The quiet in the streets is caused by the lockdown… There are no cars or planes. A ripple of applause moves through the city around 8 o’clock from the distance. A train sounds its horn as it passes. After the applause dies down a food delivery man appears on a motor scooter; a helicopter over the river Thames is heard in the distance. Interrupted conversations and children’s games start up again.

This has become a weekly tradition in the UK and so will be remembered as one significant audio memory of the pandemic. It is an unusual display of emotion and solidarity in a country that prefers its “stiff upper lip” and “not making a fuss”.

街上的安靜源自城市封鎖措施… 這裏沒有車，沒有飛機。一浪接一浪的掌聲於晚上 8 時從遠處傳遍整個城市。一輛火車在沿途響號。當掌聲開始減弱，一個送外賣的人便騎著電單車出現；從一段距離聽見一架直升機於泰晤士河上空劃過。被中斷的對話和兒童的遊戲又重新開始。

這成為了英國每週的傳統，亦會成為疫情中一個重要的聲音回憶。對於一個慣於「隱藏情緒」和「冷靜」的國家，這是一個不尋常的情緒和團結一致的表現。