5 Positive Things To Happen in the Past Week
As we finish the fifth week of lockdown, there are still a number of positive stories from all over the world to brighten our days! In this article, we have put together five from the past week to hopefully put a smile on your face.
1 Inseparable Couple Released From Hospital Together
Sidney Moore and his wife, Jean, are both in their late 70’s and haven’t been apart “sixty plus years”. He and his wife were both taken into hospital together to receive treatment for coronavirus symptoms and after being treated next to each other, they have now both been released at the same time! The long term couple from Merseyside fought off the disease together and are now happily recuperating at home!
2 Huge Increase in Sea Turtle Nests in Florida and Thailand
With strict travel restrictions in place around the world, nature is finally having a chance to thrive! We’ve had fish returning to the canals of Venice, deer in the streets of London and now we’re seeing a huge increase in numbers of Leatherback Sea Turtle nests in Florida and Thailand. The turtles are endangered in South East Asia and haven’t nested in Thailand for 5 years. 11 nests have been found on the beaches of Thailand, more than have been there for over 20 years!
Beaches in Florida have also seen a huge increase in numbers and with less people and dogs on the beaches, the turtles have a much higher chance of lasting the 60 days before they go out to sea.
3 NHS Goodie Bags in Milton Keynes
When Hazel Scanlon posted on social media looking for donations to make Pamper Goodie Bags for NHS workers in Milton Keynes, she wasn’t expecting too much. She ended up receiving enough to fill over 200 bags for staff to pamper themselves during this difficult time.
Hazel got the idea after hearing from one of her customers about how exhausted his wife was after working long hours as an NHS intensive care nurse. He said that she would just work and sleep and have no time for herself, so Hazel decided to do something to help these staff!
The goodie bags include chocolates, beauty products, moisturisers, vouchers for local businesses and much, much more!
4 Human Trials Have Begun on Vaccine
Scientists in the UK are stepping up their vaccine testing by moving onto the next stage of using human participants to test the effectiveness. The UK government has pledged £20m to support the Oxford University trial and £22.5m to support another trial at Imperial College. According to Oxford University, the best-case scenario is that by the autumn 2020 researchers would have an efficacy result from the trial to show whether the vaccine protects against the virus or not.
5 Sweden and Austria Close Final Coal Plants
Conservationists are celebrating as Sweden and Austria both closed their last remaining coal plants this week. Sweden had set themselves a target of 2022 to stop using coal plants to provide power for its country, but reached that target two years early!
Sweden and Austria have followed Belgium’s lead as the only three countries in Europe to no longer use fossil fuels to power the country. The UK has set itself a target of 2024 to make the change and with an estimated 47% of coal plants running at a loss, we may see the move come sooner than anticipated.
