Watch Jimmy Kimmel Ask People About The Coronavirus and Try Not To Cringe

Coronavirus and its rapid spread across the United States has dominated the news cycle as of late, so naturally, a number of people have appointed themselves as experts on the disease, stockpiling hand sanitizer, disinfectants, water bottles and everything else needed to survive what they believe may potentially be the end of humanity.

And yet, even in the midst of panic, there are still some Americans who are completely unaware of what coronavirus is. Believe it or not, some folks have never even heard of it.

Jimmy Kimmel found those people.

"I don't know if you've noticed but everyone now seems to think they're an expert on the coronavirus—me included. I get in a group of people, I speak as if I'm a professor of immunology at Stanford for 35 years," the late-night host said during his opening monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday. "Everybody seems to know a little something about this now, and knowledge, as you know, is power."

So, in an effort to share some knowledge, Kimmel sent his producers out on the street to get some coronavirus insight from members of the general public in California, where more than 150 people statewide have contracted the virus. What they discovered was that there were plenty of people who genuinely did not have a clue as to what coronavirus is.

"This the first time [I'm] hearing about it," one man said.

Then there were those who were aware of it—a few only because of their parents—but weren't necessarily well informed on the virus.

"I don't know if you can drink soup and it'll go away," a man said of his knowledge about the coronavirus.

Sure, soup may be a comfort for people sick at home, but it's no cure. The best form of treatment is to minimize your exposure to public places unless you're going to visit a doctor. When you do plan to head out to see them, you should definitely call ahead and notify them that you may have for COVID-19, according to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC). Avoiding people and pets, wearing a facemask around others if you are sick and disinfecting your space and household items also goes a long way.

According to one man, coronavirus was a shot he's given his cattle for years. "Coronavirus vaccines for cattle scouters. So it's been around forever. If you ate cattle cubes when you were a kid and licked salt you're safe," he claimed.

Although the CDC said the virus did emerge from an animal source, there is no actual documentation of pets and other animals being a source of infection or potentially contracting the virus. And as tasty as licking salt may have been during your youth, medical professionals have not confirmed that those of us who did indulge in such sodium-loving behavior are eternally safe from the illness.

At least one man knew the important role basic good hygiene—like washing your hands—had on preventing coronavirus.

"If you're nasty you should be [scared]. If you're not washing your hands, taking care of yourself, being clean, not covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze. If you're just letting all that oxygen fly out into the air, then you should be scared," he told Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Meanwhile, a woman thought "like a million" people were sickened by the coronavirus disease. Globally, more than 121,000 people were suffering from the virus while, as of Wednesday, 4,366 people had died from it.

Of course, there were some people who knew what coronavirus is but didn't think it was worth all the panic. "The president said it's going to go away one day so it's not that critical of a deal," he said.