Coronavirus: Some positive news...
In these most harrowing and uncertain of times, it can seem difficult to find positivity but, as Warwickshire County Council graduate economist Emily Newport and senior economist Sunny Parekh discovered, this most challenging period is bringing the best out of communities locally and beyond - with businesses playing their full part.
Locally...
Some uplifting stories are emerging from around the UK and the world at this unprecedented time and there is also plenty of evidence close to home of how the crisis is bringing out the best in humanity.
Despite the restrictions of social distancing, local businesses have come together to help. Breas UK Ltd, one of only two companies in the UK that manufacture ventilators, are based in Stratford-upon-Avon and have increased their operating hours to seven days a week in response to the NHS’s increased need. Further brilliant support for the NHS has come from local hotels stepping forward to offer discounted rooms for healthcare workers.
Other local businesses, organisations and universities have also been rising to the challenge. The Warwickshire Gin Distillery has redirected their efforts to create hand-sanitizer. Kite Packaging are making masks while Ellison's, a Hair and Beauty distributor, donated a large amount of PPE to George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton and are helping to identify ongoing stock for social care settings. Warwick Conferences are accommodating NHS staff and donating food and toiletries while the University of Warwick has donated PPE equipment and Warwick Medical Group are conducting research into reagents for Coronavirus. Local Events Management Services company, Saltem Ltd, have erected a thank you sign to show their, and the local areas support to all key workers.
Concerns over the most vulnerable young people having insufficient resources to support home learning surfaced when schools closed on March 20th. The Coventry and Warwickshire Careers Hubs and Warwickshire County Council joined forces to launch an appeal for businesses to donate unused stationery for pupils in need and were overwhelmed by businesses' generosity.
As the pandemic puts immense strain on all aspects of society, Warwickshire County Council, alongside local partners, has been engaging with the local businesses community to see how they can provide support. The County Council itself are redeploying their workers to strengthen the frontline services where possible. It is the acts like the above from businesses and individuals during adverse and challenging times which show our true strengths as a community.
Nationally...
Across the UK there has been a surge of people volunteering and companies redirecting their efforts to help with the crisis. Over three quarters of a million people have volunteered to assist in helping vulnerable individuals in their local area.
To help the NHS deal with the incredible pressure, universities have donated laboratory PPE equipment to hospitals and are teaming up to help develop and improve necessary equipment.
Joe Wicks and David Walliams have provided free P.E. lessons and books to aid in home-schooling children while various individuals have created ‘How to be Isolated’ guides and tips, to assist in reducing loneliness, boredom and helping mental health. Gym Shark have started donating £5 for every #NHSSweatySelfie posted on social media platforms to charities supporting their hometown (Birmingham) hospitals.
Banks are offering mortgage holidays to help at this time of financial strain and the government has implemented various schemes to try to ensure people can keep afloat. Car companies and loan companies have been instructed by the FCA to offer holidays on repayments. Thousands of students are graduating early in order to start work as nurses and other NHS workers. Medical students from various universities are also going into hospitals voluntarily to help combat the crisis.
Globally...
As a result of the stopping and slowing of economies, global air pollution has seen notable drops. Wuhan (the country where the Coronavirus outbreak started) has relaxed the socialising restrictions as it regains some control over the virus. Germany, Italy (the worst affected area) and France have passed their peak and are reporting a falling number of additional deaths daily. The UK is also said to have reached its peak over the last weekend. In addition, drug trials have started in China, US and the UK with university scientists pooling together to speed up the process.
Companies internationally have been redirecting their focus to help in the relief efforts. These include Meggit, Ford, McLaren F1, Dyson and JCB, who are working with different consortia to scale up production of new and existing ventilator designs. Others have focused on helping people's finances and well-being in this time of difficulty. LinkedIn is offering 16 learning courses for free while various fitness companies have made a multitude of home workouts free to access.
Amazon are hiring 100,000 additional workers, UberEats have waived commission fees and Uber has started providing 14 days sick pay to drivers and deliverers unable to work. Fashion designer Dolce & Gabbana has partnered with Humanitas University in a Coronavirus Research project, MGM has donated 480,000lbs of food to food banks in the US and Facebook has donated 720,000 masks left over from Californian wildfires.
The current circumstances have also brought to light the ability of people's roles to be carried out from home. Going forward, it is expected some companies and businesses may operate far more flexibly.