Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A Swiss radio show presenter has attracted a storm of protest after saying she wanted to catch the coronavirus and was seen licking things in public.

Radio presenter Lea Inderbitzin whose focus is on punk, hardcore and metal music started her bizarre campaign when she was spotted licking the hand of a Swiss comedian, Hazel Brugger, at this year’s Swiss Music Award.

But after being challenged about her unhygienic behaviour, the presenter of the show “3Fach” which means “Triple” announced that she actually wanted to catch the coronavirus, and then went onto the streets where she was spotted licking a ticketing machine, various buttons and handles on a public bus and even a litter bin.

The move attracted widespread criticism however, with one person saying that whatever she was it was not funny, and another commenting under her YouTube posting: “You really disgust me! I hope you and your radio are severely sanctioned! Apart from this virus, what you did is absolutely disgusting and also repulsive for other people have to touch those surfaces.”

However she was defended by the programme controller, David Largier, who said: “I guess the sort of humour that we have is not something that would be appreciated by everyone.”

He said that the aim of the video was to get people to relax a little in the current climate but added: “People should under no circumstances imitate this.”

She later claimed that the video was a fake saying that she had actually secretly disinfected everything that she licked before touching it with her tongue in order to make it sterile.

She said: “It was all sanitary and safe.”

The move has resulted in complaints to the Swiss radio ombudsman especially in the wake of the government campaign for social distancing in which people should try and limit personal contact in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

The ombudsman confirmed that although many of the complaints regarding the video, which is not in his remit, one did refer to the promotion of the stunt on the radio programme and this would be investigated.

Politicians also angered by the stunt, noting that the government subsidises the youth radio channel yearly with a 560,000-CHF (461,500-GBP) sponsorship.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.