Making the most of home advantage

The pressures of confinement are subtle – and they affect people in different ways – but four walls and a garden (if you are lucky) is a poor substitute for a full and active life.

For some islanders, however, home is looking more attractive by the day. They are among the 300,000 Britons stranded abroad.

Cancelled flights and strict lockdowns have stopped islanders who have been travelling the world or enjoying that extended holiday of a lifetime from getting home.

At chaotic times like this, with travel bans and closed airports, the comforts of home in the Bailiwick can look very distant.

For some travellers, the money is starting to run out, accommodation is hard to find and there are even reports of locals attacking tourists buying scarce goods.

The UK has launched a £75m. rescue package, combining commercial and chartered aircraft to reach out across the world and bring people home. Some have been trying to get back for weeks.

It is easy with hindsight to argue that many should never have gone, or at least started heading for home rather sooner.

Maybe so. But few, including governments with entire departments tasked with planning for the worst, have stayed ahead of this storm as it has swept across the world. The frantic search for manufacturers of vital medical equipment such as ventilators, masks and even disposable gloves is testament to that.

As the Lt-Governor says today: we will get through this much better with consideration and mutual support. ‘We must remain one Bailiwick in our fight to defeat this infection.’

There will be individuals and businesses who will struggle to cope over the difficult weeks ahead. Jobs will be lost, companies will fold, people’s mental health will suffer.

Families will lose loved ones.

We may not be together physically but, by coming together in spirit to support one another in this time of grief, loss and hardship, our home can be a fortress against misery.