Stephen King Is Urging People To Stop Drawing Comparisons Between Coronavirus And ‘The Stand’

Although tensions are running high amid the global spread of the novel coronovirus, Stephen King is counting himself among the people who aren’t too worried at this stage. Still, though, it’s only inevitable that people are referencing King’s own novel, The Stand, which details the onset and aftermath of a superflu called the Captain Trips virus. James Marsden, who’s starring in CBS All Access’ upcoming reboot of the 1994 miniseries as Stu Redman, has even admitted that filming has grown eerie, given that people are now afraid when anyone sneezes or coughs near them in public.

King, however, would like to urge people not to look for lessons from The Stand. In fact, he’s straight-up asking people to stop comparing coronavirus with Captain Trips, which killed off 99% of the world’s population in King’s post-apocalyptic work of fiction. Granted, the fatality rate for this coronavirus keeps fluctuating, but it’s generally not life-threatening for people who aren’t above age 60 and don’t have preexisting heath conditions. King is simply asking people to keep things in perspective.

“No, coronavirus is NOT like THE STAND,” the author tweeted “It’s not anywhere near as serious. It’s eminently survivable. Keep calm and take all reasonable precautions.”

Last week, King also not-so-cryptically posted an IT meme about hand sanitizer’s newfound status as a scarce commodity. On a related note, Amazon and other online retailers are taking steps to halt price-gouging as people stock up on supplies.

Going back to King’s newest tweet, though, there’s no set mold for “reasonable precautions” to take against this virus, even taking into consideration CDC recommendations of not touching one’s face and engaging in careful handwashing procedures. At this time, several large-scale events have been canceled, including, Austin’s annual SXSW festival and Miami’s Ultra music festival. In addition, the newest James Bond flick, No Time To Die, duly pushed back from April to November.

It will likely be several months before humanity can wrap their arms around the health and financial impacts of this virus. In the meantime, production on The Stand continues. The relaunch stars Alexander Skarsgard as the big bad, Randall Flagg; Amber Heard as Nadine Cross; Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail; and Marilyn freaking Manson in an undisclosed role. The series is still due to arrive in late 2020.