Salma Hayek has revealed she nearly died from COVID-19 early on in the pandemic.

The actress told Variety magazine her doctor had "begged" her to go to the hospital "because it was so bad" but she had refused.

"I said 'no, thank you, I'd rather die at home'," she explained.

The 54-year-old spent about seven weeks isolated in a room in her London home, which she shares with her husband and teenage daughter.

She was put on oxygen at one point and said she has still not recovered fully from the effects of her near-fatal experience.

Returning to work to shoot upcoming film House of Gucci, she said it was the "perfect job to just get back into it".

"I had started doing Zooms at one point, but I could only do so many because I would get so tired," she said.

Hayek stars as a clairvoyant convicted of helping Patrizia Reggiana, played by Lady Gaga, plot the killing of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver.

The actress previously shared a video montage of herself being swabbed for COVID-19.

"I've had it. Ya estoy harta. J'en ai marre. #coronavaccine #corona," she captioned the clip.

Hayek is among scores of celebrities who have revealed their coronavirus diagnoses over the past year, although many said they had only experienced mild symptoms.

Fellow actress Gwyneth Paltrow said she caught the virus "early on" and had been left with "some long-tailed fatigue and brain fog".

Others including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Neil Patrick Harris and Ellen De Generes also said they had contracted coronavirus, while former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne said she had been in hospital briefly after testing positive.