Coronavirus: NHS doctor returning to help during pandemic cheers up colleagues by singing opera

Dr Alex Aldren has returned to the NHS after leaving to become an opera singer

(Getty Images)

A doctor returning to the profession to help during the Covid-19 pandemic has been cheering up medics – by singing opera.

Dr Alex Aldren, or “Dr Opera”, as he is affectionately known by his colleagues, left medicine to become a tenor.

However, Dr Alren, a former Royal Academy of Music student, has recently returned to the frontline to help during the coronavirus crisis and has been serenading medics in his scrubs.

A&E nurse Mikaela first posted a video of Dr Aldren singing at Newham Hospital in east London to Twitter last week.

The video, captioned “Music can heal the wounds which medicine cannot touch”, has since been viewed thousands of times around the world.

The clip got Dr Aldren an appearance on BBC News London where he performed “Nessun Dorma” – a famous opera song about hope – live to the nation.

Nessun Dorma is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot and one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera.

“Obviously with Covid-19, the creative arts industry has just completely shut down,” Dr Aldren said of his decision to return to the NHS.

“And at the same time we’re dealing with this pandemic, so it made perfect sense for me to return to medicine.”

He added: “The professionalism of my colleagues is increible...and the support from the British public is really, really amazing”.

Tens of thousands of retired medics have been returning to the NHS since the outbreak began in the UK last month.

The government wrote to 65,000 retired doctors and nurses in England and Wales asking them to make a return to the frontline to help fight the novel virus.

Over 20,000 final-year medics and final-year nurses have also joined the NHS early to respond to the crisis.