Helping each other to get through it

After seven days of lockdown, the news the current restrictions on our lives could last a further three months, and are also likely to be tightened, is as distressing as it is sobering.

We all now face the prospect of having no proper contact with relatives and friends until July, and for those already struggling with social distancing after a matter of days that will seem like an eternity away.

Weddings will be postponed, birthdays missed, events people have been looking forward to for months cancelled, and this year’s traditional Easter celebrations are likely to look very different. Amid all this we can’t lose sight of the fact we are being asked to make these sacrifices to curb the spread of Covid-19, reduce as far as possible the pressure on the

NHS and save lives.

And it could be worse. Had we been in the grip of this pandemic 20 years ago, or even 10, we would not have had the same ability to interact with our family, friends and acquaintances using the medium of social media, video calling and so on.

We would have felt far more cut off and isolated from the rest of society – and that will still apply to those not fully acquainted with modern technology.

So spare a thought for them, give them a call in the old-fashioned way – and do your bit to help others get through this long haul back to normality.

“Twenty years ago, even 10, we would not have had the same ability to interact with family and friends”