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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Matthew Dresch

Hundreds of drones fill up sky to order hand-washing and social distancing

Hundreds of drones lit up the night sky in South Korea ordering residents to wash their hands and maintain social distancing.

The 300 drones involved in the display lifted into the air in military-like formation over the Han River on Saturday.

The drones formed the image of a white face mask, with red circles symbolising coronavirus which has led to almost 300 deaths in the country.

The 10-minute display, organised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, also showed images of medical workers in protective suits and messages of support.

One of the displays said "ThanksToChallenge" above a hand cradling another flashing a thumbs-up, referencing a social media campaign expressing gratitude to health staff.

The 10-minute display was organised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (South Korea's Ministry of Land,)

The drones also formed a silhouette of the Korean peninsula alongside the message "Cheer up Republic of Korea".

The event was not advertised ahead of time so people did not crowd to view it.

Posting the video on YouTube, the government wrote: "Thank you for the efforts of the people and medical staff.

The drones formed to encourage hand-washing (REUTERS)
Coronavirus has killed almost 300 people in South Korea (REUTERS)

"We express our gratitude and respect to all who suffer from Covid-19."

South Korea was praised for quickly containing its initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus but has recently experienced sporadic cases.

Infections have been sparked by small gatherings at religious facilities and door-to-door sales practices outside Seoul.

One display backed the country's social media campaign thanking health staff (REUTERS)
South Korea has seen sporadic cases recently (REUTERS)

Asia's fourth-largest economy reported 63 new coronavirus cases today, 33 of which were imported.

It comes after a South Korean coronavirus patient started recovering from a double lung transplant after a record 112 days on a specialised life-support.

The 50-year-old woman was diagnosed with the disease and hospitalised in late February.

She then spent 16 weeks on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support, which involves circulating a patient's blood through a machine that adds oxygen to red blood cells.

That's the longest that any Covid-19 patient in the world has spent on ECMO support, her doctors said.

Lee Sun-hee, a head nurse of the ECMO programme who has cared for the patient since February, said the woman seemed to have a stronger-than-usual will to live.

She added this was in part driven by being a mother-of-two.

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