THE GOOD NEWS BID TO LIFT SPIRITS AS POLLUTION FALLS
Every day in this column, The Daily Telegraph will report snippets of comfort as the world fights coronavirus
♦ The Chelsea Flower Show – which has been cancelled because of the coronavirus – is going to be hosted online instead. Viewers can expect to see web shows, tutorials and a look back at the show’s history. Britain’s best growers will also teach selfisolating families how to grow their own food.
♦ British scientists have discovered an antibody offering hope of coronavirus treatment in the blood of a patient who recovered from SARS. The scientists believe that the powerful antibody could neutralise Covid-19.
♦ Yesterday morning, 164 radio stations
across Europe played You’ll Never Walk Alone
by Gerry and the Pacemakers. The idea was thought up by a Dutch DJ and quickly picked up across the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Bulgaria and Spain. Sander Hoogendoorn, DJ at the Dutch 3FM, called on everyone to throw open their windows and sing along in a bid “to bring people together”.
♦ Lidl is to recruit up to 2,500 people on temporary four-week contracts
– hoping to target those who are seeking work during the pandemic. New recruits will be able to start immediately with pay rates matching those recommended by the Living Wage Foundation.
♦ A Belgian robotics firm has sent humanoid robots to rest homes to ask residents if they want to make video calls to loved ones. The robots are voice-activated, so the elderly residents do not have to touch any screens or buttons.
♦ Dolphins have returned to Italy’s coast and waterways as boat pollution has reduced. Italians have been sharing photos and videos online.
♦ A shutdown in Greece has led to a sharp fall in air pollution. Levels of nitrogen dioxide pollutants fell by 48.5 per cent in Athens in a three-day period this week. It comes after a shutdown of all retailers other than chemists, supermarkets and petrol stations. There have been similar declines in air pollution after lockdowns in China and northern Italy.