The husband of Linda Lusardi has revealed that the actress has been taken to "death's door" with a suspected case of coronavirus.

Lusardi, 61, and husband Sam Kane were both hospitalised on Friday after the former model complained on Twitter that she had "never felt so ill EVER".

In a Facebook post today, Kane wrote: "I can't stress enough that this is not 'just a flu bug'. I've watched this take my girl to death's door.

"I've felt it take me there. It's a cruel, vile, remorseless, relentless, dark sickness. It was like three hands. One that's strangling you. One pushing your face down as it does. The other one ripping your heart out of your chest and it just doesn't stop... for days'.

"Please stop going out. Passing this around will mean it just takes longer till we're back to normal. Please stay safe people.

"Two weeks away from anyone else outside your family should see this gone. It's that simple. Please stay in."

Lusardi first found fame as a Page 3 girl in the 1970s before going on to forge a successful career as an actress with roles in The Bill and Emmerdale.