TUNIS: With more than a million confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), humanity is facing one of its most challenging tests in recent memory.
Nevertheless, when Queen Elizabeth II addressed the UK on Sunday, she favored a comforting and positive message over mentions of the nation’s skyrocketing number of cases or the looming threat to the economy.
The queen spoke of the displays of solidarity that citizens engaged in to express appreciation for country’s National Health Service, among other essential workers, calling these acts of kindness “an expression of our national spirit.”
“Around the world, we have seen heartwarming stories of people coming together to help others, be it through delivering food parcels and medicines, checking on neighbors, or converting businesses to help the relief effort,” the queen said in her address.
Many of these stories, often posted to social media along with the hashtag #COVIDkindness, have taken the world by storm.
On Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, many communities have begun using #COVIDkindness to share stories of kindness and inspire others to also engage in similar acts of altruism.
#COVIDkindness anecdotes are published daily, and they include such heartwarming stories as children wishing their friend a happy birthday from a distance, people making masks for the deaf community so they do not have to cover their hearing aids, and neighbors cooking for one other.
Despite the daily dose of bad news about COVID-19 and the struggles of home confinement, it is useful to look for acts of kindness and, most importantly, to add to the share of good news by creating your own — using the proper hashtag, of course!
