WhatsApp releases new sticker pack made for quarantine

Popular messaging app WhatsApp has introduced a new batch of stickers that are mostly related to social distancing. The stickers obviously reference the ongoing quarantines around the world, which has driven many people to messaging apps and other social platforms as substitutes for real-life interactions. In addition to encouraging social distancing, the stickers include things related to hygiene and more.

Facebook reported last month that use of its social platforms, including messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp, has skyrocketed in light of the ongoing coronavirus quarantines, which have left many people stuck at home...in many cases alone or away from the majority of their friends and family.

In a blog post on Tuesday, WhatsApp said that billions of stickers are sent on its platform daily, and among them will be the new 'Together at Home' sticker collection. The new offering features a total of 20 new stickers, including two hearts, a cat on a keyboard, someone meditating, a heroic doctor, people waving from different windows, a 'staying home' coffee mug, and more.

WhatsApp explains that it tapped the World Health Organization to launch these news stickers — and yes, they'll be sticking around even after COVID-19 is no longer a widespread issue, at least based on WhatsApp's blog post.

WhatsApp is encouraging its users to send the new stickers to check up on friends, encourage family to wash their hands, and more. The sticker pack is being made available with nine language options, incluidng Italian, French, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Turkish, Indonesian, German, and Portuguese — in addition to English, of course.