Hand washing memes are going viral after Coronavirus advice
9 March 2020, 13:15
COVID-19 cases are rapidly growing, and following advice from the NHS and WHO, the internet has responded to hand washing instructions with a bucket tonne of memes.
Coronavirus has already made this year the most dramatic we’ve had in a while, and despite the fact that the chance of getting the illness seems to be rapidly growing, naturally, the internet is still finding a way to make it seem absolutely hilarious.
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The latest culprit? Hand washing. The UK and US governments have been offering extensive guides on how to wash your hands (as if people don’t do it ten times a day), and have recommended using the power of song to get you through the 20 seconds it requires to kill all that lovely bacteria.
Because the NHS is a public service, unfortunately Doja Cat wasn’t on their recommendations list, but ‘Happy Birthday’ seems to do the trick. Except, it’s not anyone’s birthday, and who are you supposed to be singing ‘to’ when that part comes around? We need answers here.
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The prospect seems to be making a lot of us with #firstworldproblems uncomfortable, so Twitter has come through with song suggestions to wash your hands to, and we can absolutely get behind all of them.
Soap at the ready…
millennial handwashing tip:
— PopBuzz (@popbuzz) March 4, 2020
if you want to make sure you wash your hands for 20 seconds, start singing 'somebody else' by the 1975 from "so i heard you found somebody else" to "the rest i" and you won't need to wash your hands anymore cause you'll be drenched in tears
Suggestion of something to sing while washing your hands: pic.twitter.com/YUMmo3gC3G
— Rachael Krishna (@RachaelKrishna) March 5, 2020
Thrilled to confirm that the chorus of I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys lasts exactly 20 seconds and is therefore an excellent hand washing song
— camilla whitehill (@camillavalerie_) March 2, 2020
important question: if you're one of the people who sings the birthday song while hand-washing, what name do you put in the "dear ________"
— Ariel Edwards-Levy (@aedwardslevy) March 5, 2020
My new hand-washing song is the chorus of "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance because I'm an emo to the end.
— Valerie Ettenhofer (@aandeandval) March 3, 2020
— Tender Ratchet🎃🌈 (@ematsca) March 5, 2020
if 21 seconds by so solid crew isn't your hand washing song you're a scab tbh - ideally it should be the romeo verse
— Ruairi (@ruairicosta) March 5, 2020
can't believe clean by taylor swift works perfectly pic.twitter.com/70S0DgpOEn
— sam langford (@_slangers) March 8, 2020
@carlyraejepsen helping stop viruses pic.twitter.com/F00iZtGUrk
— words that rhyme with corey (@iggigg) March 9, 2020
Want to try it for yourself? Get your Spotify out and pick a song, because one Twitter user (albeit, an icon for this), has created a website that generates your favourite song lyrics into the perfect 20 second hand-washing poster.
Oh, you're in the mood for Post Malone today? You can have Post Malone. In fact, you can have whatever song you want providing the lyrics are on Genius, and can be instantly generated to print out.
🎶 I made a little site in 24h that generates hand washing instructions accompanied by lyrics from a song of your choice instantly - check it out!
— William (@neoncloth) March 8, 2020
🔗 https://t.co/JKAQRYy5Yz pic.twitter.com/S1bDLyKt6C
While admittedly we've spent all day putting the most obscure songs into the generator, it's a great way of encouraging people to wash their hands. BRB, got some Stupid Love listening to do...
