The South African rocket mogul came under fire on Twitter after writing a rather controversial post about the coronavirus outbreak. On Friday the UK saw the biggest single number of cases. Coronavirus cases rose from 115 on Thursday to 164 on Friday.
There are currently two confirmed deaths linked to the virus in the UK.
Similar surges have been seen in Italy, which has has the highest number of infections in Europe, with 4,636 cases and 197 deaths.
France currently has 613 confirmed cases of coronavirus and a death toll of nine.
However, Elon Musk took to Twitter to discuss his own feelings about the reaction to the deadly disease.
In a tweet which gained over 800,000 likes, he said: “The coronavirus panic is dumb.”
The tweet gained over 23,000 comments as users slammed the South African multimillionaire for downplaying the seriousness of the virus.
One user tweeted: “I was a nurse for 35+ years,
“concern is real, the virus is real and spreading. Deaths are happening.
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“I didn’t get the memo.” slammed a third.
“I guess someone with your type of wealth would consider it dumb.
“The rest of us are figuring out game plans for surviving a worst case scenario without unlimited resources and money…” added another.
The tweet comes as elderly are being urged to stay at home as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the UK.
Elderly people are at greater risk of contracting the disease, the mortality rate for the general population is thought to be between 1 and 2 per cent.
However, this rises to 8 per cent to those in their 70s, and to 15 per cent for over-80s.
Elderly people with underlying conditions are at even greater risk.
As the UK moves into the “delay phase” efforts are set to focus on measures to be taken into the coming weeks in an attempt to slow the spread.
The coronavirus crisis has been worsening as cases rose to a staggering 164 as of last night.
Next week, ministers are expected to announce that Britain has reached the point where all hope of preventing an epidemic has been lost.
A Number 10 spokesman said: “We are still in the containment phase.
“As the CMO said, it is now highly likely that the infection will spread in a significant way. Officials will therefore accelerate work on the delay phase of the Government’s plan.”