saying, “Just relax, Rose. We’re going to go back. I know HBO believes in this, just relax,"' Perez said

Relax: ‘The only person who remained steadfast was Kaley. She kept saying, “Just relax, Rose. We’re going to go back. I know HBO believes in this, just relax,”‘ Perez said

Birthday: Perez also joked that she usually takes a week off to celebrate her birthday, though Cuoco said, 'I think you should hold off on that because I think we might go back,' and that was, 'exactly when we went back

Birthday: Perez also joked that she usually takes a week off to celebrate her birthday, though Cuoco said, ‘I think you should hold off on that because I think we might go back,’ and that was, ‘exactly when we went back

She added that she was ‘nervous’ going back to the set after contracting COVID-19, though she quickly learned, ‘everything was run so efficiently.’

‘They took every precaution possible. They were really professional about it, real champs, and put everyone at ease,’ Perez added.

HBO Max debuted the first three episodes of The Flight Attendant on Thursday, with the fourth and fifth episodes arriving 

Precaution: 'They took every precaution possible. They were really professional about it, real champs, and put everyone at ease,' Perez added

Precaution: ‘They took every precaution possible. They were really professional about it, real champs, and put everyone at ease,’ Perez added

Nervous: She added that she was 'nervous' going back to the set after contracting COVID-19, though she quickly learned, 'everything was run so efficiently'

Nervous: She added that she was ‘nervous’ going back to the set after contracting COVID-19, though she quickly learned, ‘everything was run so efficiently’