How Coronavirus uncertainty infects daily life
The UK government says that the population must assume that a coronavirus epidemic is highly likely. This will pose a huge challenge for our public service leaders.
How will they keep the country functioning and maintain societal stability, as increasing numbers of people at all levels become ill and need care? How will they create conditions for an informed debate on the risks and precautions? How will they forestall panic causing as much damage as a pandemic?
Anxiety is already having an impact on lives and communities up and down the country. The unthinkable is fast becoming the unpalatable reality which everyone must now face up to. We all have a duty to behave responsibly.
Thinking the Unthinkable plans to regularly post personal stories and leadership insights so that everyone can benefit from the experiences of others.
Please share your experiences either by adding your comment below or email us at contact@thinkunthink.org
This first posting is from TtU Associate Carley Bowman.
Coronavirus is infiltrating every part of my life.
I have no symptoms and have not travelled to any affected areas but it seems I’m surrounded by Covid-19.
As a media consultant I’m working with clients who are already feeling the financial impact of cancelled conferences and contracts.
As a parent I’m dreading the next update from my son’s school announcing its closure following the return of Year 10 pupils and staff from a ski trip in Northern Italy.
As a co-opted governor at another school I’m supporting and reassuring the senior leadership team as they make daily decisions about the safety of staff and pupils after one family was advised to self-isolate.
As a daughter I’m consoling my parents who have cancelled a longed-for trip to Tenerife at the loss of several hundred pounds.
As a business owner I’m worried about the impact on future contracts and the dent it could make to the family finances.
As a mum of a teenager with serious underlying medical conditions (including respiratory) I’m fearing the inevitable spread of the virus in the UK and the potential impact on his health.
And there is one thing I’m sure about. The virus will spread. And the headlines will become even more alarmist making it increasingly difficult for people to make informed decisions about how they respond to the threat.
Already the head teacher’s decision to take no action after the half term ski trip to the virus-affected North of Italy is receiving criticism, even though they were not in a ‘lockdown’ zone. I hear petitions are being drawn up and gossip is rife among students that disease is already among them.
Local media reporting uses inflammatory quotes accusing the head of ‘playing Russian roulette with pupils’ safety’.
But read between the lines and you discover some of this anger may be prompted by one parent’s proposal to take their child out of school and therefore risk incurring a fine from the local authority for unauthorised absence.
One of many hard-pressed head teachers around the country, ours has been very clear about his decision-making (in consultation with Public Health England and the local authority) and communicates daily with parents via email. The majority, he says, support his actions.
Hysterical reporting and the search for a click-bait headline are not responsible ways for our media to behave. Good journalism should not be thrown out with the used tissues just because a pandemic is on our doorstep. And I can say that as a former journalist.
This Coronavirus epidemic will get worse and the headlines will become more sinister.
There are worrying signs – which I witnessed first hand - that our health service is not quite as prepared as it could be.
A recent outpatient visit to a London hospital confirmed there are reasons to be concerned.
Two receptionists overheard discussing what to do if, when checking in, a patient discloses they have visited an infected country in the past 14 days.
Receptionist 1: “We must ask one of the clinical nurses to speak to the patient and ask the follow up questions. They will then decide if they need to be isolated.”
Receptionist 2: “Do we know what the next questions are?”
Receptionist 1:
“Nope.”
Receptionist 2:
“Do the nurses know what the next questions are? Have they been told that’s the procedure.”
Receptionist 1:
“Nope. They’ve no idea and nobody’s briefed them.”
Receptionist 2:
“Mmm. Let me find out more…”
Call is made to what is presumed a senior manager.
Receptionist 2:
“Right. Apparently it’s the responsibility of each department to decide how to handle it.”
I couldn’t believe my ears! Was there really no leadership oversight of the implementation of effective procedures for virus containment … in a hospital whose quality and safety depends on virus containment of all kinds on a daily basis?
I find that very hard to believe. This may well be an isolated case of poor communication and the matter may have been addressed before I even left the building, but it’s easy to see how confidence in our public services and institutions of government can be quickly eroded.
I keep reminding myself that, at this moment, the UK is in virus ‘containment’ phase and seasonal influenza remains a greater threat than Coronavirus. About three to five million cases of severe illness are recorded globally each year, with between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths.
That’s why communicating effectively, openly and transparently with the public is critical. As is honesty about the risk of a Covid-19 pandemic where supermarkets, schools, businesses and even hospitals shut down as more and more people are forced into self-isolation.
Our media plays a key role in that, as I know all too well, but we are all responsible for staying informed.
And one thing is as certain for me as a specialist in social media as the inevitable spread of Coronavirus across the UK. Social media won’t be the place where I do my fact-checking and I will steadfastly refuse to engage in the hysteria.
Read our other personal stories of Coronavirus: