Evangeline Lilly is remaining very calm amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Canadian actress, 40, is going about her days as if there weren’t quarantine guidelines in place to help stop the spread of COVID-19, she admitted in a post on Instagram, March 16. Despite living with her father, who has stage four leukemia, Evangeline has chosen not to self-quarantine or practice social distancing “all in the name of a respiratory flu.”
The actress shared two photos of her cup of tea on Monday morning, and let fans know that she allowed her children to attend their daily activities. “Just dropped my kids off at gymnastics camp. They all washed their hands before going in. They are playing and laughing,” Evangeline captioned the post, adding the hashtag, #businessasusual. Her angered many fans, who argued in the comments that she isn’t taking the global health crisis seriously.
In response to one fan who called Evangeline “irresponsible” for not staying home, the actress said that “we’re all … reacting in different ways to the conclusions we draw.” In other responses, she shared more of her reasoning behind not self-quarantining.
“I am living with my father at the moment, who has stage four lukemia [sic]. I am also immune compromised at the moment. I have two young kids,” the actress wrote in response to a different fan. “Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make our choices. With love and respect. EL.”
In another reply, Evangeline called coronavirus a “respiratory flu,” and questioned the government’s approach to handling the pandemic.
“I’m having those conversations daily with people in my inner circle and am always considering and reconsidering my position,” she wrote. “Where we are right now feels a lot too close to Marshall Law for my comfort already, all in the name of a respiratory flu. It’s unnerving.”
One fan wrote to the actress and expressed her concern over being in New Mexico during a lockdown. Evangeline responded, and suggested that information the public has received about the virus so far, doesn’t seem to “add up.”
“I think we all need to slow down, take a breath and look at the facts we are being presented with. They do not add up to the all-out, global lockdown, control, pandemonia and insanity we are experiencing,” she wrote. “I hope that people will find their peace and sanity where you are soon. Sending you loving prayers.”