Singer Gloria Gaynor is urging fans to sing the chorus of her iconic 1978 hit number, "I will survive", while washing their hands, to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Gaynor sings the chorus of the empowering number which lasts 20 seconds -- the amount of time health experts are encouraging people to wash their hands to stay clean amid the ongoing global pandemic, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The singer launched the #IWillSurvive challenge on March 11 by posting a video demonstration of herself washing her hands while singing the 1978 disco hit on Chinese short-video making app TikTok.

She captioned it: "It only takes 20 seconds to survive."