APPLAUSE FROM THE BALCONIES

Stepping onto the balcony at 8 p.m. every day to applaud health-care workers fighting coronavirus on the front lines is part balm, part defiance, part celebration. In England, the Beefeaters applaud from their residences at the Tower of London. Turkey’s president and first lady have applauded from their balcony in Istanbul, while regular Turks flick living room lights and blast car horns and whistles. Parisians gather in quiet inner courtyards, from where their cheers resonate. Even Vancouver has taken up the balcony custom. Applause broke out on the streets of Berlin “for a few minutes” one evening but hasn’t caught on.