A doctor lifted the mood inside a hospital in Italy when playing a piano rendition of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now at the end of a shift battling coronavirus.
Christian Mongiard works in the high-intensity medicine unit at Circolo di Varese Hospital and volunteered to aid patients suffering from Covid-19.
On Saturday, when heading to buy a sandwich in the northern Italian hospital, he spotted the piano and performed an impromptu song to an isolated waiting room whilst still wearing his protective mask and scrubs.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Council steps in to ban cars after furore over groups flocking to Strathclyde Park
A video of his recital has been shared hundreds of times on social media as Italy faces the outbreak of the virus.
“This excellent doctor could not have chosen a better song,” said Dr Gianni Bonelli, the general manager of the hospital.
“It may seem like nothing, but it is everything. It is the spirit you need, the tension that is released, the encouragement you need.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Mercedes F1 team helps develop breathing aid
“It is a gesture that expresses all the passion that animates it and that is shared by our operators: they are doing extraordinary things for the sole purpose of saving lives and returning patients to their families, often far away.
“Not an emotion, mind you: that passes, it is ephemeral. The passion of ours is a constant vibration that is expressed every day, and in these difficult days more than ever!”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here