10 Things

10 Things Covid has taught me about the world

I was going to write about 10 things that I’ve learned about Covid, but I realise that after 6 months I still know fewer than ten things – and one of those is that it doesn’t affect pubs until after 10am, which now I come to think of it, doesn’t seem that solid an idea to base a national policy upon.

But Covid has definitely taught me some lessons about life:

1. People are resilient

It is incredible to think of how much is new – how quickly we have got used to things that would have seemed incredible just seven month ago: Most people working from home and never seeing their colleagues except on a screen; not seeing family as often as we used to; regularly tuning in to the TV to hear new sets of national or regional restrictions on our lives and livelihoods. We have accepted things that would have seemed like science fiction early this year.

But this doesn’t mean that we’ve accepted them without cost to ourselves. Whether this is trying to cope with home-schooling when a child’s year-group is self-isolating, or if it means living and working alone without seeing friends and colleagues – these are all very difficult things to do, and we should be proud about how well we’ve adjusted, not how little.

2. Closing things is easier than opening them.

Starting a lockdown is easy, provided people know why it’s being done. Remember that sense of togetherness – especially on a Thursday evening, when we thanked the NHS as a community. That seems a long time ago now.

As cities and businesses try to open up, one national moment is replaced by several smaller questions: How soon is too soon? How safe is safe enough? Is one type of www.bristol.gov.uk/libraries-archives business safer than another? Why are there such different rules in different places? 34 My job is buying goods and services for a university. In the past seven months, we’ve bought more masks, visors and plastic sheeting than we’d ever have though possible as well as new – and found it generally easier to do than we’d imagined, as long as we support and encourage our talented colleagues to do so.

4. Family time is precious

We can get too caught up in the regular routine of working lives, and of being busy and ‘out and about’. As we’ve been forced back on to simpler, more local patterns of living, the innate importance of family time – whether in the household or in the extended family becomes ever more critical. You miss it when it isn’t there.

5. I miss cinemas

I’ve been to the cinema again – to watch Tenet, which I think I need to see again before I understand it. It felt good to do so, and to be honest it felt completely safe and well-managed, but very few other people were there. The experience is lessened when it’s not in a group, which is why it’s doubly sad that our local Cineworld has closed, until at least next year. We need it back.

There is nothing better than a walk in a park or in woodland. This is now a more regular part of more people’s lives, partly for want to many other things to do.

This will leave a legacy. I do think this will lead to a greater recognition of the importance of open spaces, and people trying to walk and cycle where they can.

7. Poor communications is disastrous

Most people respond well to a clear message. This happened in March and April pretty well.

But people respond much less well to instructions and requests that are not clear. The more complex a message is (How many people am I allowed to meet inside, outside or in a park?), the more likely it is that people will stop listening.

There have been some very unclear messages – telling people on a Thursday that the pubs might close on Monday is a particularly stupid thing to do, especially if the pubs don’t actually close on Monday because the message has changed again by then.

8. Losing people’s trust is catastrophic

Dominic Cummings has a lot to answer for. Many of were prepared to put up with a lot as long as we believed that ‘we were all in it together’. The moment this was lost, everything else started to fall apart. The UK has handled trust worse than most other nations. At the time of writing, we are comparatively lucky in Bristol in not having the sort of local-versus-national conflict that is currently affecting many cities in the North of England, but it feels only a matter of time.

9. People haven’t had enough of experts

One of the most interesting aspects of the debate about Covid is the extent to which people still respect the science. Medical experts are more trusted and held in much higher esteem than politicians, and rightly so. In my most positive moments, I wonder if this might lead to a fundamental shift towards more factual policy discussion, and an end to the face-free Trumpy fantasies that have afflicted political debate for too long.

10. I love Brislington people

We can be proud of how our community has responded.

We have helped each other – collected prescriptions, delivered food, kept in contact in various ways, stayed positive. That has made a huge difference.

Stay safe, Rob Logan, Brislington West