Kumail Nanjiani feels ‘hopeless and helpless’ during COVID-19 spike
Pakistani-American comedian Kumail Nanjiani is getting serious, coronavirus ain’t a joke. The actor took to Twitter Sunday and opened up about feeling helpless, scared and sad amid the ongoing pandemic.
Nanjiani is married to Emily V Gordon, who is high risk when it comes to COVID-19. They both wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Big Sick, which is based on their relationship — which goes further into why Gordon is high risk.
“I’m sorry. I’m generally a very optimistic person and have fought to keep positive these last few months. But today is hard. We are heading into a massive Covid spike and the people who are supposed to protect us are doing nothing & blaming us for being concerned,” said Nanjiani.
He went on to talk about how the country and administration have failed to serve its people during the pandemic.
“We’ve been in quarantine for eight months because my wife is in a high-risk group. We feel let down by our country,” he continued. “But it’s not about us. We’re the lucky ones. Over 226,000 people have died. That’s so many families destroyed. People have lost their homes, their jobs.
“And this was all preventable. I look at the Covid cases and deaths in other countries and it feels like they’re in another world,” he wrote. “Are they dealing with the same disease we are? I guess that’s the difference. They’re dealing with it. We’re not.”
And this was all preventable. I look at the Covid cases & deaths in other countries & it feels like they’re in another world. Are they dealing with the same disease we are? I guess that’s the difference. They’re dealing with it. We’re not. We politicized every suppression effort.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) October 25, 2020
The actor lamented how the nation seems to have “politicised every suppression effort” when it comes to combating the spread of the coronavirus.
“Wearing masks is a sign of weakness. Protecting your friends, family, neighbors is a sign of weakness. Getting your heart broken every day by rising cases is a sign of weakness. Worrying that the next text will contain unthinkable news is a sign of weakness,” he wrote. “Sleepless nights because what will happen if the person laying next to you in bed gets sick is a sign of weakness. Science is a sign of weakness. We could have done so much more to prevent all these losses.”
Writer and producer Gordon was previously diagnosed with Still’s disease, a potentially life-threatening systemic autoinflammatory disease that almost cost her her life.
“I feel like I work [really] hard to keep all these doors closed in my mind, to try and keep all these scary/sad/devastating thoughts out of my head,” Nanjiani continued. “Focus on the positive. Donate to worthy causes. People are doing fantastic work out there. Most days it works. But not today.
I feel like I work Fealy hard to keep all these doors closed in my mind, to try and keep all these scary/sad/devastating thoughts out of my head. Focus on the positive. Donate to worthy causes. People are doing fantastic work out there. Most days it works. But not today.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) October 25, 2020
“I guess I have nothing constructive to say. Just be careful out there. I’m afraid we have a couple of bad months ahead of us. And I feel hopeless & helpless today,” the actor concluded while asking fans to suggest worthy causes to donate to. “I’m gonna try and crawl back to optimism now.”
On the work front, Nanjiani will appear in the forthcoming Marvel Studios film The Eternals, which is slated to open in theatres on November 5, 2021.
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