The Best Songs to Sing While You’re Washing Your Hands to Prevent Coronavirus

As the coronavirus COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, health officials are reiterating the importance of washing one’s hands properly.

Twenty seconds is the minimum amount of time people should spend scrubbing with soap if they want to prevent infection, The Centers of Disease Control Prevention (CDC) says.

Amid rising death rates and growing concerns about a global pandemic, most advice coming from health ministries has been alarming. But in some countries, coronavirus prevention has taken a turn for the melodic.

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From Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5 to God Save the Queen, health officials around the world are suggesting tunes to wash your hands to:

Happy Birthday

National health ministries around the world have suggested people sing “happy birthday” twice as they scrub their hands. The CDC even provides some alternative lyrics to the Patty and Mildred J. Hill classic:

God Save The Queen

Some politicians are turning hand-washing into an act of patriotism. Andrew Selous, a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom has proposed citizens sing the first verse of the national anthem “God Save the Queen” while washing their hands. Britain’s health minister had the same suggestion in an interview over the weekend:

“You should wash your hands with soap and hot water… for as long as you’re singing either ‘Happy Birthday’ or ‘God Save The Queen.”

Health Secretary @MattHancock on how to stop the spread of coronavirus. @BBCkatyaadler pic.twitter.com/hUnaXcpYXj

— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) March 1, 2020

 

Putin Is A Dickhead

In some countries, singing while washing your hands is political.

The ex-minister of health in Ukraine, Ulyana Suprun, said that people should sing the song “Putin – khuilo!” commonly translated as “Putin is a dickhead” while cleaning your hands.

The song, which originated during a football match in 2014 during the Russian annexation of Crimea, has become popular throughout Ukraine among supporters of the Ukrainian government.

The Ecuadorian Hand-Washing Song

In Ecuador, health officials have gone the extra mile, writing a song about coronavirus that explains its history, how it is spread and how it can be prevented — complete with a catchy dance. Altogether now, “Coronavirus, coronavirus!”

Mambo No. 5

Many people have taken to Twitter, making their own song suggestions for washing up from Cher’s Believe to Lou Bega’s Mambo No.5.

If you don’t want to sing Happy Birthday (twice, slowly = the recommended 20 seconds) or God Save The Queen, might I recommend the chorus of any of the following:

• Mambo No 5
• Maniac 2000
• Bat Out of Hell
• Cher’s Believe https://t.co/UzW45SQtIm

— Nicky Ryan (@NickyRyan_) March 1, 2020

 

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Contributor: Mélissa Godin