Rockers Beg People to Stay Home to Fight Coronavirus
Martin Kielty Published: March 22, 2020
Angela Weiss / Kevin Winter / Mike Coppola, Getty Images
A number of big-name rock musicians begged their fans to follow self-isolation and social distancing guidelines that have been put in place in many parts of the world in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The spread has not yet hit its peak, so the number of infections and deaths continues to grow exponentially. At time of writing over 307,000 cases had been confirmed with 13,050 deaths and 95,797 recoveries. In the U.S. the number of reported cases had risen to 26,686 – up 7,303 on the previous day's figure – while an additional 84 had died, bringing the total to 340. The key concern is that, if the virus continues to spread exponentially, it could infect so many people that health services won't be able to cope, meaning those needing treatment won't receive it, causing more deaths.
"No people... This is NOT another flu," Kiss frontman Paul Stanley tweeted. "EVERYONE who has minimized the extent, ferocity and contagiousness of Covid-19 has one by one been proven WRONG. The longer you wait to take control the bigger the risk to you and more importantly the people who are trying to control this."
Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx wrote: "Went for a drive today to look around. Kinda blew my mind on how irresponsible people were being. I saw people walking in and out of a Barnes n Nobles, drove past my mall and people were walking in and out acting like nothing is wrong (Nobody was wearing latex gloves or masks). I see spring break is still on in Florida." He continued: "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? I will protect my family at all costs. So should you. Young people are acting so cavalier. I've heard people say this is inconvenient. How inconvenient is death? Please be smart. Don't be stupid.
Journey guitarist Neal Schon said: "So I'm getting frustrated and concerned with many that are refusing to abide by the common sense rules that have been laid out by state government officials… IT'S NOT GOING TO GET BETTER WITHOUT ALL YOUR HELP." He added: "STAY HOME PLEASE so that more do not get infected with the Coronavirus."
Former Rush frontman Geddy Lee said that, despite continuing to mourn the recent death of drummer Neil Peart, "we must now turn our gaze to the serious virus threatening all of us on the planet – a reminder of how precious life is." He reported he was self-isolation along with his family and concluded: "I urge you all to do the right thing... social distance, trust the science, wash your hands and we will get through this."
"This is when the metal community comes together, right?" Judas Priest's Rob Halford said in a video message. "We know what we've gotta do as far as keeping things clean, and it includes washing your hands as many times a day as is needed. Try and be isolated. If you go out, don't buy everything. Don't be a toilet paper hoarder. Don't be a kitchen roll hoarder. We have to keep each other safe. We have to do the isolating. We have to do the quarantining — whatever we need to do. This is serious, okay? But we're gonna get through it." He suggested that people should "stay in touch" with each other, saying: "all of this is incredibly important. All the fear floating around… this is when we really have to kind of look out for each other and do what's necessary and the right thing to do."
Sammy Hagar said he'd been on lockdown for 10 days, explaining in his own video: "For once, as rockers, you've got to go by the rules. We've got to do what we're supposed to do, and the sooner we all do it, the sooner this thing will go away and we can get back to what we really do, and that's rock 'n' roll… be safe. Wash your hands. Go by the rules, just for a little while. We'll be all right."
Next: Coronavirus Tour Changes Updates
Source: Rockers Beg People to Stay Home to Fight Coronavirus
Filed Under: Coronavirus, Geddy Lee, Neal Schon, Nikki Sixx, Paul Stanley, Rob Halford, Sammy Hagar
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