How ‘Daniel Tiger’ can help soothe a scared, lonely, quarantined kid

“Mom, does Dad have the virus?” my daughter asked me from the back seat of the car. My husband was isolating after a high fever, chills, and a negative flu test.

“I don’t know,” I told her as we drove. “We’re waiting to find out. But if he does, remember his immune system is keeping him protected.”

I wasn’t sure of this, knowing that thousands of people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But I wasn’t about to tell that to a 5-year-old. Instead, I started to sing.

“And the first stage is….” I began.

“…when cells called macrophages, chew the virus till antigens abound!” she continued.

We kept going, belting out the anthem we’ve sung dozens of times since the pandemic shut things down in the U.S. in March: the “What is a Virus?” song from the Netflix show Ask the StoryBots.

We’re not alone. The video for the song, published online on March 12, 2020 (which I cannot believe is a coincidence), has over three million views. As it should, because it’s a bop. “What is a Virus?” is a pandemic earworm I can get behind. It’s upbeat, and scientifically accurate without being scary.

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