At 6 p.m. every evening in downtown Reno, folks make a joyful noise unto the city.

The clamorous symphony — a mingling of drums, cow bells, honking horns, pots and pans being struck, pipes being played and the occasional electric guitar — salutes local healthcare works fighting the coronavirus.

Residents of downtown Reno high-rises have been taking to their balconies wielding noise makers of choice; folks in the Montage tower seem to be doing most of the banging.

Coronavirus updates:State reports 5 new deaths, total at 163

The symphony, a little night music of its own sort, lasts for about a minute and has been taking place for at least two weeks.

There's been thankful banging in other cities, too, like New York, Miami and Delhi — and clangs of protest in Brazil against President Bolsonaro, who once called coronavirus a "little flu."

The noise in Reno is joyful in more than one sense.

It's also a wordless proclamation unmistakably spoken that "we are still alive," as Peggy Pierce related in a note to the Reno Gazette Journal. "We just want to celebrate another day of living."

Last night, as the celebration ended, as the drums and the horns and the pipes and pots and pans faded into the evening, someone on the street shouted, "Happy New Year!"

Exactly.

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Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink editor of RGJ Media, part of the USA Today Network. Join @RGJTaste on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.