The man who filmed himself licking a toilet bowl for the so-called "coronavirus challenger" in the social media site TikTok, is now reportedly in the hospital ill with the life-threatening disease.
In the bizarre video, the man was seen placing his mouth around the toilet bowl and extending his tongue.
Good Morning Britain's Piers Morgan said that the same man on the video is now admitted at a hospital and is getting treatment. He also stated how he thinks the American got "karma" after taking the outbreak lightly and caught the bug himself.
The Coronavirus Challenge
People online, most of them teenagers has engaged in the so-called "coronavirus challenge" and posted photos of themselves licking objects in public places amid the coronavirus pandemic which has infected hundreds of thousands worldwide. The activity has been deemed and slammed by health experts as "highly irresponsible" and dangerous according to Mirror.
After the video of the guy licking the toilet bowl went viral, several users of the social media site followed suit and posted their own version of the challenge, which contradicts the repeated recommendations and warnings of health authorities.
However, it was not him that started this craze, it all started when a TikTok influencer posted a clip of herself licking a toilet in a plane as the background repeatedly says "it's corona time"
Please RT this so people can know how to properly be sanitary on the airplane pic.twitter.com/x7GX9b4Lxc — Ava Louise (ig @avalouiise) (@realavalouiise) March 14, 2020
Read also: VIRAL VIDEO: COVID-19 Patients in Spanish Hospitals Lie on the Hospital Floors
TikTok removes "coronavirus challenge" content form their site
According to Metro, the media platform, TikTok has announced that they would be removing all the videos of the said challenge from their site. However, as of Tuesday night, videos of other people licking car door handles, scooters and other surfaces were still up on the website.
The videos of the #CoronavirusChallenge have accumulated 931.6 million on TikTok. Confusion also arose since the World Health Organization and British Red Cross have been using the same hashtag to share advice about the pandemic.
According to Tiktok, the said challenge and contents of the same natures have violated their guidelines, thus they vowed to remove any content that is reported.
Meanwhile, another "corona challenge" emerged online and it has people coughing and spitting on others causing fear and panic
TikTok Pledges $10million COVID-19 aid
Despite the negativity that some users brought due to the "coronavirus challenge", TikTok has announced its partnership with WHO on launching a new COVID-19 information resource on the social media site.
Aside from this, TikTok also pledged $10 million to aid in the battle against COVID-19.
In a statement, TikTok expressed their gratitude in seeing the global community join the frontliners who are currently battling the dreaded virus. Adding that they believe that it is essential to do everything possible to help the world in this crisis, hence, they will be donating $10 million to the WHO Solidarity Response Fund.
TikTok has joined several online platforms that have contributed in the fight against the pandemic. Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn are among other platforms that have donated to the same cause.
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