Ice-T's father-in-law hospitalized for coronavirus, warns people to wear masks

Ice-T is urging fans to take the coronavirus seriously by posting a photo of his hospitalized father-in-law who contracted the virus while not wearing a protective face mask.

The rapper and actor, who is married to Coco Austin, took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon to share a photo of his father-in-law, Steve Austin, with an oxygen mask on his face.

“My father-in-law ‘Coco’s dad’ was a serious ‘No Masker’ COVID hit him,” Ice-T wrote. “Pneumonia in both lungs.. 40 days in ICU close to death.. Now he’s on Oxygen indefinitely. Ohhh he’s a Believer now..”

Ice-T previously opened up about Steve’s battle with the virus and resulting pneumonia during an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The latest tweet, however, came after Ice-T retweeted a video of a maskless woman in New Jersey yelling at a bank teller saying, “I am a scientist. There is no corona,” with a sarcastic reply writing, “This Karen is a Scientist! In her mind…” One person responded to call Ice-T “crazy” and “dumb” for believing that the virus exists.

“I have 6 DEAD close friends from this virus,” he responded. “You need to shut the F*** up.”

Shortly after, Ice-T posted the photo of Steve to provide an example to his 1.8 million Twitter followers of how someone can put themselves at risk by not wearing a mask. He concluded the tweet with hashtag #COVIDisNotaGame and went on to reply to other comments.

”Some people think a Mask is a sign of weakness,” he tweeted before claiming that people who aren’t wearing masks are “listening to the President.”

Still, while some expressed that they weren’t sympathetic to those who contracted the virus by not following mask mandates or choosing not to wear one, Ice-T clarified that he didn’t wish sickness on anyone. Instead, he wrote that he felt so passionate about keeping people safe that he posted the photo of his father-in-law as a warning.

Coco didn’t share any information about her father’s illness on her own Twitter account. However, she did post photos on Monday of the birthday party that she and Ice-T threw for their daughter Chanel, who turned five on Saturday.

”So this years celebration for Chanel’s party was a tad different and we had a week to prepare and cause of the current situation (covid) we had a smaller group than normal but we still made it happen,” Coco tweeted alongside photos of partygoers not wearing masks.

When someone tweeted at Ice-T to share that people were complaining about the couple not adhering to regulations, he responded, “Everyone was safe and followed protocols.”

For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.

• What to do if you think you have the coronavirus

• What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

• Glossary of public health terms to stay informed

• The most common ways the coronavirus is transmitted

• How to maintain your physical and mental health during the pandemic

• Taking care of a loved one with COVID-19? Here’s how to stay healthy

• COVID-19 and pregnancy: What we know so far

• How to find a job, unemployment insurance

• Q&A with Dr. Kavita Patel: How to keep your family safe and maintain your mental health

• Opening and cleaning delivery packages

• Tips for grocery shopping

• How to deal with potentially contaminated money

• How to do your laundry safely

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

• Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T mourn 45-year-old 'SVU' crew member dead from coronavirus complications

• Rita Ora apologizes for breaking lockdown rules with her 30th birthday party: 'This was a serious and inexcusable error of judgment'

• Matt Leinart is the latest celebrity to face backlash for complaining about COVID-19 restrictions