Hospital dance clips lighten virus gloom in hard-hit Iran

In coronavirus-hit Iran, healthcare workers are not just treating patients — doctors and nurses are also lifting spirits with light-hearted dance performances that have spread massively on social media.

In a series of short video clips, medical staff dressed in surgical masks and protective medical clothing can be seen dancing in symbolic defiance of the outbreak that has claimed more than 100 lives in the country.

Iranians have widely shared the videos apparently shot in hospital wards and operating theaters, the dancers’ identities disguised by hospital scrubs and face covers as they wiggle and shake to Iranian pop and traditional tunes.

Multiple clips can be found on Twitter marked in English as “coronavirus iran dancing,” although AFP could not verify the authenticity of the individual videos.

— AFP

The new dance craze in Iran’s Coronavirus wards. pic.twitter.com/c1zBRGU81U

— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) March 3, 2020

My favorite of the #Coronavirus dance vids from #Iran.

Educational wash your hands ???????? pic.twitter.com/ypKgQH6Juu

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 5, 2020

A dance therapy: Medics in #Iran launched a "dancing challenge" to boost morale during the tough period of battling #coronavirus. #COVID19 @Iran https://t.co/YCBfASfOGp

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 4, 2020