A schoolteacher has shared a simple trick on social media this week, which aims to ensure that kids are washing their hands properly during the coronavirus pandemic.
Shauna Woods, who teaches at Hallsville Schools in Missouri, has started stamping the backs of children’s hands with her own personal stamp. But she's not marking them as read. Instead, her idea is that if her charges have washed their hands properly, then the stamp will be erased by the time the bell rings for them to go home at the end of the day.
Watch this video on how you can spot the early warning signs of coronavirus below:Taking to her Facebook page 'Mrs Woods 3rd Grade', she uploaded a picture of her ingenious hack, and captioned it: "We are doing our best in room 550 to keep the germs away. Students got stamps on their hands this morning. If it’s gone by the end of the day from washing their hands, they get a prize. ? We are trying. [sic]"
A report from the World Health Organization has now declared that the COVID-19 is a pandemic, writing in a statement: "WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
The statement continued: "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."
As of the time of this article being written, there have now been more than 135,832 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries worldwide. Of these, 4,990 people have lost their lives.