Alec Baldwin is the latest Hollywood star to cut a coronavirus-related public service announcement (PSA), saying the “only way” to minimize the pandemic is “to distance and to quarantine.”
“Like you, in the beginning I had my doubts about what was going on,” the 61-year-old actor, who plays President Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” tells viewers in the PSA released Monday on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) YouTube channel.
“But now, I think it’s been proven that the only way we’re going to have a chance to minimize this is to distance and to quarantine,” the Emmy Award winner says.
“So stay home, and I think some time will pass and we’re gonna beat this thing,” Baldwin adds while urging Americans to take advice from Cuomo, New York state officials and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Baldwin is one of several celebrities who have appeared in the “Stay Home, Save Lives” campaign launched in New York amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“We all need to stay home,” Robert De Niro says in a clip released Sunday.
“We need to stop the spread of this virus, and we can only do it together,” the “Taxi Driver” actor says into the camera.
Actor Danny DeVito and TV personality La La Anthony have also participated in the video campaign.
Cuomo said at a Monday briefing the videos were created “to help communicate to New Yorkers they need to stay home, they need to isolate, because we’re trying to get out the message.”
“I’ve been saying it, and everyone’s been saying it, but we have to do a better job of communicating, so we’re trying a number of other vehicles,” Cuomo said.
Last week, Cuomo issued an executive order mandating that all nonessential workers in the Empire State stay home.
Nearly 21,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in New York state, Cuomo said Monday, with at least 157 deaths.