Iconic Canadian musician Jann Arden livestreamed a special mini-concert Monday, as the country moved to more drastic social distancing measures amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, British Columbia moved to ban gatherings of more than 50 people, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the closure of the border to non-citizens and asked Canadians to stay home as much as possible.
Arden said the concert is meant to bring light to people during a frightening and stressful time.
“Most people are probably sitting either at home or some place they would normally not at three o’clock in the afternoon. So I just thought, I’m going to do a little mini concert. I’m just going to sing some songs.”
The concert will be streamed on Arden’s Facebook page at 3 p.m. MT (5 p.m ET, 2 p.m. PT).
“We’re just going to play some songs and have some laughs. It isn’t all gloom and doom. My God, we live in modern times where … we’re communicating right now globally,” she said.
“Imagine had they had any even a fraction of this kind of information, say, in 1918 with the Spanish flu circling the globe?“
Arden said amid the fear that COVID-19 has sparked, she’s been heartened by how people and businesses have risen to the challenge, offering financial support and help to bring supplies to those in self-isolation.
LISTEN: Jann Arden talks about live-streamed mini-concert amid pandemic
She said Canada’s response reminds her of the way her grandparents spoke of people’s resilience during the Great Depression and two world wars.
Efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus have seen live performances cancelled across the country.
Canada’s Juno Awards have been scrapped, while Live Nation has suspended scheduled concerts.
Ardenn was meant to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Junos.
Canada has confirmed more than 400 cases of COVID-19 and recorded four deaths — all in B.C.
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