Mumbai, 18 March, 2020: Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, who is taking some time off from work and staying at home amid the coronavirus lockdown, has caught up with the latest social media trend - the Safe Hands Challenge wherein people are posting videos of themselves washing hands properly. She nominated Virat Kohli, Cristiano Ronaldo and Roger Federer to take up the challenge as well.

Deepika posted a video in which she can be seen inside her washroom, washing her hands vigorously and opening and closing the tap with the back of her hands. “Thank You @DrTedros , for nominating me for the #SafeHands Challenge! #COVID19 surely is an uphill health and public safety task, but all of us are in this fight together!I further nominate @rogerfederer,@Cristiano and @imVkohli to take up this challenge! #coronavirus #StaySafe,” she wrote along with the video.

World Health Organisation (WHO) started the safe hands challenge and tweeted, “There are simple things we each must do to protect ourselves from #COVID19, including Open hands washing with Soap & Splashing sweat symbol or alcohol-based rub. WHO is launching the #SafeHands Challenge to promote the power of clean Open hands to fight #coronavirus. Join the challenge & share your Open hands washing video!” The tweet was accompanied with a video of WHO Director general Dr Trevor Adhanom Ghebreyesus showing how to wash hands properly. 

A few days ago, Deepika shared a peek into her wardrobe as she cleaned it. She posted a picture of her clothes neatly kept in hangers and wrote on Instagram, “Productivity in the time of COVID-19! #cleaning #wardrobe.”

Around two weeks ago, Deepika had to cancel her France trip because of the coronavirus pandemic. She was invited by luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton to attend their show at the Paris Fashion Week . Her spokesperson told IANS, “Deepika Padukone was scheduled to travel to France to attend Louis Vuitton’s FW2020 Show at the ongoing Paris Fashion Week but she had to cancel the trip due to the worsening of the coronavirus situation in France.”

Recently seen in Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak, in which she played the role of an acid attack survivor, Deepika will now star opposite husband Ranveer Singh in Kabir Khan’s 83. The film traces the underdog victory of the Indian cricket team at the 1983 World Cup. Ranveer essays the role of Kapil Dev while Deepika plays his wife Romi. Deepika also has Mahabharata in the pipeline, in which she will play the role of Draupadi.

Coronavirus, which is said to have originated in China’s Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

Most state governments in India have issued advisories suggesting that people work from home and avoid going out unless absolutely necessary. Cinema halls, schools, colleges, gyms and night clubs have also been closed till March 31 in many parts of India. Most films and TV shows have stopped shoots. Popular television show Naagin 4 continues shoot and the makers plan to halt by March 19.