At the same time each night, Rev. Gary Paterson and about half a dozen other neighbours have begun gathering at least two metres apart on the rooftop patio of their building in Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 west end.

They don91裸聊视频檛 know who will signal the beginning, and everyone91裸聊视频檚 clocks are slightly different, but just before 7 p.m., they hear clapping in the distance.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 usually at about two minutes to seven, like people can91裸聊视频檛 restrain their enthusiasm, and then it starts to move like a wave,91裸聊视频� he said on Wednesday.

The applause is for health-care workers and other essential service providers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It91裸聊视频檚 a practice that became commonplace in Italy, which has recorded more deaths from the novel coronavirus than anywhere else and has now taken hold in British Columbia. The virus itself has killed 14 people in B.C., and 659 people have so far been confirmed to have it.

Paterson said the first few nights were quieter, but the wave has grown in strength.

91裸聊视频淟ast night was incredible. There just seems to be more and more people. People swinging open their windows and clapping and leaning out. People on balconies and somebody blowing a trumpet somewhere 91裸聊视频� just a wonderful response from the whole community,91裸聊视频� he said.

For Paterson, a United Church minister, the message is personal.

Not only is his daughter an emergency room nurse, but he went through a tough time medically last year. He had a hip replacement, emergency bowel surgery that saved his life and a colostomy reversal.

91裸聊视频淚t made me incredibly appreciative and impressed by the health-care workers from doctors and nurses to all those who kept things clean. Now I realize they91裸聊视频檙e in the midst of this crisis and it doesn91裸聊视频檛 stop them,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淪o here we are to do what we can to help.91裸聊视频�

Thanks for having our backs, health care and front-line workers.

91裸聊视频� Paul Nixey (@paulnixey)

I learned that because there91裸聊视频檚 a shift change at the nearby St.Paul91裸聊视频檚 Hospital at 7pm we residents applaud and thank our Health Care workers

91裸聊视频� Ed Chee (@cheechoo98)

The phenomenon is spreading.

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps has encouraged residents to open their windows and give a loud round of applause at 7 p.m. each night.

Fiona Burrows said she was inspired to bring the practice to her neighbourhood in New Westminster.

91裸聊视频淚 live less than a kilometre away from Royal Columbian Hospital and I have plenty of friends and neighbours in my community here who work at the hospital and I thought what a great way to show our appreciation for what they91裸聊视频檙e doing,91裸聊视频� she said.

It started small on Monday, with Burrows and one other neighbour tooting horns at the stroke of 7 p.m. But thanks to the power of social media, word spread quickly.

On Tuesday, it was a completely different story, she said.

91裸聊视频淧eople were out on their porches and in their yards and they were hooting and hollering and banging pots and pans and waving at each other and it was just a wonderful couple of minutes of feeling connected, even though we91裸聊视频檙e in this time of social isolation.91裸聊视频�

Burrows said she plans to continue the practice until the pandemic is over.

Amy Smart, The Canadian Press

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