Unexpected consequences of Coronavirus
Ok, I'll grant you it's not the best of titles but let's face it there are some benefits to be had from the current crisis and it might help a few people to think positive thoughts as opposed to hearing about the depressing daily death toll.
So here are a few to get you going:-
1. Less cars on the road making for more enjoyable local exercise and cycling
2. Less Pollution, due to number 1.
3. Whilst there have been well documented instances of numptiness, there has been an increase in people connecting with their local community, even at a respectful social distance. Plenty of folk out there willing to do shopping for other less able folk and making sure that medicines are collected and delivered.
4. A huge response to requests for volunteers for the NHS and Police etc. Shows what spirit there is around if asked.
5. Less Theft from homes.
6. Divorce lawyers will be getting richer. Oh hang on, scrub that one. It's not positive unless you are related to one.
So please feel free to add to this list with your own positive benefits. I'm sure there are plenty more.
Moderator Comment - I was very uneasy with the use of the word benefit as anyone who has lost someone to Coronavirus I suspect won't see any possible benefit. I have edited the title which reduces the risk of unintended offence being caused. I am not totally sure the new wording is correct but probably better than before?
Comments
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Local shops are benefiting as folk avoid crowded supermarkets.
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Much less litter around.
No one has vandalised/stolen the daffodils.
Many more dogs benefitting from not being left for hours at home.
Children are spending time with their parents and not other carers.
Theres no background hum of noise or traffic.
People are learning new skills.
Pokemon Go has revived!
Asthmatics are started to breathe better again.
People are learning to cook and use up, less waste.
Neglected gardens are coming back to life.
Neglected houses are getting some DIY.
Carers and NHS staff are getting the recognition they have always deserved.
(If there is one huge positive to come out of all this, it is that successive Government from now on put the NHS and the Care System and it’s required resources at the very top of the commitment list, and it’s never underfunded, understaffed and under resourced ever again!)
Other workers such as Supermarket staff, delivery drivers, transport workers, refuse collectors etc.... get the recognition they deserve as well.
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Freezer sales have risen.
Production of baby clothes increased as demand will be high by Christmas.
More and more people becoming tech savvy as Skype/Zoom/Whats App etc now a necessity for some
More police on the streets even if they have nothing much to do. Must feel strange for them.
Message to Mod - OK with change. Did want to change it on second thoughts but too late. Thanks.
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It's the first time that we have had almost a full house of children staying for a long time. Quite like it in with family meals again and we've got into the habit of watching a DVD in the evenings.
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Thinking outside the box there David, you mean a benefit for employers, not so much a benefit for employees though?
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indeed but so far all replies have been positive ones. You thought of a negative one.
Actually I don't think people will lose jobs in the way you describe, although perhaps employers will see that many jobs can be done from home just as effectively (perhaps more so) rather than in expensive to run offices with all that commuting, another positive consequence there perhaps?
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Plus. I've noticed the air is much fresher, the environment is quieter, maybe Londoners can open their windows at the moment? The birds can hear each other!
Minus. What is sad is that we had reached a high level of employment and national debt repayment and I think the probable reversion of this will cause concern later on. But who knows?
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The moderator comment suggests that the title originally contained the word 'benefit' and not consequence.
There may be some unexpected consequences but home working is an existing way of working and would guess that its not an option for the large majority of workers.
My hope would be that the positives we have seen in regard to medical equipment development, and joint working to achieve this, for example, are recognised and built upon.........................but I may end up disappointed.
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I hope so too. I think one thing I value is that if and when we get back to the way of life we had before this we'll never take it for granted again.
On a walk this afternoon with my daughter we passed a closed pub, I joked about remembering the times when these places were actually open and you could stand right next to another person in a crowded bar?
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Hi David, I think that the attitude is often linked to age groups and use and these two things are themselves linked as increasing age can lead to more need.
I consider myself very fortunate to have had just two hospital stays, one at age of seven the other in my late forties, however my wife has had multiple operations and it’s no exaggeration to say the NHS has given her a life she can enjoy rather than endure so it’s a given that we will support it.
Maybe it’s the world of ‘me,me,me’ that leads to the general public’s apathetic attitude but you would hope that politicians may see all the emergency services as worthy of support in the future and not just a photo opportunity when it suits as in the past.
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We can only hope that this doesn’t last so long that the rate of pub closures seen in recent years gets worse.
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"Maybe it’s the world of ‘me,me,me’ that leads to the general public’s apathetic attitude but you would hope that politicians may see all the emergency services as worthy of support in the future and not just a photo opportunity when it suits as in the past."
I'm no great fan of Boris, but his statement that "there is such a thing as society" gives a glimmer of hope for the future.
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I likely fall into the grumpy old man category on occasion but do believe that, for all its faults, picked over endlessly at times, we have a country we can be both proud of and thankful for.
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On a lighter note just seen the goats that live on the Great Orme are now roaming around Llandudno town centre due to the lack of people about.
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Alternatively, my OH having a heart attack. Ambulance here in under 5 minutes, 10 minutes to travel seven miles, straight into Cardiac unit, immediately operated on, 40 minutes later sat up having a sandwich, life saved, me allowed to stay as long as I wanted. Transferred onto Cardiac Ward, one nurse to two patients. Would he like to transfer to hospital in home town tomorrow?
Or my BIL, he had a stroke, a severe one in one of holiday cabins at Carradale Site. So, rather remote. Ambulance from Campbelltown took 10 minutes, helicopter to Glasgow, recognised as a World centre for stroke treatment. Life saved. He was there two months, then flown back home to South Yorkshire in a medical transfer plane. His treatment lasted six months as an in patient.
Our hospitals and staff are World class. But starved of funding, staffing, resources. And blocked up with too high a percentage of folks who with better support and home care shouldn’t need to be there.
There are 20 million less people in Spain than in UK as well, by the way.
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Hi David/TDA, Whilst the NHS was my initial reference I was talking in more general terms.
Of course, as I have never lived anywhere else, I could be wrong but I think, especially at the moment, I need to stay positive!
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There’s good and bad about every country😁 Sadly sometimes services aren’t consistent, and someone’s great experience is another person’s nightmare.
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The difference was that the hospital in Spain worked on different parameters ,A&E not full of drunks and druggies as they would normally have to pay for their "treatment" where as in the UK it is free?
I have had several not expected visits to A&E depts in the UK and was treated far better ,than the English Person when in Majorca who had a Seizure at the hotel we were staying,
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I had cause to visit A&E on Saturday evening, directed there from NHS 111. Only 5 people in minors, social distancing observed except for demanding elderly couple and drunken, pregnant female brought in by police causing a disturbance. My fastest visit ever - in and out in 2 hours. All staff very professional.
Additionally, two walk in cases of suspected Coronavirus, which were dealt with swiftly by the staff - people not following government advice obviously.1 -
Yet they’re struggling in the current climate with a high infection & mortality rate. I hope in the future lessons are learnt & the world’s health care professionals & systems are better provisioned for the future.
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