In our series looking at whether the coronavirus would make us better people, our first post described what we meant by better people, and introduced ‘societal’. Our second post looked at people’s attitudes and values and our third looked at world changes in the recent past. Here we start to look at how we will come out of all this.
Will the Coronavirus make us better people (more societal)? Part 4 – How will we emerge?
We’ll take this post in stages. First, we’ve seen some great responses.
The video from Tom Foolery describes some harsh truths about the ways we lived. It’s a very moving video.
These pictures from Sky News of Hong Kong before and after makes it clear (sic).
We have realised that we weren’t on the right track
Some things we were doing just weren’t right. The impact of the lockdown on air pollution has been staggering.
The World Health Organisation have estimated that about 3 million people die each year from illness caused by air pollution. It’s worse in poorer countries. Nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen by up to 60% in the UK compared to 2019 in the two weeks after lockdown.
The pictures of Milan above are just as extreme; you can now see the Alps!
Air quality in numbers
We have seen some inspiring things
Captain (now honorary Colonel) Tom Moore raised over £30 million for the NHS by walking round his garden 100 times before his 100th birthday. His version of You’ll Never Walk Alone with Michael Ball reached number one in the UK charts, making him the oldest person to top the charts at 100!!
His last laps were done with a guard of honour from the Yorkshire Regiment.
On his birthday a Spitfire and Hurricane from RAF Coningsby flew three loops above his Bedford home.
The article from Forces Net shows the guard of honour from the Yorkshire Regiment for his 100th lap. Picture from MoD.
He started to raise £1,000 for the NHS by doing 100 laps before his 100th birthday!
People are working to entertain others
Good friends of ours are amongst those playing for nothing (in their own garden obviously!) to keep people entertained – on social media and neighbours (at a safe distance!).
Bands like Foals and Wolf Alice have donated songs to a charity record to raise money for protective equipment for doctors and nurses.
