Italian doctor praised for using megaphone to greet patients

An Italian doctor iBs lifting the spirits of patients and staff at a hospital in virus-stricken Lombardy by taking a megaphone and playing the Italian national anthem.

Dr. Sarah Barbuto, a lung specialist at Sondalo Hospital, greets patients at the doorway to the ward.

"Good morning, everybody," Barbuto says, letting the patients know the greeting comes from all of the doctors and nurses at the hospital. "All of Italy is thinking about you."

Then, holding up a mobile phone to the megaphone, she plays the Italian national anthem.

Barbuto's gesture has drawn praise on Italian social media as a means of lifting morale during particularly challenging times.

Lombardy has nearly half of all Italy's 47,000 coronavirus cases in the country of Europe's largest outbreak.

For most people, the COVID-19 illness causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.