With news and a sense of fear spreading globally with respect to the coronavirus, actor Matthew McConaughey recently took to social media with a video post in support of those around him. He advised fans, fellow Texans, and basically anyone who would hear his message that now is the time to support one another and not drop to the “lowest common denominator…”
McConaughey has previously been cited for his humanitarianism. On many occasions he has helped in terms of donations, time, and uplifting words. Texas has recently confirmed coronavirus cases numbering in the high 80s. In his message, the award-winning actor advised everyone to keep their heads about the issue, not to panic, and to generally have each other’s back, be they friends, family, neighbors, or even strangers.
Video: Facebook/Matthew McConaughey
The video has been viewed close to 2 million times and continues to be shared and commented on. His words come at a time when social media shares surrounding COVID-19 and coronavirus vary between support, positivity, and words of caution to, in some cases, outright panic.
Reports on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 indicate that, globally, close to seven thousand people have died. In terms of perspective, the world’s population was estimated in 2019 to be approximately 7.7 billion. So far, the impact this virus is having is less than that of flu which, according to Johns Hopkins, we see in far greater numbers on an annual basis. Scientists around the world have been working to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, but last indications were that this would be approximately a year away from happening. In contrast to the coronavirus, the flu has an estimated 1 billion cases throughout the globe. Of this, 9.3 – 45 million are found in the U.S., and 12 – 61K deaths result. COVID-19 has been diagnosed in approximately 188K people throughout the world, just over 4K confirmed cases in the U.S., and 85 deaths in the U.S. as of March 17, 2020.
