American actor Billy Zane has urged people not wearing protective masks to “kindly look around you at those beside you as if (it) were for the last time” as he wrote about his father’s death from Covid-19.
In an Instagram post, the Titanic star said he had lost his father, William Senior, to coronavirus a fortnight ago.
Alongside a photograph of his father, Zane, whose full name is also William, wrote: “I lost my Dad to Covid 19 two weeks ago on his 67th wedding anniversary.
“As cases spike drastically in the US, and globally, may I strongly suggest that those defiant and those disengaged from the social contract that we all are party to as fellow countrymen and women, as citizens of the world, whereby respecting and protecting the lives of others with our conscious, basic courtesies unify us in civilised agreement, those whom yet still ignore the science behind drastically reducing the threat of asymptomatic transfer as they stroll by, jog by, bike by and sit near others without protective masks on, kindly look around you at those beside you as if (it) were for the last time.
“Because it may be. Youth, the elderly are at risk and so is society, as thus your stewards are at risk, should we lose all our teachers, our sages, our crones our storytellers our first handers recklessly and lazily.
“Be wise as they, and learn from every tragedy, and mistake and thrive in comforting knowledge that you acted, that you did your part.
“God bless those we’ve lost, and Godspeed those that wake and start wearing masks tomorrow and every day after, until we beat this and not succumb at our own hands, but emerge victorious, illumined, united, as possible humans living out our greatest potential.”
The actor fondly referred to his father as Bill in a previous Instagram post on June 15 as he congratulated his parents on their wedding anniversary.
He later shared a photograph of his father, writing alongside it: “Rest In Peace Dad. Gentle warrior. Spartan. Chicagoan. Actor. Businessman. Educator. Soldier. Husband. Uncle. Grandfather. Father. Mentor. Man”.
The United States is currently the worst affected country, reporting 42,600 new infections as of Saturday, with a total of more than 2.5 million cases, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University reported by the Associated Press.
The agency also reported that, following an easing of lockdown rules in some American states, numbers are rising again, restaurants and bars are being closed again and in some states wearing face masks in public is mandatory.