Coronavirus dance challenge: Vietnamese health department awareness song is a 'genuine club-banger'
Even as President Donald Trump faces criticism for belittling the threat posed by the coronavirus currently gripping the world, Vietnam has come up with a brilliant song to spread awareness regarding the deadly virus in their country. The catchy song in question has gone viral to such an extent that people are now taking to TikTok to post dance challenge videos on the song.
The original video, posted by the health department, included a bunch of fun animations to explain the dos and don'ts to keep oneself from contracting the virus. The song playing in the background with an unforgettable tune is called 'Jealous' – or 'Ghen' in Vietnamese – and was sung by singers Erik and Min.
The catchphrase was easy enough to understand - “push back the virus Corona, Corona”. The English-translated form of some of the lyrics told people to “rub, rub, rubbing evenly” and limit “visits to crowded places”.
"We want the song to give fire and reduce tension for those... leading this fight, including experts, doctors, medical workers and millions of laborers who are on the frontline to fight this epidemic daily," the health ministry posted in the video's description. "Vietnam is determined to win this epidemic!"
Vietnam had 16 confirmed cases of the virus so far although all of the patients have recovered and have been sent home. After the video went viral online, with thousands of views on YouTube, it also featured on HBO’s popular show, 'Last Week Tonight', where host John Oliver called it a “genuine club-banger”.
The show was also where American viewers learned that the song is being performed as a challenge on TikTok.
The song was turned into a dance performance first by internet personality Quang Dang, who has nearly 300,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram. He posted a video where he and another dancer grooved to the tune on a street with food vendors. The video went up with government-issued hashtag #ghencovychallenge and it has since been viewed over 1.1 million times.
After that, the youth of Vietnam have taken it upon themselves to post varying performances on the song, including office workers shaking a leg at their desks and even people dressed in the Hmong ethnic minority outfits dancing in front of a waterfall.