Whether we’re quarantined, practising social distancing, or we just have to go about our daily life with an ever-present paranoia about the pandemic and its knock-on effects, everyone can probably come to the same agreement: coronavirus is not great.
As well as costing lives, the spread of the global virus has made the failures of national leadership – besides institutions and technologies such as social media – even clearer, with a wealth of misinformation. Not to mention that it’s ground several industries to a halt, cancelling or postponing massive events across fashion, film, art, and music with severe economic impact.
However, it’s also important to stay hopeful in times like these, because wallowing at home for 24 hours is neither helpful nor productive. You could look to the fashion students sewing masks to help battle the virus, for example, or how it’s being channelled into activism.
There are also a lot of positive developments related to the virus more directly, which can easily slip through the cracks as we scan headlines for the next big panic or disaster. Obviously, none of this means that people shouldn’t still be prepared and follow the guidelines for the outbreak, but for a bit more hope and optimism at least, we’ve gathered the good news in the list below.
Chinese hospital staff have celebrated the closure of their last temporary coronavirus hospital, due to a low number of new cases.
And a 103 year old woman has become the oldest person to recover from the virus, after being treated for six days in a Wuhan hospital.
Cases are also declining in South Korea, where testing has been particularly efficient and widespread.
Dutch researchers have found an antibody that reportedly “offers potential for prevention and treatment of COVID-19”.
And researchers in Israel are expected to announce a vaccine in the coming days, with Canadian scientists also making a breakthrough in new vaccine research.
Doctors from Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University believe the blood of recovered patients could be used to treat coronavirus, at least until more effective drugs are developed.