British actor Idris Elba said on Monday he had tested positive for the new coronavirus, joining Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, among the first major celebrities to contract the respiratory disease.

Elba, who starred in TV police drama Luther and played the Norse god Heimdall in Avengers: Infinity War, said in a Twitter post that he had no symptoms but was isolating himself from others. It was not clear where he was located.

“This morning I tested positive for Covid-19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how I’m doing... No panic,” Elba, 47, wrote.

Elba said he had taken the test because he found out on Friday he had been exposed to someone who had contracted the disease. He did not identify the person.

“Stay positive. Don’t freak out,” he said in a video accompanying the Twitter post. His wife, Sabrina, was seen in the background.

Hanks and Wilson said last week that they had contracted the disease while working on a film in Australia.

However, People magazine reported on Monday that they have left a hospital in Australia's Queensland state five days after testing positive. 

The pair are now resting at a rented home in Australia and remain under quarantine in the house, the US magazine's report said, citing a representative of the actor.

Last week, Hanks wrote on Twitter that he and Wilson had tested positive for the virus in Australia, where he is working on a film, after they felt tired and achy with slight fevers. Both Hanks and Wilson are 63 years old.

Hanks had travelled to the Gold Coast, on Australia's east coast south of Brisbane, to begin filming a movie about Elvis Presley. He is set to play Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, in the Warner Bros production.

The couple was the first major American celebrities known to have contracted the coronavirus that has killed more than 70 people and infected more than 3,800 in the United States.

Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, who appeared in Quantum of Solace in 2008, said on Sunday that she was “locked up at home” after testing positive. 

Elba’s announcement followed the halting of more movie productions worldwide.

Movie studio Warner Bros said on Monday it had stopped filming on the fourth instalment of the Matrix action franchise, starring Keanu Reeves, and the third Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a spinoff of its successful Harry Potter franchise.

Trade paper Variety said Matrix was about to film in Germany and Fantastic Beasts was about to start production.

Universal Pictures, Netflix and Disney halted production of most of their live-action TV shows and movies last week as the coronavirus spread around the world.

- Reuters