Watch Scrubs explain the importance of social distancing years before coronavirus

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.

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