Seeking the silver lining in the COVID-19 Cloud
Coronavirus: it’s awful. It’s worldwide, and the impact is huge.
Lots has already been written about that elsewhere, so I’m not going to dwell on it here.
Instead - for our morale, and hopefully yours - in this post I am going to discuss some of the good things that might come from what is otherwise a catastrophe.
Some sunshine breaking through
Desperately Seeking Silver Lining
It’s good to see that there are some positive news stories in the newspapers:
Lockdown
In many countries, home working has suddenly become the norm. Even the most traditional organisations are now doing it, and some are suggesting - only slightly tongue in cheek - that COVID-19 is the single biggest driver of digital transformation to date.
So, let’s list some of the good things that might result from ‘the new normal’?
Working in the Cloud
Less pollution
According to Flight Radar, between 6th March and 6th April, there was a 90% reduction in airborne aircraft. That’s obviously terrible for the people whose travel plans have been disrupted, but there is an associated reduction in pollution. For example in China and Lahore, and even Winchester in Hampshire.
Fewer accidents
With far fewer cars and lorries on the roads, the number of traffic accidents is also reducing. For example, Hürriyet Daily News is reporting that in Istanbul province Traffic accidents declined nearly 35 percent.
Community spirit
I live in rural Devon and have noticed a few positive changes over the last month or so. It might be my imagination, but I get the strong impression that people are talking to each other more - from a distance of course!
Elsewhere there are some lovely examples of communities doing their thing - like socially distant dancing!
Then there the many gestures of appreciation for health and care workers. Some spontaneous, and others coordinated, like the weekly Clap for our Carers and rainbows appearing in windows across the country.
Back to Nature
With warmer weather in the last couple of weeks, roadside verges are buzzing with insect life, and it’s great to see that includes bumble bees, butterflies and honey bees. It will be interesting to see if reduced pollution has any positive effects on insect numbers.
More widely, there’s lots of evidence that Nature is stepping out of the gloom:
The Guardian: UK wildlife enjoys humans’ lockdown but concerns raised over conservation
Radio France Internationale: Wild animals wander through deserted cities under Covid-19 lockdown
BBC: Coronavirus: Goats take over empty streets of seaside town
Food glorious food
Social media is replete with pictures of home-cooked food, and lots of people are exchanging recipes and growing tips. Cookery programmes have of course been popular on TV for many years, but I get the sense that this is much more people doing it for themselves.
I attended #BreakfastClub for the first time last week, and Silver Linings - the theme of this post - was one of the topics discussed. There was a lively discussion in the breakout groups, and lots of interesting discussions ensued.
BreakFastClub is an informal get together instigated by OneTeamGov, and facilitated by James Cattell on Zoom. Participants suggest agenda items and contribute notes using a Google document. It’s like the (now traditional) unconference has taken another step on the evolutionary ladder.
Waste less, fix more
In the current circumstances it’s not so easy to pop out to the shops to replace the thing that broke. This encourages more of a fix and mend culture, and programmes like #TheRepairShop are perfectly timed.
Can you think of any more?
We are looking for any silver linings that you can think of. Please add your suggestions in the comments below, or ping us an email at silverlinings@drawnalism.com or tweet us @Drawnalism. If we like your idea, we will feature it as a drawing in our next post on the subject and credit you with the idea.