Coronavirus: Stephen Fry urges people to ‘end feuds’ and ‘bury hatchets’ amid outbreak

Star’s comments come after Boris Johnson’s warning that ‘many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time’

Stephen Fry has made a plea for people to be kind to each other amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Up to 10,000 people might be infected in the UK, officials said on Thursday night (12 March), as Britain moved into the “delay” phase of its response.

Following the news, Fry wrote on Twitter: “OK. Until this thing is over we’ve all got to be helpful, friendly and kind to each other, understood?

“Hatchets buried. Grievances forgotten. Disputes resolved. Feuds ended. Strangers smiled at. When the final whistle is blown we can go back to be being mean and beastly. Agreed?”

Fry’s tweet comes in the wake of Boris Johnson’s warning that Covid-19 is “the worst public health crisis for a generation”. He said: “It is going to spread further and I must level with you, I must level with the British public: many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.”

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt voiced his fears about the UK’s response to coronavirus, saying he did not understand why large gatherings had not been cancelled, adding: “I think it is surprising and concerning that we’re not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.”

The death toll from coronavirus in Italy has just passed 1,000, with the entire country remaining paralysed and non-essential shops and businesses closed.