Rachel Kiley
The rise of the coronavirus has caused a worldwide panic, as health departments and scientists try to keep everyone calm and explain the best ways for us to protect ourselves from catching the disease.
The World Health Organization got a TikTok to spread information, memes about handwashing are going viral, but Vietnam took an approach that will be a little more familiar to those of us who grew up with tunes from Schoolhouse Rock to teach us about the world.
“Ghen Cô Vy” is the new coronavirus song that no one can get out of their heads.
Based on the Vietnamese pop hit “Ghen” by Min and Erik, the PSA was rewritten by lyricist Khac Hun with the help of Vietnam’s National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health.
Like most useful information about coronavirus, the song mainly stresses the idea of washing your hands, not touching your face, and staying away from crowds as much as possible. But “Ghen Cô Vy” does it in a way that will have these rules running through your head in the catchiest tune at all times—at least if you speak Vietnamese.
Check it out for yourself (and maybe turn on subtitles):
It wasn’t long before the catchy song spawned a catchy dance, because this is just the way the world works, even on the cusp of a pandemic.
Quang Dang shared a hand-motion heavy dance video to the tune about defeating coronavirus on TikTok last month.
@im.quangdang Cùng nâng cao và bảo vệ sức khỏe bằng cách lan tỏa ##vudieuruatay Bạn sẵn sàng tham gia cùng Đăng chứ? 😉 ##quangdang ##tiktokvietnam
Naturally, it’s gone viral as well, even spawning the #GhenCoVyChallenge.
@minminmin0712Cùng ##Min tham gia ##ghencovychallenge ##handwashingmove và ghi nhớ các cách phòng chống dịch cho chính bạn và gia đình nhé! ##vudieuruatay ##fightcorona♬ Ghen Cô Vy (Vũ Điệu Rửa Tay) #2 – Khắc Hưng, MIN, ERIK
@erikkkofficialCùng ##Erik tham gia ##GhenCovyChallenge ##HandWashingMove và ghi nhớ các cách phòng chống dịch cho chính bạn và gia đình nhé! ##FightCorona ##VuDieuRuaTay♬ Ghen Cô Vy (Vũ Điệu Rửa Tay) #2 – Khắc Hưng, MIN, ERIK
@anhltn_92##vudieuruatay phiên bản toàn thân :)) ##timefortiktok ##tiktokdance ##tiktokvietnam ##fpt ##fptsoftware ##fsofthn ##ghencovychallenge ##erik ##vache♬ Ghen Cô Vy (Vũ Điệu Rửa Tay) – Khắc Hưng, MIN, ERIK
@tuantran.sunBiệt đội chống Corona tới đây ⚔️##tuantran ##ghencovychallenge ##handwashchallenge ##vudieuruatay ##handwashing ##tiktok ##fightcovid19♬ Ghen Cô Vy (Vũ Điệu Rửa Tay) – Khắc Hưng, MIN, ERIK
With so much misinformation going around about coronavirus, even from our own governments, getting information to people in an easily understandable format is imperative. And if that means YouTube songs and TikTok videos, we’re glad to see people stepping up to the challenge.
