Government agencies are doing everything they can to stop the spread of COVID-19. From the CDC preparing school districts for lockdowns to robots and drones being used to minimize human-to-human contact, everyone is getting in on the action. But Vietnam may come out the winner with their new coronavirus dance song, a PSA about handwashing and sanitation that is so catchy it’s become a TikTok and YouTube viral video.
“Vietnam made a song about washing your hands to prevent coronavirus infection, and it absolutely slaps,” said John Oliver on the latest episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. “That’s a genuine club banger right there.”
Here is the original Vietnam coronavirus song with English subtitles. According to Nikki Châu Ngọc Trân who provided the translation, “I took some tiny creative license with the translation to make the text flow in English, such as ‘fight coronavirus’ instead of ‘push back coronavirus.'”
Produced by the Vietnamese Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health, the video was intended “to empower and strengthen trust in the community, so that we can join hands to combat COVID-19 (aka nCoV-2019).”
While we don’t know if it’s empowering or strengthening anyone, but it has become hugely popular. Dancer Quang Dang created his own routine to the catchy tune, posted it to social media, and the Vietnam coronavirus song has become the hottest new viral video dance challenge on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Hashtags like #ghencovychallenge, #VietnamDance, and #coronavirusdance are popularizing the videos — so much so that they came to John Oliver’s attention.
Here is a compilation of the coronavirus viral videos, starting with Quang Dang’s original and moving on to others.
And here’s Oliver’s clip from Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
Quang Dang’s original video.