Athletes, priests and politicians: 9 public figures who didn't take the coronavirus seriously and then got infected themselves

Novak Djokovic and his wife announced they tested positive for COVID-19 on June 23, shortly after hosting a controversial tennis tournament in eastern Europe.

The event, which Djokovic organized and involved several other professional players, was mostly void of any coronavirus restrictions.

Social distancing was not enforced in the stands, face masks were rare, and players mingled freely, regularly exchanging hugs and handshakes.

Besides Djokovic and his wife, two coaches and at least three prominent players also tested positive for the virus.

Indeed, Djokovic revealed that he does not believe in vaccines in April and would be reluctant to take one for COVID-19.

"Personally, I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn't want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel," the world's top-ranked male tennis player said, according to The Guardian.

"I have my own thoughts about the matter and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I don't know," he added.

In his autobiographical cookbook "Serve To Win," Djokovic previously expressed his faith in the form of alternative medicine known as "applied kinesiology."

The former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died on July 30 after he was hospitalized with COVID-19. He was 74 years old.

The day before Cain was hospitalized, he tweeted in support of the Trump campaign's decision not to require masks at an Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore.

Cain said in a now-deleted tweet: "Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump. PEOPLE ARE FED UP!"

Cain suggested that vaccine skepticism was justified in another tweet because the government and the media had "incinerated their credibility."

It is not clear how Cain contracted the virus.

From the onset of the pandemic, Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro downplayed risks of what he called the "little flu," according to the BBC.

Bolsonaro opposed local lockdowns, accused the media of spreading panic, and continuously railed against "dictatorial" measures, such as wearing face coverings.

Before testing positive for the virus on July 8, the Brazilian president attended several public events without a mask on and was shaking hands and hugging supporters.

Bolsonaro said he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria medication that was also championed by President Donald Trump. The drug has not been proven to be effective against the virus.

Brazil has the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases and second-highest deaths in the world, according to a tracker by Johns Hopkins University.

Patriarch Filaret, who leads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, tested positive for COVID-19 on September 8.

The religious leader sparked outrage in March after he told a Ukrainian TV channel that the coronavirus was God's punishment for the "sinfulness of humanity; first of all, I mean same-sex marriage," according to the Independent.

The 91-year-old discovered he had COVID-19 during planned testing and is said to have "satisfactory" health, the Independent reported.

US Congressman Rep. Louie Goh­mert tested positive for the coronavirus on July 29 after refusing to wear a mask in the Capitol.

Gohmert later suggested that he might have contracted the disease because he was wearing a face covering.

"I can't help but think that if I hadn't been wearing a mask so much in the last 10 days or so, I really wonder if I would have gotten it," he said, according to The Daily Beast.

Following his positive test result, the congressman reportedly didn't isolate immediately and returned to his office instead because he wanted to inform his staffers about his diagnosis in person.

Goh­mert said that he had used the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat his illness.

Rep. Tom Rice, who refused to wear a face-covering on the House floor, became the first lawmaker to report contracting the coronavirus.

Rice later said that he had no regrets about not wearing a mask in the Capitol.

"My understanding is that a mask doesn't really protect you as much as it protects other people," Mr. Rice said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"I don't think it would have made much of a difference. That is, if I caught it on the House floor...I doubt that had anything to do with it," he added.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he tested positive for the coronavirus on March 27 and was later admitted to hospital.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the prime minister held a press conference in which he said he had visited coronavirus patients in a hospital and that people would be "pleased to know" that the virus had not stopped him from shaking their hands.

The British government has been accused of acting too slowly in its initial response to the pandemic.

In April, one senior cabinet minister said that Johnson had missed five consecutive emergency briefings in the buildup to the coronavirus crisis despite warnings issued in January and repeated in February.

The world's fastest man Usain Bolt tested positive for COVID-19 on August 25, a few days after throwing a big party for his 34th birthday.

Videos and pictures on social media from the party showed Bolt dancing in a big crowd of people, most of whom were not wearing masks or social distancing.

Four months ago, the NBA season was suddenly suspended after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first player to test positive for COVID-19.

Days before his diagnosis, Gobert had joked about the virus and at a press conference, touched every microphone and recorder in front of him.

Later, the French basketball player released a public apology on Instagram in which he wrote: "I have gone through so many emotions since learning of my diagnosis ... mostly fear, anxiety, and embarrassment."

"The first and most important thing is I would like to publicly apologize to the people that I may have endangered. At the time, I had no idea I was even infected. I was careless and make no excuse," he added.