TV Watch Scrubs explain the importance of social distancing years before coronavirus By Rachel Yang Rachel Yang Rachel Yang is a former digital news writer at Entertainment Weekly. She left EW in 2021. EW's editorial guidelines Published on March 19, 2020 06:49PM EDT Photo: Scott Garfield/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images With the outbreak of the coronavirus, health officials are recommending social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. Many people — including celebrities with big platforms — have been less than willing to comply. But it's America, so perhaps to truly understand the severity of the situation, we can turn to TV doctors to visually explain why social distancing is so important. Twitter users have been sharing a clip from Scrubs, the beloved comedy series that followed Dr. John "J.D." Dorian (Zach Braff) and his coworkers at Sacred Heart Hospital. "WHY WE NEED SOCIAL DISTANCING, as illustrated by Scrubs," writer Naima Cochrane captioned as she shared the clip. Braff later retweeted the video himself after author Shea Serrano posted it. In the 2006 video from season 5's "My Cabbage" episode, Chief of Medicine Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) explains to Janitor (Neil Flynn) how infections are the No. 1 cause of death in a hospital. His point is illustrated by various people in the hospital touching one another and unintentionally spreading bacteria, illustrated by a green glow. It starts when a boy sneezes into his hands. He then passes the green bacteria to his mother when she wipes his nose with a tissue. The mother then shakes a doctor's hand, and from there, the bacteria is spread to other patients. As Kelso explains, "And just like that, you have a patient in trouble." Later in the show, the bacteria is transferred to a patient with a compromised immune system, who eventually dies from the exposure. So there you have it — stay home (if you can), use Zoom (or "zoom zoom zoom," as J.D. would say) or FaceTime to communicate with loved ones, and wash your dang hands. And when this is all over, you can "Eeeeeagle!" with your friends all you want. Related content: JoJo switches up 'Leave (Get Out)' lyrics to encourage fans to stay in during coronavirus outbreak Evangeline Lilly says it's 'business as usual' despite call for social distancing Zach Braff reads a Scrubs monologue written by a robot