Coronavirus: Kylie Jenner urges millennials to take pandemic seriously

Health officials had previously called on social media influencers to play their part in helping keep the community safe

Millennials “are not immune” to the coronavirus, Kylie Jenner has warned, in a fresh plea to young people over fears they are not taking the pandemic seriously enough.

Jenner, who shot to fame through the reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, took to social media platform Instagram to issue the warning.

The cosmetics entrepreneur, 22, urged her 166 million followers to stay indoors and follow official guidance to help battle against the spread of the novel virus.

“The coronavirus is a real thing,” she said in a video shared on her Instagram Story.

“I listened to the surgeon general this morning and even though I’ve already been doing my daily reminders, he definitely encouraged me to come on here and talk to you guys so you can see me and hear me.”

Jenner, who had been self-isolating to protect her pregnancy, pleaded for her followers to stay indoors, saying, “practice social distancing, self-quarantine.”

It came after concerns that the younger generation in the US was not fully understanding the scale of the coronavirus crisis in the country.

Jerome Adams, US Surgeon General, called on influencers to play a role in keeping the community safe during the outbreak.

“I have a 15 and 14-year-old and the more I tell them not to do something, the more they want to do it,” Dr Adams said.

“What I really think we need to do was get our influencers – Kevin Durant, Donavan Mitchell, we need to get Kylie Jenner and social media influencers out there, in helping folks understand: this is serious – people are dying out there,” he added.

As of Friday morning, there were over 14,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US, while at least 195 people have died after contracting the illness, according to John Hopkins University.

“If you live with your parents, you don’t want to go home and get your parents sick. You might have it and not even know and be infecting other people,” Jenner added.

“It’s serious, and the only way that we’re going to slow this down is if we do this because there is not a cure right now.

“Nobody is immune to this. Millennials are not immune to this. New evidence actually shows that a large percentage in the hospital right now are young adults.”

Jenner is not the only celebrity isolating. Katy Perry, who is expecting her first child with British actor Orlando Bloom, shared a picture from home and said she has lost track of the days.

Frozen star Josh Gad, 39, tweeted a video of himself crying, telling fans it is OK to show emotions during the pandemic.

“We’re gonna get through it,” he said. “And it’s hard and I’m emotional because I hate seeing our kids deprived of their normal lifestyles and not being able to understand why all of this is happening so quickly, but I’m also emotional because of all the incredible things that so many of you out there are doing on a daily basis.”

British singer Sam Smith, 27, shared a series of emotional pictures and wrote: “Stages of a quarantine meltdown.”

However, not all celebrity attempts to lift the collective mood have been well-received.

Actress Gal Gadot, 18, shared a star-studded cover of John Lennon’s Imagine but has since been widely mocked, with critics saying the video was “peak cringe content”.

Earlier this week, London-born actor Idris Elba confirmed that he had been struck down by the coronavirus.

The Wire and Luther star released a video announcing his diagnosis, adding that he was among those most at risk due to suffering from asthma.

Elba, 47, credited fellow actor Tom Hanks for inspiring him to go public with his diagnosis. “I’m really proud of Tom Hanks who is also someone in the public eye who came out and said they have it and has been public about it,” he said.

“I was really motivated by Tom’s move there.” Hanks had previously announced he and his wife Rita Wilson had contracted Covid-19.

Additional reporting by agencies.