Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has tested positive for coronavirus. Photo / AP
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has tested positive for coronavirus. Photo / AP
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, otherwise known as "the most beautiful woman in the world", has tested positive for Covid-19.
The Bollywood star, 46, who shot to international prominence when she won the 1994 Miss World pageant, contracted coronavirus after her husband and father-in-law were both hospitalised with the virus.
Aishwarya's husband, Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan, 44, announced on Twitter that both his wife and their 8-year-old daughter Aaradhya have coronavirus.
Aishwarya and Aaradhya have also tested COVID-19 positive. They will be self quarantining at home. The BMC has been updated of their situation and are doing the needful.The rest of the family including my Mother have tested negative. Thank you all for your wishes and prayers 🙏🏽
"The rest of the family including my mother have tested negative. Thank you all for your wishes and prayers."
Abhishek and his father Amitabh Bachchan, 77, who is also a famous Bollywood actor, confirmed that they had been taken to hospital over the weekend for treatment for "mild symptoms".
"My father and I remain in hospital till the doctors decide otherwise. Everyone please remain cautious and safe," he added in a further tweet. "Please follow all rules!"
India is now ranked third in the world for the most confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 879,000 people contracting the virus and 23,000 dying.
On Sunday, India recorded its biggest single daily increase in cases with 28,637 confirmed cases.
The Bollywood actress also starred in Pink Panther 2. Photo / Supplied
The rise in cases comes a month after India began ending the hard lockdown it had imposed since March, with many of its 1.3 billion population now returning to work and public life.
The Indian government has defended the rise in cases since lockdown ended, with the country's Minister for External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, arguing it was very low in proportion to the population.
"In our case, recognising our capabilities and our limitations, we opted to rely very substantially on social distancing," he said.
"So we went for a very early lockdown, we went for a very early travel restriction and the result of that, three months down the road … yes, the actual caseload today is large, it is not large in proportion to the population.
WHO IS AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN?
The 46-year-old is one of India's biggest names both locally and overseas, famous for her distinctive green eyes.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the Miss World pageant in 1994. Photo / Getty Images
After first rising to fame as the winner of Miss World in 1994, Aishwarya has gone on to star in both Bollywood and Hollywood movies.
Aishwarya starred in 2004's Bride and Prejudice and 2009's The Pink Panther 2 opposite Steve Martin.
She's also appeared as the face of a number of campaigns for big name brands like Longines, Coca-Cola and L'Oreal.
She married fellow Bollywood star Abhishek in 2007, with the couple dubbed India's version of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
