“Has anyone tried turning the country off and on again?”

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic made life difficult for many countries. “Has anyone tried turning the country off and on again?”—something one does to a computer system—is a joke that has been printed on many images.
 
The computer line existed before 2020, and has been told about several countries. “Has anybody tried turning the country off and on again? #justwondering” was posted on Twitter by Jim Daly on April 5, 2010. “Hello, this is America Customer Support. Have you tried turning the country off and on again?” was posted on Twitter by Max on August 14, 2014. “HAS ANYONE TRIED TURNING THE COUNTRY OFF AND ON AGAIN???” was posted on Twitter by Alex on June 24, 2016. “Text from a friend: ‘Can we try turning the country off and on again?’” was posted on Twitter by Sarah Mimms on September 24, 2018.
 
“Hey have you tried turning the country off and on again? Oh you did? Oh shit. Oh fuck” was posted on Twitter by chrome chomsky on March 24, 2020. “Can we try turning the country off and on again?” was posted on Twitter by Andrew Eneim on April 9, 2020. “Has anyone tried turning the country off and on again?” was posted on Twitter by Lin Mancow Miranda on November 4, 2020.
   
“Can we uninstall 2020 and install it again? This version has a virus” is a related joke.
     
     
Wikipedia: COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020.
         
Twitter
Jim Daly
@psneeze
Has anybody tried turning the country off and on again? #justwondering
3:15 PM · Apr 5, 2010·Twitter Web Client
   
Twitter
Max
@changemewtf
Hello, this is America Customer Support. Have you tried turning the country off and on again?
1:20 PM · Aug 14, 2014·Twitter for Android
   
Twitter
Denise O’Donoghue
@deniseodonoghue
“Have you tried turning the country off and on again?” -
@rebootireland
GIF
7:24 AM · Jan 2, 2015·Twitter for iPhone
   
Twitter
Alex
@pintofsimilar
HAS ANYONE TRIED TURNING THE COUNTRY OFF AND ON AGAIN???
3:11 AM · Jun 24, 2016·Hootsuite
   
Twitter
Frances Finn
@FrancesFinnShow
To quote someone on Twitter last week, “has anyone tried turning the country off and on again?!”
#EURO2016
#ENGICE
3:21 PM · Jun 27, 2016·Twitter for iPhone
   
Twitter
Laura Buchanan
@Bee_Face_Ka_Boo
America, have you tried Ctrl+Alt+Del?
If that doesn’t fix things, try turning the country off and on again! #TrumpPresident
1:29 PM · Nov 9, 2016·Twitter for Android
   
Twitter
Bor(ish) Johnson
@Mr_BorisJohnson
Might try turning the country off and on again. #hungparliament
5:50 AM · Jun 9, 2017·Twitter for iPhone
   
Twitter
Sarah Mimms
@mimms
Text from a friend: “Can we try turning the country off and on again?”
11:08 AM · Sep 24, 2018·Twitter Web Client
 
Newsweek
13 Exasperated Tweets That Show Just How Done Brits Are With Brexit
BY SHANE CROUCHER ON 3/28/19 AT 12:17 PM EDT
(...)
Has anyone tried turning the country off and on again? _ #ThursdayThoughts #Brexit #WTF pic.twitter.com/72k4Zp0DD4
— Susan Sto Helit (@DuchessStoHelit) March 28, 2019
     
Twitter
chrome chomsky 🅙
@chomsky_chrome
Hey have you tried turning the country off and on again? Oh you did? Oh shit. Oh fuck
3:49 PM · Mar 24, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
aaron d
@ayDiddles
Have you tried turning the country off and on again?
6:41 PM · Mar 27, 2020·Twitter for Android
   
Twitter
Andrew Eneim
@aneneim
Replying to @soggy__burrito
Can we try turning the country off and on again?
GIF
8:39 AM · Apr 9, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
Trevor Branch
@TrevorABranch
CNN: have you tried turning the country off and on again?
12:15 PM · Jul 24, 2020·Twitter Web App
     
Twitter
Bryan Wyatt
@brwyatt
Have we considered turning the country off and on again?
3:56 PM · Nov 4, 2020·Twitter Web App
 
Twitter
Lin Mancow Miranda
@DaveMcNamee3000
Has anyone tried turning the country off and on again?
This was your #DailyHaha #LaughOfTheDay
4:42 PM · Nov 4, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
   
Twitter
Josh Couch
@JoshCouchNZ
Replying to @ShishKebab2k
Have we tried turning the country off and on again?
6:36 PM · Nov 7, 2020·Twitter for iPhone