Broadcaster Sela Alo tests positive for COVID-19

Publish Date: Saturday, 4 April 2020, 10:31AM

We're sending massive love to our brother Sela Alo, who revealed yesterday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Sela delivered a heartfelt - and direct - message to Māori and Pacific Island communities about the potentially deadly virus.

Our former colleague shared his diagnosis on social media. "So, I tested positive for Covid-19," Alo said in a video to fans on his Instagram and Facebook pages.

He was diagnosed when positive cases were only in double digits, Alo said, before noting more than 800 people in New Zealand had come down with virus, which has officially infected a million people worldwide and killed 50,000, including a West Coast woman.

Alo, who has a heart condition, said his first priority was making sure everyone he'd been in contact with before his diagnosis was ok. "I'm very thankful they are."

View this post on Instagram

You will never know until #Covid19 actually hits you whether you're going to be strong enough to come out the other side. We're not playing any games here and no one is immune. This isn't worth the risk for you and your families. Staying in your bubble doesn't mean creating a bubble larger than who lives in your house now! In other words, you can't meet up with anyone including other family for any reason - that is not ok! When you have contact outside your bubble, the chance of transmission increases. And our Maori and Pacific Communities are at super risk because most of us already suffer from underlying medical conditions such as Heart disease and Diabetes. Please keep to your bubble, keep local and play your part. Stay home and save lives - simple. Stay Safe and Stay Blessed x🙏🏽❤️

A post shared by Sela Alo (@selaalo) on Apr 2, 2020 at 11:49pm PDT

He now wanted to urge everyone to "listen to the Prime Minister and stay home".

The father of young children end his video with a tribute to frontline workers. "While we're at it, can we be kind please to our medical staff at the frontline, and at the supermarkets?"

Alo didn't address where he was believed to have caught the virus, but it is understood he was MC at the Marist College fiafia night on March 14.

Marist College is at the centre of the biggest Covid-19 cluster in the country, with 59 cases connected to the Auckland girls' school.

Get well soon bro ❤ x

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you