Police around the world use the ‘coffin dance’ to raise awareness about coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic generated hundreds of memes, social media posts and videos on the internet. None have gained as much popularity and spawned dozens of versions around the globe as the “coffin dance.”

In 2017, a BBC video report of a group of six dancing pallbearers in Ghana went viral, garnering millions of views worldwide.

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Three years later, social media users paired the footage with a decade old track from Russian composer and artist Tony Igy called “Astronomia,” and the darkly-humorous “coronavirus coffin dance” was born.

The pallbearers even posted a video message after acquiring internet fame, thanking all first responders and doctors, while telling people to "stay at home or dance with us."

Now, police officers around the world are imitating the “coffin dance” and posting videos as public service announcements.

In Tamil Nadu, a state in south India, police posted a video of their own version of the “coffin dance,” and asked people to stay at home.

In Peru, police officers in a province north of the capital Lima, danced while carrying a coffin on their shoulders, to warn people of the dangers of COVID-19.

Cops in Colombia also resorted to the infamous “coffin dance” to encourage people to stay at home.

People shared videos of Spanish police patrolling the mostly-empty streets due to the coronavirus curfews, saying that the cars blasted the “coffin dance” song from their speakers instead of a siren.

An advertisement agency in Malaysia used the "coffin dance" meme to create a PSA titled "How to summon death." The short video is a funny mini-horror film, showing a man taking the right hygenic precautions to avoid coronavirus infection, such as using sanitizers and wearing face masks when leaving the house.

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