‘We’re behind them’: KC residents take to balconies to applaud health care workers
A few days ago, Everett Murphy saw a segment on a national television news program about people clapping from their balconies in support of health care workers combating the new coronavirus.
Murphy, a former pulmonologist, thought to himself: “Gee, half of our building has balconies.”
So Murphy, 74, and his wife, a former nurse, emailed their neighbors at Oak Hall, a condominium complex at 4550 Warwick Boulevard in Kansas City, encouraging them to join in on their own rally at 7 p.m. Saturday.
More than two dozen people came out for the five-minute demonstration, playing music and banging on pots and pans.
“It became actually cathartic for everybody to be able to scream and yell without getting in trouble,” Murphy said.
A physical therapist, a family physician and a hospital social worker were among those who participated or watched, Murphy said.
“We’re extremely supportive of them and emotionally supportive of them,” he said. “That’s the whole point of it, just to let them know we’re behind them.”
People across the world in recent weeks have emerged from their self-isolation and onto their balconies to bang on pots and clap to demonstrate gratitude to those on the front lines of the pandemic.
The rally in Kansas City came as doctors and nurses in Missouri and Kansas conserve personal protective equipment, known as PPE, in expectation of a surge of COVID-19 patients.
As of Sunday night, more than 900 people in Missouri had tested positive for the new virus. Twelve people in the state have died.
In Kansas, at least 320 people have tested positive. Six people have died: Four in Wyandotte County and two in Johnson County.
Deaths across America topped 2,400 on Sunday, according to data from John Hopkins University. More than 130,000 people in the U.S. have contracted the virus — the most of any country. There were more than 700,000 cases and 33,000 deaths worldwide.
This story was originally published March 29, 2020 at 8:42 PM.
