This archive report was first published on 24 May 2020.
Clapping for Healthcare Workers May Be Coming to an End ¶
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, a weekly ritual has become a beacon of hope and appreciation for healthcare workers. However, the organizer behind the movement, Annemarie Plas, believes it's time to bring it to an end.
Plas, who started the #ClapForOurCarers movement, expressed her concerns in an interview with the BBC, stating that the act of recognizing healthcare workers had become politicized. She suggested that the 10th national applause, scheduled for next week, should be the last.
Plas cited concerns that the movement had become 'slowly shifting' and that other opinions had 'started to rise to the surface.' This shift in public opinion is partly due to criticism the movement has received, including an opinion article in The Independent questioning the point of applauding if healthcare workers were underpaid.
While some healthcare workers have expressed gratitude for the applause, others have felt 'stabbed in the back' by people who ignore public health guidelines. Plas believes that it's now time for people in power to 'reward and give them the respect they deserve.'
However, not everyone agrees with Plas's decision. Candi Obrentz, an entrepreneur from Midtown Manhattan, regularly shares clips of the nightly applause on Twitter and believes that the gesture is 'so important for our psyche.' Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, also thinks that the applause should continue, as it has united communities with healthcare workers.
Dr. Armando Castro, the chairman of surgery at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, a hospital in Queens, agrees that the practice should come to a close, but emphasizes that it will not mean that healthcare workers are not appreciated.
