Good news still thrives amid coronavirus pandemic: An inspiring traveling musician, sea turtles flourish and more
Gatherings around the world have been postponed amidst the coronavirus outbreak and social distancing protocols meant to combat the illness. But people everywhere are making efforts to remind others that kindness isn’t canceled during this critical time. In fact, joy and compassion have been encouraged to help everybody get through.
Musician stages drive-up concerts
Tanner Howe of Huntington Beach, Calif. is a musician and part-time waiter who is still looking to entertain and serve people in his area while he’s out of work by performing from the back of a pickup truck. He and his dad hit the road to sing and play uplifting songs while making stops outside of the homes of his family and friends. As the duo received growing support and applause for their music, however, they expanded their route. “Music really has the power to bring people together and I love that,” Howe tells Yahoo Life. “I just want to encourage people to stay safe and keep positive. I want people to know that they are not alone and we will get through this together.”
Deaf Trader Joe’s employee overcomes communication obstacles
A grocery store worker in Vancouver, Wash. is doing much more than stocking shelves while working through the coronavirus quarantine — he’s inspiring people to consider the communication obstacles that the deaf community is facing as people wear masks. Matthew Simmons is deaf and relies on his lip reading skills to communicate with verbal coworkers and customers who don’t use American Sign Language (ASL). But when people began wearing masks, as enforced by the FDA, Simmons was anxious about how he would communicate, so he customized his work shirt to inform people that he reads lips and was provided white boards in order to communicate nonverbally with customers.
University stages social distancing photo shoot with well-known figure on campus
Mandy the Skeleton is known to anatomy and physiology students and alumni of the University of Nevada Las Vegas to be a helping hand in one of the campus libraries. But while the campus is shut down and the skeletal figure hasn’t come to much use, university officials decided to do something fun with him to incite hope that students will be back. “Here’s a peek at how he’s spending his days, following social distancing guidelines and wearing a mask out in public, as he waits for campus to re-open and students to return,” a Facebook post from UNLV Libraries reads alongside photos of Mandy.
‘Hero’ nurse arranges family phone call for quarantined coronavirus patient
A family in California is sharing the story of their grandmother’s “hero” nurse, after the healthcare worker went above and beyond her duties to get the elderly woman at risk of dying from the coronavirus on a video call with her son, daughter-in-law and grandkids. “I believe that our communication, the kids and I, with our mom and grandma, inspired her to persevere in her fight with COVID-19 to stay alive,” Will Wagner tells Yahoo Life, sharing a sweet card that his children drew to thank their grandmother’s nurse.
Sea turtles thrive during human pandemic
People were stuck at home during Earth Day on Wednesday, but it didn’t take away from celebrating and appreciating Mother Earth and all of the ways that it is actually benefitting from this global pandemic, as people allow nature to run its course. For sea turtles in particular, the fewer tourists on beaches in Florida, the better. “It just so happens that the pandemic, the stay-home orders, the closure of many of our beaches, has caused people to adhere to the behaviors that we’ve been asking people to do for a long time,” David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy in Gainesville, Fla., the world’s first and oldest sea turtle conservation group, tells Yahoo Life. “We expect a lot more survivorship of the hatchlings that are produced in Florida this year.”
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
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