I work in financial services in a non-customer facing role. So reading the indignant rants about insurance companies from ignorant people who don't understand insurance terms, conditions and exclusions has been funny.
We've been told to work from home for the foreseeable but as everything i do is on a computer via email then aside from the self motivation this is no hardship. And I can have my 'tunes' on all day, take my lunch when I want etc.
People who are saying we need to trust the 'experts' should remember the WHO issued a report in January '20 stating coronavirus 'cannot be transmitted between humans'.
Personally I think the entire Worldwide reaction to this has been a massive overreaction to something that if you are not over 70 or have a
pre-existing condition then the risk to health is very low to non existent. The Government boffins said that if we did nothing 250k people would die from coronavirus but in the UK each year 600k die anyway. They've been forced to admit that the 250k deaths wouldn't necessarily be 'additional' deaths as the people who would be dying of coronavirus would in all probability have died from their existing condition/ age anyway. In Italy out of 3405 deaths (at the time of writing) only
3 didn't have serious pre existing conditions.
People were moaning that Brexit was the best example of a nation self harming and yet here we have the World self harming by closing down the economy in an attempt to save the lives of people who would, in all probability, have die in the next few months anyway due to their life limiting conditions. The cost to the economy is going to be magnitudes bigger than Brexit and the 2008 slowdown and for what? So 250k 'coffin dodgers' could live 6 mths longer? We've seen some unprecedented financial policies from the Government perhaps its time to see some unprecedented health policies. When the NHS started life expectancy was around 67; now it's in the low to mid 80s. But improved health care hasn't been focused on improving quality of life; more on improving longevity with the consequence people are now living longer with a decreased quality of life ( my own mother described it as 'not a life but an existence'). Perhaps it's time to say palliative care only beyond say 75yo - we need to focus resources on those with their life before them, not those who are, for all intents and purposes, 'life expired'. All lives are NOT of equal value.
To be honest I've probably had coronavirus already and not realised. My Mrs had a fever and a dry cough (normally pointers to you having the virus) but as her illness also included vomiting and loss of appetite (which weren't mentioned as 'trademark symptoms') she just assumed it was flu and got on with it. Now they are saying digestive symptoms might indicate coronavirus. They reckon that 80% of people with the virus won't even have any symptoms and so these people will just carry on as before.
It will be interesting to see the stats when they are collected in respect of unintended consequences of coronavirus. Will there be a baby boom because people are shut in the house with no sport to watch and no access to reliable contraception? Will there be a rise in the divorce rate from people who previously moaned they never got to spend more than 90 minutes a week with their partner and now find out that actually 90 minutes is more than enough? Will 'wfh' become the default position for all non-customer facing staff as companies realise having a big 'status' office with all its attendant bills is just a money pit that doesn't add any value to the business?
