Clap to show support

Thursday 26 March 2020

With a chorus of clapping expected across the UK and in Jersey tonight to show support for health workers and other essential staff, Express is hoping to hear the same across our Bailiwick too.

It's not clear where the idea first originated but a poster calling for the locked-in population of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to show their gratitude to the NHS and its staff and other workers and volunteers has been widely shared on social media in recent days.

While we can't leave our homes except to go to work if we are classed as an essential worker, to exercise, to go to the shops for essential goods or for a medical reason, we are allowed into our own gardens, to use balconies or to open windows for fresh air.

Through those means it's hoped people across the Bailiwick will echo peers across the UK at 20:00 tonight when they show support to all those working on the frontline of health services, and the support workers, "for their ongoing hard work and fight against this virus".

The whole Bailiwick was put in lockdown on Wednesday to try and contain the spread of the deadly covid-19 virus and efforts are being made to ensure Guernsey's hospital can cope with the number of confirmed positive cases continuing to rise. 

Extra hospital equipment has been ordered in, including testing apparatus so the corona virus samples can be assessed locally, rather than being sent to the UK. The day patient unit at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital has also been transformed into a ward for the expected influx of patients needing critical care when the time comes.

People applauding medical staff in Paris from Bailiwick Express on Vimeo.

Similar scenes to what is expected to be heard across the UK and Jersey tonight have already been experienced in France, Italy and other places who have been in the grip of the corona virus pandemic for longer.

To join in and show your support, join our staff at Express in clapping at 20:00 tonight.