Covid-19, CoronaVirus
By: Steve Hutson
Tags: Corona, Covid 19, Virus

Image of CoronaVirus courtesy of iStock

Never did I think this would be my next blog. I had intended to post my next one sometime in April to coincide with the launch of Young Visions’ first Virtual Reality experiences created for our remedial and preventative PSHE Education workshops, due to be premiered at the end of April.

However, we — as a country, and the world — are all enduring a reality that once only seemed possible in virtual worlds or in movies and novels. So, I wanted to share with you some of my personal ponderings and share some advice that I hope we can all follow.

Firstly, I feel we may already be in peak time for this Virus, and with testing being limited to just hospital patients — as I understand it — we may never know the true extent of the actual numbers of people with Covid-19. We know that this Virus has been circulating — apparently originating from China — for some time. Whilst the Chinese authorities have been commended for their swift action in sharing information with the world, we do know that doctors in China had previously already tried to sound the alarm. The alarm was ultimately raised by authorities in December and the Chinese government then shared the genetic coding of the Virus in January when a test was then developed. Since then hundreds of thousands, even millions of tests have been conducted and the Virus has been shown to have spread to almost every country on every continent excluding Antarctica.

We only started to see cases in this country (UK) once a test was developed and a now-reduced testing regime was implemented by our Government. However, I would throw up the notion that perhaps this Virus started to show its ugly head long before it was first officially discovered in this country. You may recall that over Christmas and into the new year, it felt like half the country was suffering with something. And I’ve heard first-hand testimony that an unknown cause of a sudden illness was attributed to a diagnosis of Pneumonia in someone who you may not necessarily expect to contract pneumonia. Young, and usually healthy. I can also remember myself feeling worse than I had felt for some considerable time — with flu symptoms worse than I had previously experienced and mild bouts of shortness of breath which I would just palm off as a smoker’s symptom of Flu and my somewhat questionable fitness levels. I wonder if we go back over those who sadly lost their lives this winter, how many would we find whose deaths had been attributed to Pneumonia and accepted as such. There is evidence that this Virus can show as Pneumonia on X-rays. Now I’m clearly not a scientist, and I don’t have an intellect level that can even come close to those charged with evaluating this virus and implementing controls to prevent it’s spread, so this is simply an uneducated guess with some calculation involved. But if by some long shot I am correct then that could mean we come out of this sooner than is currently expected — at least for this winter. Let’s hope we do and that we can develop a vaccine in time for this Virus’ second wind.

I guess in terms of the disruption this Virus has caused on me and my plans with life effectively drawing to a halt — it would be selfish of me to say too much. I would only say that its typical of how my life has gone that just as things were starting to take off, I’m brought to an abrupt halt. But, I’ve spent two years preparing for this year, and a few more months of preparation will only be a good thing.

panic buying leaving shelves empty

Primarily, today, we have to consider others. It’s been a shameful indictment on many of us that we have elected to go and panic buy items like toilet roll, hand wash and pain medication — even before there were any hints in this country that we would start locking down our communities. This has put our supermarkets under unnecessary strain and too early, and has meant that those who actually need those items cannot get them. For the elderly and the vulnerable, shortages of essential items can cause fatal consequences. So, I implore all in our communities to only buy what you need, when you need it. Even if our Government does enact emergency laws to lock down the entire country, essential services like supermarkets will remain open, albeit with tight but reasonable purchasing controls — and supply chain contingencies have and are being utilised. Yes, there will be disruption but if we use common sense any disruption can be minimised — these last 2 weeks it has been bewildering to see all the empty shelves so soon.

Please have consideration for everyone — again I say only buy what you need! Look after your elderly relatives and those who you know may be suffering. Consider the mental health of your friends, relatives and neighbours. And take time to call on your neighbours to make sure they are coping. This will be a hard time for everyone, whether it lasts 4 weeks or 4 months. But remember, we live in the greatest country in the world, we’ve overcome so much throughout our history, and we will overcome this.

Currently the government advice is simply to keep washing your hands thoroughly and to stay at home if you have any of the symptoms of Covid-19. Such as a new and persistent cough, or a high fever. You can find much more extensive information and advice on the UK Government website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response