Jimmy Kimmel Asks People on the Street About Coronavirus, And We’re All Screwed

Jimmy Kimmel just confirmed what we all already knew: when it comes to coronavirus, we’re totally screwed. On Tuesday, Kimmel’s crew polled random passerby about their COVID-19 knowledge, and the vast majority of people seemed to know little about the rapidly spreading illness. While one man insisted that coronavirus is “just going to go away someday,” another woman said that she plans to stock up on the essentials to prepare for a potential quarantine. “I like wine and toilet paper,” she said. “And soap?”

Towards the end of Tuesday’s monologue, Kimmel turned his attention to newfound coronavirus “experts” who openly share misinformation. “I don’t know if you noticed, but everyone now seems to think they’re an expert on the coronavirus. Me included,” said the ABC host. “I get in a group of people, I speak as if I’ve been a professor of immunology at Stanford for 35 years.”

“Everybody seems to know at least something about this now. And knowledge, as you know, is power,” continued Kimmel. “So, to share some of that knowledge, to spread it around, we went into the street and asked people passing by our studio today to tell us what they know about the coronavirus.”

In this case, knowledge definitely isn’t power. The first few people polled didn’t know much about coronavirus other than that “it’s bad” and “new,” and one hadn’t even heard of it at all. “I don’t know nothing about a coronavirus. What does it do?” asked one man.

One passerby insisted that he’s “been giving that shot to cattle for years,” so coronavirus “has been around forever” (he also said that eating cattle cubes and licking salt as a kid makes you immune). Another man was equally unconcerned. “I’m not too worried about it,” he said. “The president said it’s just going to go away some day, so it’s not really that critical of a deal.”

Finally, Kimmel’s crew was able to find someone who seemed to have read a single article about coronavirus. “Do you think we should be scared?” asked a staffer. “If you nasty, you should be,” replied their guest. “If you’re not washing your hands, taking care of yourself, being clean, not covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze … I’ve got a roommate, he never covers his cough up. I always have to call him out like, ‘Boy! Cover your mouth!'” CDC, if you’re reading this, we’ve found your next spokesperson.

Kimmel’s coronavirus quiz begins at the 6:00 mark in the video above.

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