Ricky Gervais: Drink at home and don’t be selfish during coronavirus outbreak

Ricky Gervais has told fans “don’t be selfish” as he urged people to stay in and help the elderly amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The comedian is one of a string of high-profile figures to encourage fans to stay at home to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Sharing a photograph of himself with a glass of wine on Twitter, he wrote: “Stay well. Take vitamins. Wash your hands.

“Don’t be selfish. Make sure an elderly relative has everything they need. Some are too proud to ask.

“Be sensible. Drink at home. Everything you love doing you can do in a few weeks. Cheers.”

In a video on her Instagram Story, Hilary Duff said: “To all you young millennial assholes that keep going out and partying, go home. Stop killing old people, please.”

Queer Eye star Bobby Berk also encouraged people to stay home and keep their distance, writing: “Social distancing works! Even if you think you aren’t infected you could be and could pass it on to someone with a weaker immune system and that could cause their death.

“The sooner we comply, the sooner fewer new infections happen and the sooner life can get back to regularly scheduled programming.”

Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Chelsea Peretti said: “Like unless u have to for work, dont go to restaurants, malls, bars, dont have gramas and grampas over to see their grandkids.

“Don’t host a gathering of friends at your house, dont hug or shake hands – every contagious disease expert is saying the same thing. We have the model of Italy to look to.”

Elisabeth Moss previously confirmed that production on series four of The Handmaid’s Tale has been halted.

The actress, who stars as Offred in the dystopian drama, said filming had been put on hold “to preserve the health and safety of our cast and crew and join the world in an attempt to flatten the curve”.

The actress shared a photo of red cloaks and white bonnets – worn by the show’s oppressed handmaids – hanging on a rack.

She said production would restart “as soon as it’s safe to do so” and urged people to “stay safe and healthy and take care of yourselves”.

Taylor Swift called on her followers to cancel their plans and “truly isolate”.

She said on Instagram Stories: “I love you 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.

“It’s a really scary time but we need to make social sacrifices right now.”

Lady Gaga shared a message of unity and kindness, writing: “This is reminding I think a lot of us what it is to both feel like and be a human being. I think it’s so important to acknowledge that we are and must be a global kind singular community.

“We can’t do this without kindness. And corona virus is not prejudiced.

“My thought for the day is to accept there will be times we feel powerless and out of control—but we can fill that space with kindness and be a part of the solution to a world problem.

“We then have control. We can create healing by learning how to be kind and take care of each other and ourselves during this time.”

Ariana Grande urged people not to ignore the gravity of the situation and criticised some for sounding “stupid and privileged”.

The 26-year-old said on Instagram Stories: “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.

“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 is incredibly dangerous and selfish to take this situation 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.

“You sound stupid and privileged and you need to care more about others. Like now.”

Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger, 72, warned people to “stay at home” in a light-hearted video featuring his miniature donkey Lulu and miniature pony Whiskey.

“We don’t go out. We don’t go to restaurants. We don’t do anything like that any more here,” he told fans as he fed the animals carrots.

He added: “See, the important thing is that you stay at home. Because there is a curfew now. No one is allowed out, especially someone who is 72 years old.”

Mariah Carey joined stars including Gloria Gaynor and The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers in posting a video of her washing her hands to music.

The video shows Carey singing her track Fantasy (Remix), which features the late raper ODB from Wu-Tang Clan, alongside her eight-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan.

She captioned the post on Twitter: “Washing our hands to 20 seconds of Ol’ Dirty Bastard! Stay safe everybody!”

Wu-Tang Clan posted their own advice on social media, quoting a track of theirs from 1992.

“Protect Ya Neck against the Coronavirus,” they said on Twitter.

“We are making a few thousand prints and distributing them across New York City. Feel FREE to do the same in your City. Share and RT this to the world.”

The band’s advice sheet uses their name to pass on advice: “W – Wash hands. U – Use mask properly. T – Touch nothing. A – Avoid large crowds. N – Never touch your face with unclean hands. G – Go to the hospital if you have severe symptoms.”

Hollywood stars Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta, Chelsea footballer Callum Hudson-Odoi and NBA players Christian Wood, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are among the high-profile people who have already been diagnosed with coronavirus.