What positives are there to this?

[Sarahlou63]

It's a bit of a stretch but I'd like to know what good might come out of the current crisis.

Personally it's affecting us financially as my DP can't take up a new contract (we live in Portugal - potential job offers are Utrecht/Brussels or Copenhagen) BUT he's going to write the work related books he's always wanted to but never had the time. For me, my coaching business is on hold BUT I've just finished a CBT practitioner course so I'm going to try and build up an online/Skype counselling service. I'm also able to spend more time helping out at the local dog shelter. Shovelling shit is strangely cathartic...

A neighbour is setting up a Whatsapp group so we can all keep in touch and help each other out with shopping/help with animals, etc so it will strengthen our little community, which has to be positive.

Globally, the reduction in travel and pollution has to be good for future generations.

Can you see any positives?

No

Sarahlou, can I ask whether you or your husband are over 60 or have health conditions which increase your risk from coronavirus? I’m guessing not.

Now that lots of people have a better idea of the importance of hand washing and other basic infection control measures, I can feasibly see a reduction in other infectious illnesses (colds, flu, stomach bugs, etc) in the immediate and medium term. Not sure that the impact will be long lasting though as people will probably go back to bad habits once this is all over.

None.
And how many people worldwide are setting up online businesses at the moment?
You're going to need an extremely solid client base already or something very specific that they need.

@SemiSkimmedMilk. Yes, my partner is 65 and asthmatic. I'm 56 and a smoker. With my CBT counsellor hat on I would suggest you research cognitive biases

Do you have children?

People realise how underfunded the NHS has been as information such as how few ICU beds we have available compared to other countries becomes freely available?

Ditto education funding when we can't manage online learning like other countries can. I heard some expert on the news the other day estimating that 40% of schools don't have the available technology to set up online classrooms. As a teacher I would be amazed if the figure wasn't far higher. We don't even have the money for glue sticks, let alone to invest in new technology and training for staff in how to use it.

However, those things pale into insignificance when you are talking about how many people could die.

Gosh, your husband must be fighting fit if he's already a pensioner yet thinking of moving abroad for work!

I also hope (maybe vainly) that this will give some people a little more empathy for refugees. What we are experiencing is just a fraction of the daily fear and anxiety that some people have had to live with for years. Perhaps this will help people in the western world to understand why so many flee their own countries.

less polluton with less travel.
people stuck at home may have cleaner houses while looking for things to do?? time to do jobs eg gardening???
as pp said better awareness of simple handwashing ?= less other bugs

No positives here. My husband works with people in Europe, most business is on hold or has lost credit from the banks. I have to go back to work full time as of next month to a job I left in December because I was miserable.

There's a possibility we'll have to make 3 people redundant, one of them is my sister.

Do you have children?

Never achieved that Holy Grail but we do have 30 mouths to feed twice daily.

With people practicing better hygiene and self isolating with any symptom at all, I hope lots of other bugs, flu and viruses will spread less, too! :)

I really feel like this might make people reevaluate their lives. Realise they work to much- don't spend enough quality time with family. Realise they can strip back to basics and do without a lot of things people think necessary and spend more time at home doing less.

BookMeOnTheSudExpress

Gosh, your husband must be fighting fit if he's already a pensioner yet thinking of moving abroad for work!

I presume you mean that irrespective of coronavirus?

My father was 69 with a chronically bad chest (due to smoking) when we all upped sticks and moved to South America from the for two years because of his work.

@SemiSkimmedMilk

Do you have children

What an incredibly insensitive question, it's none of your business if the OP has DC and no relevance to the thread.

Why do we need to see positives out of this?

I'll be happy if there won't be a serious financial crisis after it.
And if not too many people die.

I’m insensitive?

I think it is relevant. I was trying to understand why OP is posting about positives to an epidemic which may lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths when most of us are terrified that we and our loved ones may die and how our children (for those who have them) will cope.

I'm hoping my partner will have to travel less in future for work. shes away a lot now with unnecessary face to face meetings that are now all being held virtually. hopefully if they go well more will continue to be held this way in future.

I’m trying to console myself with the idea that, in years to come, we might look back and say, “And that was when we dialled back environmental damage enough to make a difference.”

I suspect the rates of normal flu will be down this year (15,000 die each year from it) due to the improved handwashing etc.

I think the OP might not see quite so many positives when she's been in lockdown as long as many of us have.
Children, age, financial stability, health are all relevant when it comes to how Corona virus is going to affect you.

I was trying to understand why OP is posting about positives

I think the negatives are pretty obvious... it's a great idea to focus on a few positives, why not? Should we all be panic buying and freaking out instead?

@SemiSkimmedMilk

Given that the situation is here and real and there is nothing we can do in the short term to make it go away, I think it's important to try and look for positives, which is why I started the thread. Reduced pollution could in the long term save many, many more lives than CV ends.