'Paranoid? Prudent? Panicked?': Stars react to coronavirus

As coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, celebrities are doing their bit to share safety advice – and selfies.

Gwyneth Paltrow shared a photo of herself wearing a large black face mask as she travelled to Europe.

The 47-year-old Goop entrepreneur joked about her role in the 2011 film Contagion, which is about a mystery virus that spreads across the world killing tens of millions of people.

Speaking about herself in the third person, Paltrow wrote: “En route to Paris. Paranoid? Prudent? Panicked? Placid? Pandemic? Propaganda?

“Paltrow’s just going to go ahead and sleep with this thing on the plane.

“I’ve already been in this movie. Stay safe. Don’t shake hands. Wash hands frequently.”

In the film she plays patient zero Beth Emhoff – the first person to be infected in the epidemic.

Her character catches the virus from a chef in Hong Kong who has come into contact with an infected pig, who in turn was infected by a bat.

The movie has seen a spike in popularity since the outbreak of coronavirus.

Actress Kate Hudson also shared a photo of herself on a flight, wearing a less heavy-duty green face mask.

Hudson captioned it: “Travel. 2020” along with a flushed face emoji.

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, posted a video on her Instagram page, telling her 7.7m followers: “I am shooting in this small town in Italy. I’m nowhere near the north. Thank you for your concerns.

“Everybody was calling and texting me and talking about the coronavirus in the north of Italy. It’s really sad, but we’re further away.”

In a previous post she said she would be in the country for a week.

Meanwhile in South Korea, which has the largest outbreak outside mainland China, the K-Pop group BTS have asked fans to stay away from their shows to help prevent coronavirus spreading.

The seven-piece South Korean boyband are busy promoting their new album, Map Of The Soul: 7.

Giving a press conference to just a handful of people in Seoul earlier this week, band-member Jimin said: “Health is always on our minds these days, and our messages of facing your inner self and loving yourself are ultimately only possible when you’re healthy.

“Especially since it is very risky outside these days. I hope you take care of yourself”.

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The band’s management, Big Hit Entertainment, put out a statement saying: “We have decided to fully co-operate with the government’s policy to refrain from holding events with a massive number of participants in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“We would like to advise fans to refrain from visiting the venue of the press conference for your own safety, and ask you to support BTS by watching the press conference via livestreaming.”

The band will also perform on several TV shows, with no studio audience.

They apologised to disappointed fans via email, thanking them for their understanding.

British star Stormzy has also postponed the Asian leg of his Heavy Is The Head world tour due to the virus.

The grime artist wrote on Twitter: “I was seriously looking forward to bringing the #HITH world tour to Asia and playing some epic sold-out shows but due to the ongoing health and travel concerns surrounding the coronavirus, I’m regrettably having to reschedule this leg of the tour.”

He has since left social media.

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Meanwhile, Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow is in self-isolation after travelling to Iran, where at least 12 people have died from coronavirus.

And BBC Radio 4 presenter Nick Robinson also says he’s in self-isolation at home after returning from a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Various cultural and sporting events have so far been postponed, including the Six Nations rugby matches between Ireland and Italy in Dublin, the Tokyo marathon and the large design and furniture fair Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Sky News will air a special programme on the COVID-19 outbreak at the 7pm tonight.