The coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has been broadly structural in its nature. We have become used to reporting of the number of new cases and the daily death toll. In those evening press conferences, there is very much a focus on charts and graphs to reveal how the virus has developed and projections of its future developments (and hopefully diminishment).
This is deeply important. It is vital people are informed of new cases. Individuals have the capacity to prevent the spread of the virus through social distancing. There needs to be an awareness if the number of new cases begins to increase again, especially as the lockdown is gradually eased. Similarly, elements of optimism are required if the number of new deaths continues to fall. While I am quietly optimistic about the coronavirus’ future (or lack thereof), I am similarly aware the situation is both deeply volatile and could alter at any moment. Information is therefore essential. Ignorance at a time of the pandemic would be unwise, costly and cause significant harm to us all. For example, knowledge of the dire state of the world economy is vital for beginning to understand how it can recover. But even for a current affairs obsessive like myself, coverage of coronavirus at the expense of all other topics can induce some fatigue. Partially, this is a result of how overwhelming the pandemic has been. As I’ve written before, whatever sector you work in, whatever your age or social class, coronavirus touches all our lives. While it is obviously not this supposed great leveller, it would be factually wrong to suggest some individuals aren’t affected by the pandemic. Our working lives, indeed, whether we work at all, has all transformed. Dozens, if not hundreds, of experts will have taken part in phone-ins across all the broadcasting channels, trying to assist people in their time of need. An individual person story reflects problems affecting many others. It is the individual stories of coronavirus that deserve attention after the pandemic. From the work of doctors to the tribulations of patients, families in mourning to businesses destroyed, public servants like bus drivers to selfless acts of community solidarity, there are both many positive and truly distressing stories to arise out of the pandemic in the UK and across the globe. I recognise the difficulty in revealing these stories as the pandemic unfolds. Many families will be in mourning, not wishing to discuss their lost relatives. Key workers are continuing their jobs, often in damaging, unsafe conditions, while the logistics of community management requires a great amount of energy. And yet these stories must be told. While many will no doubt come out in the many inquires into the government’s response to the pandemic, there will be other mediums for revealing the hardships many have experienced. I’m sure the pandemic will have inspired a variety of creativity, from new plays, fictional stories to paintings of life behind closed doors. I’m as much of an anti-philistine as it’s possible to be, but fictional portrayals cannot be considered on the same wavelength as true, gritty, heartfelt stories of the distressing experience people have undergone. I need only look to one example. Earlier this week, I listened to an episode of ‘File on 4’, which had got doctors and nurses to record their experiences over the last seven weeks of working in lockdown during the pandemic. The stories were deeply moving and concerning. Medical staff became openly emotional recording their frustration of not being able to treat their patients safely, anger with the Health Secretary and fear of passing the disease onto their own family. Though witnessing death is part and parcel of working in medicine, that families weren’t even able to be with their loved ones at the end of their life was both shocking and upsetting in equal measure. It made me consider the pandemic completely different. File on 4 has always done this. From investigating scandals in the care sector to the collapse of Thomas Cook, the programme has always taken apaer a broad structural story by focusing on the individual lives. It is a titan of investigative journalism and one of the many jewels in Radio 4’s crown. Of course, I had thought about PPE and the challenges facing doctors before listening. But even a highly informative health report by, say, the BBC’s Hugh Pym doesn’t do justice to hearing the words of doctors themselves. I hope that episode is one of the most widely downloaded. So, how can these stories be told? The brilliance of the arts is that so many mediums are open. The only limit is one's imagination. Whether it is a series of television documentaries, short films detailing the lives public service workers lead, books in mourning of the dead or visual recordings of a daily life, there are multiple methods the suffering so many have faced. These should be used not because people want others to feel sorry for them, but simply to fulfil a desire for recognition and appreciation. Whether it’s the work they’ve done or the people who have been lost, these individual stories would move beyond the structural statistics we’ve been so used to seeing. The future is unclear. How many times has that sentence been written before?! I believe lockdown will continue to be gradually eased. While I look forward to seeing friends (one at a time, socially distanced, of course), it will be tricky to know what to discuss other than coronavirus. It has enveloped our lives ever since I left university what feels like centuries ago - but was only the middle of March. Politically though, whether for investment, paying workers more or boosting growth, the age of the big state is here to stay. While I have little problem with that economically, I do fear for our civil liberties and privacy, not least with the contact tracing app currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight. As the number of new cases decreases, that is where accountability must now turn to.
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Author:Noah enjoys writing a blog and drinking tea Archives
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