US family celebrate grandmother's 95th birthday while embracing social distancing
A family in the US found a creative way to ring in their 95-year-old grandmother's birthday after coronavirus threatened to derail the celebrations altogether.
The relatives of Kathleen Byrne gathered outside her New York home on Wednesday with balloons, decorations and party hats before serenading the nonagenarian - from a safe distance - with a Happy Birthday song.
The makeshift ceremony took place after Byrne's plans to see her friends and family on Saturday had to be cancelled due to concerns over the coronavirus.
Her granddaughter Sara Byrne shared footage of the revised get together on social media.
"We had to keep our distance but we couldn't not see our best girl on her birthday!!!" Sara wrote on Instagram. "Happy 95th Gram we love you SO much!!!"
Kathleen can be heard shouting "I love it, thank you," in response to the show of affection, before adding: "I'm sorry we aren't all together."
Countries around the world - including the US - have advised people to observe social distancing in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, which poses a particular danger to the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.
More than 245,000 cases of Covid-19 have now been recorded globally, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University, causing in excess of 10,000 deaths.
In the US, more than 14,500 people have been infected by the virus, with 205 deaths.
Along with Washington and California, New York is among the US states worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday alone, New York City's recorded caseload of Covid-19 more than doubled to 3,954 - meaning more people have now been infected in the city than in the whole of the UK.
In Washington's latest move to combat the spread of the virus, the State Department on Thursday issued a new alert urging Americans not to travel abroad under any circumstances and to return home if they are already abroad unless they plan to remain overseas.
President Donald Trump has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks for his management of the outbreak.
