A three-year-old boy in China who played at being a doctor by giving his six cats at home Covid-19 tests has gone viral on mainland social media.
A trending video of the boy, a Beijing local surnamed He, shows him with his pet cats, which are all wearing masks, as he pretends to administer Covid-19 tests on the felines, Sina News reported.
In the video taken in the living room of his home, he puts on a mask while in front of him a tabby cat with a mask on its head is seen lying across a coffee table.
He then repeatedly tries to put a swab in the cat’s mouth, but it is clearly having nothing to do with the operation and refuses to open its mouth for the swab.
Despite the cat’s refusal to play along, it shows no trace of annoyance with the boy’s antics. Meanwhile, in the background, another masked cat can be seen standing in line for its turn to be difficult.
The father said after his kindergarten organised Covid-19 tests the boy had the idea to recreate his experience at home.
“My son is three years old, the cats are five years old, and they grew up together. All the cats are well-behaved and enjoyed practising for the Covid-19 test with my boy,” he said.
At the time of writing, a Weibo news post about the boy and his cats had been viewed more than 3 million times, received 2,393 comments and been liked 64,000 times.
“Hahaha, the boy and the cats are so cute,” commented one person.
Another asked: “Are you sure it’s cute rather than pathetic? The little boy can’t have fun with his friends outdoors, and is staying at home to imitate doing Covid-19 tests instead.”
Official data released on Thursday by Chinese authorities revealed there were 5,666 people in China with the coronavirus while 259 new cases were confirmed that day. Most of the new cases were from the provinces of Sichuan and Guangdong and the Inner Mongolia region.
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This article was first published in South China Morning Post.