'Contagion' stars reunite to share coronavirus advice

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The stars of the 2011 virus thriller "Contagion" – a prescient film these days – have reunited for a series of public service announcements to warn about the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet and Jennifer Ehle have teamed up with scientists from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health to offer four individual homemade videos with advice and a message of unity.

"Wash your hands like your life depends on it," Winslet says in her PSA. "Because right now, in particular, it just might."

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In this March 21, 2020 photo, health workers react as people applaud from their houses in support of the medical staff that are working on the COVID-19 virus outbreak at the Jimenez Diaz Foundation University hospital in Madrid, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File) ( )

Ehle stresses that the coronavirus is novel, meaning no one is immune. "Every single one of us, regardless of age or ethnicity, is at risk of getting it," she says.

"Contagion," directed by Steven Soderbergh, explores a scenario in which a lethal and fast-moving influenza is spreading around the world. Damon in his video notes that it is "creeping its way up the charts on iTunes, for obvious reasons."

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A seller calls for customers as a couple wearing face masks walks by, at the Campo de' Fiori street market, in Rome, on March 7.  (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Damon, who in the film played a character who was immune to the hypothetical virus, also stresses listening to experts and staying six feet apart from other people.

In his video, Fishburne appeals to helping medical staff on the front lines. "If we can slow this thing down, it will give our doctors and our nurses in our hospitals a fighting chance to help us all get through this thing together," he says.

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For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.