Stirring moment hundreds of people in a Vancouver apartment complex stand on their balconies and applaud health workers for their selfless work tackling coronavirus – as ‘clap for our carers’ initiative spreads across the globe
- Vancouver residents took part in mass applause for frontline healthcare workers
- Tear-jerking moment has become ritual for locals and takes place every evening
- The Clap For Carers campaign, which started online and has since gone global
- Similar scenes have taken place from Italy and Spain to India and Dubai
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
This is the heartwarming moment hundreds of people in a Vancouver apartment block stand on their balconies and applaud healthcare workers as part of the ‘Clap for our Carers’ movement.
In a gesture of gratitude to the frontline healthcare heroes, mass applause and cheering can be heard from a huge apartment complex in the west coast seaport city on Wednesday evening.
The Clap For Carers campaign, which started online and has since gone global, is being staged because ‘during these unprecedented times they need to know we are grateful’, the organisers state.
This is the heartwarming moment hundreds of people in a Vancouver apartment block stand on their balconies and applaud healthcare workers (left and right) as part of the ‘Clap for our Carers’ movement
‘Everybody’s outside on their balconies, cheering on our healthcare workers,’ the woman filming the video can be heard saying.
The tear-jerking moment took place at 7pm on Wednesday evening and saw masses of people congregate on their balconies amid the coronavirus pandemic, in an event which has become somewhat of a ritual to residents in Canadian and North American cities.
Residents in Vancouver have begun clapping and cheering each evening at 7pm as a show of solidarity to those on the frontline.
Residents in Vancouver have begun clapping and cheering each evening at 7pm as a show of solidarity to those on the frontline
Cases of COVID-19 have steadily risen in British Columbia. The region has a total of 659 confirmed cases and 14 deaths as of Wednesday.
Many of those have been recorded in Vancouver – with particular concern now that a cluster of cases has cropped up at one of the city’s care homes.
Canada is now testing 10,000 people a day and has tested more than 142,000 people overall. The country has more than 3,336 confirmed cases and at least 35 deaths.
A Spanish family applaud from their balcony after a call on social media to thank Spanish medical staff fighting coronavirus. Locked down locals in Madrid, Milan and Rome pay tribute to their healthcare workers each evening
The ‘Clap for our Carers’ movement has been seen worldwide, from France, Italy and the UK to India and Dubai.
The scenes echo those from coronavirus-stricken cities in Spain and Italy, where locked down locals in Madrid, Milan and Rome pay tribute to their healthcare workers each evening.
In the UK, everyone across the nation has been invited to join a mass round of applause from their doorsteps, windows and balconies this evening at 8pm.
Last Sunday, residents in India from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala filled the air with the sound of clapping at 5pm to thank those on the front line battling COVID-19.
There were similar scenes in Dubai, UAE, yesterday evening, as residents of the city raised the roof with clapping, whooping and banging on instruments.
Journalist Sophie Prideaux, who was present for the moment, wrote on Twitter: ‘Feeling pretty emotional stood on the balcony listening to Dubai applaud healthcare workers and trying to digest the magnitude of this whole situation.’