The stars of the viral pandemic movie "Contagion" have reunited to film a series of public service announcements (PSA) on March 27 to warn about COVID-19, urging fans to follow experts' instructions.

The 2011 movie, starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne and Jennifer Ehle, has seen a surge in popularity recently as the coronavirus has spread across the globe.

The four actors teamed up with scientists from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health to offer four individual homemade videos with advice on ways to contain the coronavirus and messages of confidence, unity for everyone.

"A few years ago a bunch of us did this movie called 'Contagion' which we've noticed is creeping its way back up on the charts on iTunes for obvious reasons," Damon explained in his video.

'This is real life'

"That was a movie. This is real life," said Damon, who played a character who was immune to the virus in the movie, urging people to listen to the experts and practice social distancing.

He concluded: "Other generations were asked to do extraordinary things, we're being asked to just stay at home."

Winslet, who played an epidemiologist trying to contain the spread of the hypothetical virus, recalled the time she spent with some public health experts to prepare for her role, and shared one of the most important things she learned from the professionals.

"Wash your hands like your life depends on it," Winslet said in her PSA spot as she washed her hands, showing people a demonstration of how to do it properly.

"Because right now, in particular, it just might," said the celebrated British actress, adding that, "The health of our society is quite literally in your hands."

In Ehle's video, she stressed that the coronavirus is new, meaning that no-one is immune. "Every single one of us, regardless of age or ethnicity, is at risk of getting it," she said.

Additionally, Fishburne appealed to helping medical staff dealing with the coronavirus and flattening the curve together.

"If we can slow this thing down, it will give our doctors and our nurses in our hospitals a fighting chance to help us all get through this thing together," the actor added.

Movie epitomizes coronavirus fight

The movie cast's PSA videos then went viral on Chinese social media following their release, with "ContagionCastOnPandemicPrevention" soon becoming one of the hottest hashtags on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo and accumulating more than 140 million views so far.

A user commented: "It is impressive that the character Kate played was still thinking about saving and taking care of others even when she herself was surviving after being infected."

"That is indeed an epitome of the doctors and nurses currently fighting on the frontline."

Given its the similarities to the current pandemic, "Contagion" has been drawing great attention since the coronavirus outbreak began. The rentals, sales and downloads of the movie have skyrocketed in recent weeks.

It climbed to the 10th place on Friday on the iTunes movie charts for the U.S., one spot above the newly-released "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

The prescient thriller, directed by Steven Soderbergh, follows a mysterious deadly infection that spreads quickly around the world, causing a breakdown in society, and efforts by medical staff and scientists to save lives and find a cure.

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