Woman wears inflatable hippo suit to safely hug mother in nursing home

Another casualty of the coronavirus: hugs.

With abundant fear about coming into close contact with elderly loved ones, hugging has run afoul of proper social-distancing and common-sense precautions — especially at coronavirus-stricken nursing homes. But that’s not stopping some relatives from concocting creative ways to hug Nana safely.

A daughter found a heartwarming way to safely hug her mom, a resident at Fox Trails Senior Living Home in Stephens City, Virginia — by wearing an inflatable hippo costume, complete with a pink tutu.

Footage posted to Twitter May 13 shows the grandma at the entrance of the facility, receiving a hug from her daughter in the hippo costume.

“This is wonderful!” the elder woman exclaims. The video’s narrator gushes, “My mother-in-law hugging my grandmother in an inflatable hippo suit wearing a tutu is the content you needed today. Her nursing home is letting family members hug each other in these sterilized suits.”

Twitter swooned over the adorable get up — and tender moment between mother and daughter separated — at least physically — over COVID-19.

“This is pretty great. And also something we will look at in ten years and be like ‘was this real life??’ ”

“Very sweet,” wrote @replikate, while @bellastef gushed, “I love this …. bringing a little tear. How amazing is this nursing home to get creative! Thanks for sharing.”

It’s far from the only creative alternative to skin-on-skin contact with a vulnerable loved one. UK grandson-of-the-year Antony Cauvin, 29 circumvented safety concerns for his beloved grandmother by fashioning a “cuddle curtain,” which allowed the two to embrace safely.

“When you’ve known someone all your life, to be able to hug that person again … it brought a tear to everybody’s eye,” he said. Other families have taken to calling their protective barrier iterations “hug shields.”