Worried about the spread of coronavirus? Well, never fear because Ellen DeGeneres has got us all covered with a fun tutorial for how to wash your hands effectively.
In a comic monologue that she dubbed her “first ever coronalogue” presented on her show, DeGeneres runs the audience through the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines for effective handwashing.
Demonstrating the correct handwashing procedure live for the audience, DeGeneres reached step six of the recommended hand washing procedure which tells people to wash their thumbs.
Looking at the audience she asked, “How can you not clean your thumbs? Who’s just washing and avoiding their thumbs?”
After lathering up, she told the audience that they need to wash their hands for 20 seconds or the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice.
Deciding against a Happy Birthday soundtrack to her handwashing demonstration, DeGeneres chose instead to wash her hands to Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing.
Having finally washed her hands, DeGeneres told the audience, “Got a little dirty there, but I’ve never felt so clean.”
She’s not the only one having a bit of fun with the WHO guidelines for handwashing.
One social media commentator took to Twitter telling followers “I’m tired of singing Happy Birthday and you probably are too, so I’ve done the very important public service of compiling other songs with roughly 20 sec choruses to sing”.
The list included a number of classics including Beyonce’s Love on Top, Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide and Dolly Parton’s Joelene. Additional artists featured on the list were Prince, Toto and Lizzo.
Some users took recommended songs and ran with them. Some even went as far as to change the words to Toto’s Africa to remind themselves why they needed to sing while washing their hands.
Other social media users were quick to jump on board with their own song suggestions. One recommended Staying Alive by the Bee Gees adding that it “also doubles as the cadence for doing CPR massage. One song, two vital health uses!”
Another user suggested the chorus of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance but was quickly shot down as they were reminded that the same song “goes on to say ‘I want your ugly, I want your disease’”.
Other users also suggested songs like Michael Jackson’s Thriller and The Killers’ Mr Brightside as songs with roughly twenty second choruses.
But as one commentator , for those of us who are really worried about preventing the disease, “Bohemian Rhapsody ought to get the job done.”
Zoe Victoria is a freelance writer. You can follow Zoe on Twitter
