What's good about Coronavirus?

Covid-19 bringing us together

Support groups are popping up all over the place and social media is actually being used for good!

Remember when we all just used FaceBook to connect with our friends, when it was just the step up from Friends Reunited?

My mum lives in a little hamlet in Surrey. She's got to socially isolate herself along with everyone else over 70. There are no supermarket delivery slots for a month, no dairies to deliver milk and no takeaways. So, we're all stepping up: family (obviously), neighbours and friends. And, yes, I'm now advising her to become part of the Facebook community! Not because she'll delight in taking ridiculous pouting selfies to keep her occupied in the next 12 weeks, but because she can be part of the amazing support groups that are being started up all around her.

While she is very active in her local community and they are being active in return, it struck me that many will have felt isolated for years before COVID-19 became a reality. According to Age UK, half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all*.

Isolation is not the same as staying in

Some people will be delighting in spending more time with their family or dreading how they're going to keep the kids occupied. But no physical contact is no picnic.

We'll all get through this in some form of togetherness and positive thinking but even with daily phone calls, Skype sessions and WhatsApp groups it's not going to be easy for some. The fear of the virus and the inability to get basic supplies can be scary enough but this comes on top of the existing mental strain of single living.

Loneliness is worse for you than obesity.
Lonely people are more likely to suffer from dementia, heart disease & depression.
Loneliness is likely to increase your risk of death by 29%.

Source: Holt-Lunstad, 2010 & 15, Valtorta et al, 2016, James et al, 2011, Cacioppo et al, 2006

According to the ONS, there are over 2.2 million people aged 75 and over living alone in Great Britain, a 24% increase over the past 20 years.

So, we all know someone, if you've got any handy tips to help, let's share them around. What's the best idea you've come up with so far?

*https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/the-facts-on-loneliness/