Ellen DeGeneres has spoken about the moment she found out she had tested positive for Covid-19.
DeGeneres has returned to hosting her daytime show and spoke openly about her experience with the virus.
"Obviously there are a lot of negative things going on, so I wanted to talk about something positive: my Covid test," she says in her opening monologue.
She says she was backstage in hair and makeup when she found out.
"And then everyone around me ran away. It's funny, people just really get scared. They ran and some have not come back since," she joked, adding that she "left the studio immediately".
The show's safety team then scrambled to notify everyone she had been in contact with.
DeGeneres also revealed she slept for 16 hours a day when she was battling coronavirus.
The 62-year-old comedienne and television presenter has recalled how she struggled with back pain amid her battle with the virus and has been on tablets to help her recover.
She said: "So for the first three days I slept for 16 hours a day, then the fourth day I woke up with back spasms so thought I'd pulled a muscle or slept funny.
"But it persisted so the doctor put me on painkillers and muscle relaxers - jackpot! Finally this thing is paying off. The pain killers didn't help, it felt like I had cracked a rib. So they put me on a steroid pack, but they make you really speedy and edgy. So I stayed on all of it, pain killers, muscle relaxers and steroids - not sure if that's the best way, I'm not a doctor."
And on speaking to other people who have had the virus, DeGeneres revealed they also experienced back pain but she is lucky that she has "started feeling better".
She added: "I'm still on them, I find the relaxers helpful. I spoke to my brother and told him about the back pain, he had a friend with the same then and then I spoke to several other people.
"So now apparently back pain is a symptom of Covid. Now you know! It's the only symptom I had. I started to feel better so I'm very fortunate and feeling okay now. I don't know how I got it, I wear a mask and wash my hands, and only licked three door handles. To the people struggling with the illness right now my heart goes out to them."
- Additional reporting NZ Herald
Star singer lends her voice to back Te Pāti Māori MPs' protest.