Photos of crowded bars, venues and city streets flooded social media in the days following President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency due to the global coronavirus pandemic, and many — including Ariana Grande — are frustrated by those who aren’t taking the spread of COVID-19 seriously.
On Sunday (March 15), the pop star posted a PSA encouraging those who haven’t been taking precautions to do so, and immediately. She pointed out that while they may not consider themselves at risk for coming down with the virus, they could be passing it on to those who are in high-risk groups (such as the elderly and those with diabetes, heart disease or lung disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) if they don’t change their attitudes and behavior.
«I keep hearing from a surprising amount of people statements like ‘this isn’t a big deal’/’we’ll be fine’… ‘we still have to go about our lives’ and it’s really blowing my mind,» she wrote. «I understand if that is how u felt weeks ago. But please read about what’s going on. Please don’t turn a blind eye. It’s incredibly dangerous and selfish to take this situation that lightly.»
She doubled down on her reality check: «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. You sound stupid and privileged and you need to care more about others. like now.» In a separate tweet, she added that «your hip-hop yoga class can f–king wait i promise.»
Read Grande’s note in full below.
