After Participating In "Coronavirus Challenge," Influencer Who Licked Toilet Seat Reportedly Hospitalized For COVID-19

Social media influencer Larz "GayShawnMendes" from Beverly Hills, California claims he has been hospitalized with the coronavirus after licking a toilet seat for a TikTok challenge known as the "Coronavirus Challenge."

On Friday, March 20th, 2020, Larz posted footage of himself participating in the social media challenge to his account showing him licking the rim of a toilet bowl in a public restroom alongside a message that read, "RT to spread awareness for the Coronavirus." Two days later on Sunday, March 22nd, he then uploaded footage of himself lying in a hospital bed stating that he had contracted the virus in a tweet captioned, "I tested positive for Coronavirus." Larz's Twitter account has since been suspended for violating the platform's rules, and the tweets are now deleted.

The originator of the Coronavirus Challenge is Instagram model Ava Louise, who tweeted a repost of her original TikTok video (since deleted) to her Twitter account on March 14th, 2020, under the caption "Please RT this so people can know how to properly be sanitary on the airplane." In this video, Louise can be seen licking the seat of an airplane toilet seat with the text "Coronavirus Challenge" overlaid on the footage.

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

Though this particular online craze is perhaps the most prominent, it's far from the only example. According to the Daily Mail, Larz was also part of similar social media challenges, one of which included licking tubs of ice cream at various grocery stores and supermarkets before replacing the lids and returning them to freezers in the store.

Another example has been making the rounds on social media lately featuring a man from Warrenton, Missouri who posted a video of himself licking several items at a Walmart store stating, "Who's afraid of the coronavirus?" Cody Pfister, the man in this footage, was recently arrested for the stunt. According to the Riverfront Times, Pfister has since been charged with "terrorist threat" by Warren County prosecutors.

That’s a crime, actually. pic.twitter.com/8gZha4t5cu

— Ezra Levant 🇨🇳🦠 (@ezralevant) March 22, 2020

On March 24th, a North Carolina man named Justin Rhodes was similarly arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after he streamed a video on Facebook Live from a local Walmart where he stated he was breaching a quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. In this video, Rhodes said that he, "Definitely tested positive for coronavirus … and was asked to self-quarantine for 14 to 21 days," later adding, "All these old people finna die, I don't understand why they here." Local health officials confirmed with police that no one from the Albermarle area had inf fact tested positive, but the man was given a $10,000 bond and order to appear in court at the end of March for perpetrating a hoax, according to WRAL.

There are several other examples of such "pranks" and "challenges" appearing online, particularly from younger generations, as the number of infected cases continues to climb in America and other parts of the world, with over 800 deaths so far in the U.S. alone.