No time to argue

One thing we can all do at the moment, specifically on social networks, is to not engage with the naysayers, the conspiracy theorists and those who, without a scintilla of evidence, think that coronavirus is nothing more serious than a bog standard case of seasonal winter flu. It’s just not worth it for a variety of reasons.

Most importantly, this is not a time for society to be divided into separate camps. Unity will be everything in the weeks and months ahead, and maybe the next year, and we simply can’t afford squabbling. It’s a time for calm and measured decision-making.

The only debate is to do with how governments worldwide are dealing with the outbreak. For instance, our government has adopted very different plans to almost everywhere else in the world. Europe has virtually gone into lockdown. Britain, at least until the last few days, has not exactly kept calm but carried on. That’s about to change big time.

I am going to refrain from getting into on-line spats with anyone and certainly not “I told you so” type comments when coronavirus gets close to home. That would benefit no one. I have already seen flippant comments by people I know who have frail, elderly relatives, who are at huge risk as the epidemic sweeps through the land. Hopefully, in the coming days, they too will take on board the reality of what we are facing.

People react to things in different ways and we shouldn’t be surprised that there are different views and opinions. And people who aren’t yet taking this deadly disease as seriously as we might like them to do will, I am sure, accept reality when it affects them personally.