The coronavirus has the whole world on edge, but in China, where the epidemic originated, people are taking every precaution to avoid catching the virus, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.

A Chinese woman identified only as Ms. He went viral recently after being video-recorded while visiting a hospital in Luzhou, China’s south-western Sichuan Province, in a rather unusual getup – a giant inflatable giraffe costume. In the short clip posted by Chinese video platform Pear Video, the woman can be seen walking around in the awkward brown plastic costume with only a small window of clear plastic film to see through.

Asked why she donned the party costume Ms He said that as the strongest member of her family, it fell to her to visit the hospital where her father usually treated his respiratory problems before the coronavirus epidemic and ask his doctor to perform a virtual checkup, through a webcam. She did put on an expired medical mask she had lying around the house, but fearing it wasn’t enough to protect her, she decided to put on the plastic giraffe costume as well.

“I have been wearing this mask for a while,” Ms He said about her face mask, which had apparently expired in 2017. “There’s no face mask available for sale.”

 

Recorded by hospital staff for her unusual attire, Ms. He has been doing the rounds on Chinese social media, putting a smile on people’s faces at a time when they really needed something positive in their lives.