Tom Hanks Says Shame On People Who Don’t Wear A Mask

Although 2020 has been a bust in a multitude of ways, the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus remains the world’s most devastating and life-threatening problem. Half a year into the pandemic, it’s infected 10.5 million people and killed 512,000. The United States remains the epicenter of the virus, and cases are surging in most of the 50 states in recent weeks. With 2.7 million people infected in the country and 129,000 deaths, health officials warn that the worst is yet to come if lawmakers don’t quickly resume lockdown orders.

In other words, beating this virus is likely to be a long and arduous task around the globe, and vaccines are still 6-10 months away at best. And while no one wants to get COVID-19, those who’ve already been infected are able to give further insight into just how scary and uncomfortable it can be. One of those people is actor Tom Hanks, as he and his wife Rita Wilson were two of the first celebrities to become infected earlier this year while Hanks was shooting a movie in Australia. Though they were quarantined for a while during their infections, they’ve both fully recovered and are back to their normal lives in the United States.

During a press conference about his new World War II film Greyhound, Hanks chimed in about his time with coronavirus and how he feels about those who are refusing to wear masks at such a critical time in our history. He had some strong words to share on the matter, too.

Speaking to People, Tom Hanks stated:

There’s really only three things we can do in order to get to tomorrow: Wear a mask, social distance, wash our hands. Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things – I just think shame on you. Don’t be a prick, get on with it, do your part. It’s very basic. If you’re driving a car, you don’t go too fast, you use your turn signal and you avoid hitting pedestrians. My Lord, it’s common sense.

Greyhound will release on Apple TV+ on July 10th. The movie was originally scheduled for a theatrical release in June, but the pandemic resulted in distribution rights being sold to Apple for a digital debut.