KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 — Two American Instagram pranksters outraged New York commuters by ridiculously pretending to contaminate a train with the deadly novel coronavirus, which has been renamed to Covid-19.

In a short viral video, Queens-based Instagramers, David Flores, 17, and Morris Cordewell, 19, get on the train dressed in hazmat suits while holding a container filled with liquid that had hazard markings on it.

The duo gave the thumbs-up sign while telling passengers they were good before they removed the lid of the container.

One of the pranksters then got up and pretended to fall to the floor, spilling the liquid as train passengers quickly ran away from the scene and some even jumped on train seats in an attempt to avoid the spillage.

The teens then quickly confessed that it was a prank, reassuring the screaming commuters who feared the virus.

Speaking to Insider the duo revealed that the liquid in the bucket was in fact a Kool-Aid drink, but only one woman figured out their stunt.

"The first half of the prank, people were quite scared but after we told the crowd that it was a prank, they started laughing,” he said.

He said many on the train — including a woman and her kids next to him — knew it was a joke the whole time.

Although many social media users found the video funny, some were not amused and criticised the creators for causing unnecessary havoc in public.

"How can this be funny? People have died from the virus,” a user commented on Instagram calling the duo immature and stupid.

Another user who found the video hilarious wrote: "It’s so funny. How some of them thought it was real?”