Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande have urged their fans to take the growing coronavirus outbreak more seriously as they called out those putting the vulnerable at risk.
The pop stars both posted statements on their Instagram Stories after being concerned by seeing people attending social gatherings and adopting a “this isn’t a big deal” attitude.
Taylor posted on her Story: “Guys, I follow you online and I love you guys so much and need to express my concern that things aren’t being taken seriously enough right now.
“I’m seeing lots of get togethers and hangs and parties still happening.
“This is the time to cancel plans, actually truly isolate as much as you can, and don’t assume that because you don’t feel sick that you aren’t possibly passing something on to someone elderly or vulnerable to this.”
She added: “It’s a really scary time but we need to make social sacrifices right now.”
Sharing similar sentiments on her Instagram, Ariana wrote: “I keep hearing a surprising amount of people statements like, ‘This isn’t a big deal’ / ‘We’ll be fine’ / ‘We still have to go about our daily lives’ and it’s really blowing my mind. I understand if that is how you felt weeks ago, but please read about what’s going on please don’t turn a blind eye.
“It is incredibly dangerous and selfish to take this situation that lightly, the ‘we will be fine because we’re young’ mindset is putting people who aren’t young and / or healthy in a lot of danger.”
She added: “You sound stupid and privileged and you need to care more about others. Like now.”
In the US, there are at least 3,485 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with a total of 65 deaths.
Meanwhile at least 378 people in Australia have tested positive while five people have died after contracting COVID-19, one in WA, three in NSW and one in Queensland.