‘What a jerk.’ Elon Musk sparks outrage after he calls coronavirus panic ‘dumb’

Elon Musk is getting backlash for his comments about coronavirus.

The Tesla and SpaceX founder tweeted on Friday that the panic surrounding the coronavirus outbreak is “dumb.”

“The coronavirus panic is dumb,” he wrote.

Over 101,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide — with more than 300 cases in the U.S. — and more than 3,400 people have died so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.

People were quick to respond to Musk’s tweet.

“I guess someone with your type of wealth would consider it dumb,” one Twitter user wrote. “The rest of us are figuring out game plans for surviving a worst case scenario without unlimited resources and money...”

“This is irresponsible,” another wrote. “What a jerk. People have died. Do you know what is like to struggle to breathe? I do. It is horrifying.”

Some called out Musk and his company.

“I’m totally amazed that somebody who owns a company where employees can’t work from home would call taking steps to protect workplaces from a highly-infectious disease ‘dumb’...” another wrote.

Others kept it short.

“Sure is easy to say when u are a billionaire,” wrote another Twitter user.

Not all disagreed with Musk’s assessment of the outbreak.

“It has been blown way out of proportion,” someone wrote.

Police were called to a Costco in California after customers were angry that toilet paper, water, paper towels were sold out due to coronavirus-related shortages.

Coronavirus fears have also led to an unstable week for Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average sliding 250 points at close Friday, according to The Washington Post.

Economists warn that the outbreak, causing people to stop traveling and attending events, could have adverse effects on the economy, according to The New York Times.