AceShowbiz - Prince William should think twice the next time he jokes about sensitive issues. The Duke of Cambridge has recently left people fuming for making light of the growing coronavirus spread when attending a party hosted by the British ambassador Robin Barnett on his first of three-day royal tour of Ireland.

Attending a reception at the Gravity bar at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin on Tuesday, March 3, the 37-year-old royal talked to paramedic Joe Mooney from the National Ambulance Service about the hysteria caused by COVID-19. "I bet everyone's like, 'I've got Coronavirus, I'm dying,' and you're like, 'No, you've just got a cough,' " he was quoted as saying.

"Does it seem quite dramatic about Coronavirus at the moment? Is it being a little bit hyped up do you think in the media?" the husband of Kate Middleton asked before throwing in a jab at the crisis. "By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus. Sorry." He added, "We're keeping an eye on that, so do tell us if we need to stop."

Many quickly took issue with William's "insensitive" joke. One wrote on Twitter, "Hate to have to point out the obvious...but, William is an overprivileged, ignorant & insensitive jacka**. And, whether the authorities want to classify coronavirus as a pandemic or not, that's exactly what it's turning out to be..."

Another sarcastically stated, "The future future King of England. 2019-Bored on Racism. 2020-Jokes about Corona Virus. Nice one England, u've got Prince William as ur futue King. Good luck to ur country." A third chimed in, "So these royalties (prince William and Kate) think it is funny to make a joke of Corona virus? Someone please enlighten them it has a crown-like shape."

Despite the online bashing, a number of others have come to the royal's defense. "He did not joke about people dying. He joked about the hysteria over the virus. Here, where I live, you cannot find a single bottle of hand sanitizer. People are reacting instead of thinking. I think we need to keep his comment in perspective," a social media user in particular replied to the comment that called the brother of Prince Harry an "idiot."

While no deaths due to the deadly virus have been reported in the U.K. so far, the number of people in the country infected with it have reportedly jumped to a total of 87. William and his wife, however, did not seem to let it affect their interaction with the public, since the two of them were seen shaking hands with many during their visit.