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With a clay mask smoothed onto her face and rollers in her hair, Brenda Hibbitts sits on her bed as she silently — and enthusiastically — belts out a favourite tune from her teens.

It's Crazy in the Night, Kim Carnes's 1985 hit single.

She's rehearsing her video entry for a lip-sync contest launched during the pandemic, and the grand prize is $1,000. 

But this isn't for the TV show, Lip Sync Battle. This competition is put on by her landlord in Halifax.

"I'm in it to win it, but I'm in it to challenge my neighbours," Hibbitts said with a chuckle about her creative take on the challenge that may help cure COVID cabin fever. "People are going a little bit stir crazy just being told they have to stay inside."

As the cases of COVID-19 mount in Nova Scotia — as of Saturday, there were 110 cases — some are finding that moments of laughter can ease their fears.

That's part of the reason why landlord Ron Lovett is encouraging tenants to throw down their best lip-sync as a fun distraction during long periods of time holed up in an apartment.

In fact, public health officials have renamed social distancing as physical distancing to emphasize that while people should stay apart, they should still stay connected through phone calls or video chats.