Will Smith fears coronavirus could "move through humanity" at a catastrophic speed.

Coronavirus on Female First

Coronavirus on Female First

The 51-year-old actor has admitted he harbours concerns over whether the US healthcare system will be able to cope with the pandemic, unless the American public practices social distancing as a matter of urgency.

Posing a hypothetical scenario on on 'Red Table Talk', Will explained: "Imagine that our local hospital can handle 40 respiratory patients at one time. And under normal circumstances, 40 respiratory patients, for that hospital, is a lot. You know, they'll be at 12 or 15, so they can handle it.

"The way the virus is moving and the reason why we need to practice social distancing and the idea of flattening the curve is if 50 people show up at that hospital at one time, to get 40 beds, right, now you have 10 people in critical condition that aren't going to get help."

The Hollywood star - who was joined on the show by his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith, their daughter Willow, Will's son Trey and Jada's mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones - fears the healthcare system could be overwhelmed by the pandemic.

He continued: "Your mortality rate shoots through the roof. That's the idea of overwhelming the system.

"So there is a certain amount of people that we can handle nationally to come in with critical respiratory issues at one moment."

Will feels that social distancing is the key to easing pressure on the healthcare system.

He explained: "Flattening the curve means not getting to 80 people at one time, we practice social distancing, the virus is going to move through humanity.

"But as it moves through, we want it to move through at 30 people at a time for our local hospital, not 60 people at a time for our local hospital, because then we have a real problem."