PESHAWAR: The folk singers, musicians, poets and writers have taken to social media, asking people including their fans to take the current coronavirus threat seriously and follow the healthcare instructions by keeping social distance and restricting their activities.

Most young singers, poets and writers here on Sunday posted video messages on their Facebook pages, Instagram, twitter accounts and YouTube channels and asked people to confine themselves to their homes and adopt measures to counter the virus.

They said that it was a serious global issue and must be tackled with all possible efforts. “Take measures to engage our children and youth at homes in positive activities like book reading, drawing sketches, motivational movies and tips to beat down coronavirus threat with our firm determination and belief in our strength,” said the video messages.

Ask people to follow government’s healthcare instructions

Rashid Khan, president of Hunari Tolana Welfare Society, asked artists and public at large to suspend their activities to face the challenge of the outbreak. In a video message, he said that people should stay homes for the sake of their safety and should strictly follow healthcare tips.

“We should also try to take care of those daily wagers living in our vicinity who may not be able to walk to their workplaces owing to the current crisis. Preventive measures are considered to be the best option. It is very hard for large number of such workers and even artists to suspend activities but the best and the only possible way is to stay home, adopt self-isolation, avoid public gatherings and keep social distance,” said the artist.

Folk singer Karan Khan in a video message appealed to people and his fans to stop making joke of a serious matter that had already played havoc on millions of people across the globe. He added that people should restrict their unnecessary movements by going into self-isolation and quarantine.

He said that parents should engage their children in different playful activities at homes like watching documentaries, movies, reading story books, drawing landscapes and collecting master poetic pieces and many others.

Prof Abaseen Yousafzai also uploaded a video message on Facebook, saying coronavirus was a serious threat and people should act upon health advisories by taking necessary precautions and preventive measures.

He said that poets and writers should come forward to educate people through their social media contacts to play a responsible role in countering the fast approaching disaster.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2020