‘Coronavirus has made us think differently... we’re kinder, gentler’
BRITAIN can become a “kinder and gentler” country after coronavirus according totv’s Dr Hilary Jones.
The Good Morning Britain GP has spoken of his hopes for a deeper sense of community now the nation has begun to emerge from lockdown.
He also praised British society for pulling together in the darkest days of the pandemic.
“People are thinking about what is important in their lives. It is an eye-opener,” says Dr Hilary.
“They are thinking, what about the future now?they are asking themselves, ‘Is being driven to earn as much money as I can in the next few years really what I want to be doing’?
“How important is my health? I like the idea of working from home more, I like the idea of not commuting, I like spending more time with my family, I like exercising more.
“Coronavirus has made people think very differently. I hope this will make people kinder and gentler although many people are frustrated at the moment at being cooped up. I think a lot of people are irritable and a bit unkind.
“I hope that changes back again.”
The ITV medic also cautions against complacency over the virus – warning that it might not be beaten for up to two years.
“There are so many unknowns with the virus,” he says. “We do not know yet if we have an effective vaccine.we do not know if there will be a second wave as has happened with other pandemics.
“Statistically, we are likely to get through this in two years at the latest but there are so many unknowns we cannot say for sure.”
He praised the Government’s reaction to the pandemic, while admitting there had been failures. “I think there are things that we could have done better but I don’t think there is a country in the world that you could not apply the same comment to,” he says.
“We are a heavily populated island and a hub for lots of travel from all over the world and we have an elderly population.
“We simply did not have the wherewithal to come up with any more PPE than we did.
“We saw a high mortality rate, particularly in care homes.
“The Government could have put more resources in but no one saw this pandemic coming – they have finite budgets.thank goodness we have a fantastic NHS which could cope with the virus sufferers coming in.
“A huge amount of work and devotion has been spent on this from volunteers, through to doctors and nurses, porters and delivery people.
“There was a lot of nonsense at the beginning with people stockpiling toilet paper but we have not had food shortages. That is incredible. All that social unrest and panic at the start.
“It just goes to show we overreacted.we are a society on the whole that pulls together and looks after one another and if we continue to do that we will get through this quicker.
“I’m optimistic that we can mitigate against a second spike but it depends how society behaves – it is not all down to Government and the NHS, society has to play its part.”
Dr Hilary’s comments follow the Great British Break Off study by holiday home maker Willerby which suggests that eight out of 10 Britons believe a staycation in the UK boosts their mental health.
The survey of 2,000 people found half of respondents said mini breaks made them happier than a longer holiday.
Dr Hilary, who backed the report, says: “The findings show people preferred to have regular, short vacations, rather than investing the time, money and planning in occasional longer holidays abroad.” ● See the full report at willerby. com/greatbritishbreakoff