Spent the morning navigating the latest announcements while trying to get on top of our children’s school work. Helping them to adjust has been a challenge. We’ve all had to be gracious toward each other. Not always successful.

My brothers and sisters have been sharing ideas to keep the cousins busy and motivated. This includes a dance competition for the children courtesy of shared short films on WhatsApp. One of my sister’s lives in Zurich with her family. They are also isolating – and dancing! 

I have a conference call with government at 2pm with the latest information for local government leaders. We’ve presubmitted recommendations. The first that local government get advanced notice of major announcements. The second that they make a time to review the command structure, to review how things are working. It’s at the local level that announcements are/must be made real. Policy makers must understand the challenges facing implementors.

I have been reflecting over the last few days just how humbling this situation is. Humanity has put landing craft on Mars, scaled the tallest mountains, built machines that have enabled us to explore within a second of the Big Bang and established ourselves the species able to dominate every life form on the planet. And then this invisible, impersonal, unconscious thing comes along and leaves us with few responsible options other than to stop seeing each other. It humbles an economic system that’s become the measure of all things and takes our jobs, stops us riding buses, closes down our sports and festivals.

We will get through this. Our hope is real. But we will have a new – hopefully deeper –  understanding of ourselves and the way we have organised our world.