As the coronavirus continues to spread, governments are taking action in an attempt to keep their countries’ residents safe. Vietnam in particular seems to have nailed the awareness strategy by releasing a wildly catchy PSA promoting preventative measures such as hand-washing and sanitation, as highlighted on the latest episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
“Ghen Co Vy,” based on the melody of the V-pop hit “Ghen,” was written by Khac Hung, in collaboration with the National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health. It’s performed by the tune’s original singers ERIK and MIN. The goal is to communicate how to protect yourself from the virus and boost public morale.
“Vietnam made a song about washing your hands to prevent coronavirus infection, and it absolutely slaps,” Oliver said on Sunday’s episode (watch the full segment below). “That’s a genuine club banger right there.”
The song will get stuck in your head for days, but the accompanying animated video is equally fun to watch. The YouTube clip currently has almost 300,000 views since it was uploaded on Feb. 22.
The infectious track got so much attention, it sparked a trending dance called the #ghencovychallenge on TikTok, choreographed by popular dancer Quang Dang. Since his post, hundreds of others have put their own spin on the dance, which includes swagged-out movements mimicking hand-scrubbing.
“I want to use my own language (dance) to spread the right information about fighting Covid-19 to as many people as possible,” Quang Dang tells Billboard about his decision to launch a dance challenge to a coronavirus PSA. “Especially the young people! They usually don’t get the right information.
“I think knowledge is power, this is the information era,” he continues. “We have false information everywhere. So getting the right awareness and right information is very important so we can use our power in the right way.”
Watch the dance challenge and Oliver’s full Last Week Tonight segment on coronavirus below.