While he may not need prescription scuba goggles to watch a movie as he did in Notting Hill, British actor Hugh Grant’s eyesight is poor at the best of times, with him reportedly saying he can’t go anywhere without wearing his specs or contacts.

Recently the actor shared his experience of Covid and its ocular impact on The Late Show while promoting his latest psychological thriller TV series The Undoing. Grant, 61, said he believes he came down with the virus in February 2021. Symptoms included terrible sweats, difficulty breathing and strange ocular discomfort, he said. "My eyeballs felt about three sizes too big.”

Grant is not alone in having experienced Covid-related ocular effects, with recent data showing about 10% of patients reported dry eyes, redness, itching, blurry vision, sensitivity to light and the feeling that there is a foreign particle in the eye.