Guernsey Press

Islanders fight to stay connected

ONLINE yoga classes, church sermons delivered over Facebook, mental health counselling by Zoom. The adaptability and ingenuity of islanders to combat isolation is being put to the test by this lockdown.

Published

People and businesses are refusing to be beaten. Or to go into their shells.

Families and friends are gathering on video apps and messaging systems to keep up to date with the chat and ensure isolation does not wear them down.

Jokes and memes are (hopefully) doing a much better job of spreading than the coronavirus.

It is heart-warming to realise how much people value day-to-day contact with their work colleagues and nearest and dearest.

The flip side of that is concern for those going through this experience without such support.

It is not just households that are being creative. Companies are also having to reinvent how they do everyday tasks and are finding ways to survive.

For many it is a wholesale rethink of their business model.

That includes how to trade. Few firms can afford to shut down for weeks. They need customers to be able to access their wares. If not, they need to find a new product fast. Overnight we have a delivery revolution.

This will have a lasting effect across the planet. Companies which once put a reluctant toe into remote meetings, home working and online sales have had to dive straight in.

What would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago is adopted now without hesitation.

Such flexibility and adaptability will be crucial in the months to come. Not just to get through the lockdown but long afterwards when the virus has done its worst.

Only then will the damage be counted. Governments will have emptied their coffers.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of rainy day funds, accrued by this Bailiwick over decades, will be gone in a matter of months.

We will not be alone. We have a more resilient economy than many. We have minimum debt and sound finances.

That resilience will be needed to pick up businesses and individuals floored by this crisis.