Peter Oluwadare, a 23-year old violinist, soon joins BeejaySax and before long, the band comes alive with a medley of gospel tunes from saxophone, trumpet and violin. 

Two dozen healthcare workers in scrubs and face masks rush out of the isolation tents and, making sure to maintain physical distancing, kneel, worship, dance and sway to the gospel tunes, arms raised and gazes fixated on the heavens. 

Inside the tents, patients battling COVID-19 watch through plastic windows and, if strong enough, dance and sway alongside the band and doctors. 

“The purpose is to lift the spirits – to deliver spiritual healing,” BeejaySax tells Reuters. 

Lagos, the epicenter of Nigeria’s coronavirus outbreak, with 1,226 cases of the country’s reported total of 2,950 as of May 5, has now successfully treated and discharged 321 patients.

And music from a live band in a deeply religious country, could just be part of the healing therapy.

“If we have something that can stimulate people fighting back, which you cannot quantify in terms of the number of pills or whatever you give ... we have to encourage it,” says Abosede Lewu, a medical doctor.

Lagos State Health Commissioner, Prof Akin Abayomi, launched the Art4life project last year to add music, painting and poetry to the city’s healthcare arsenal.

Weekly concerts outside coronavirus isolation and treatment centres are now part of the Art4life project in a city famed for its music and energy.

With mass gatherings banned and churches and mosques barred from holding worship sessions, BeejaySax and his crew--who normally spend their Sundays playing to crowds in packed megachurches--are now under special orders from the state government to play their gospel tunes at COVID-19 treatment centers.

The Lagos state government figures that this weekly routine could help speed up the recovery of patients from a virus that has killed hundreds of thousands worldwide. 

“It is refreshing to see the affected people and healthcare workers, you know, revitalised with the music,” violinist Oluwadare says. “I feel so honoured to play here.”