It’s not hoarding which will get the UK through coronavirus – it’s little acts of kindness

It’s not hoarding which will get the UK through coronavirus – it’s little acts of kindness
NewsColony

IT’S the little acts of ­kindness that count. The notes under the door offering shopping runs to the ­supermarket or chemist.

The calls, texts and emails from old friends and close family, of course, but — more touchingly — the unsolicited inquiries from colleagues and even passers-by asking if I’m OK.

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The outbreak of coronavirus has seen people across the UK react very differently

Along with millions of others in my age group, I am experiencing that heart-warming melting of British reserve and a blossoming of dormant good-natured decency.

Outside London, this sort of basic social interchange is everyday stuff.

But it comes as an agreeable shock in a city of perpetual rush-hour and citizens conditioned to avoid eye contact, still less pass the time of day.

I live in a London apartment block. In normal times, everyone is busy, at work all day.

We rarely see even the lovely couple who live across the landing. The streets below teem with workers, always in a hurry.

Now these streets are empty. Our neighbours stay indoors, self-isolating.

‘STREETS ARE EMPTY’

But we still see each other more than ever before, on the way to supermarkets for Silver Hour or grabbing some fresh air. We stand well apart, chat about the only subject in town and exchange offers of help. The City of London has become a village again.

We receive tip-offs about loo roll delivery times or surprise consignments of hand gel and wet wipes at the nearby ­pharmacy.

WhatsApp support groups have sprung up, advising on contactless payment via online bank accounts or how to spend your time indoors. Laptops are a lifeline.

A frail friend and neighbour politely declines my offer to pick up her prescription.

“I’m inundated with calls,” she says. “Everyone’s so kind.”

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A Teesside shopper was captured stockpiling 217 toilet rollsCredit: BackGrid

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People up and down the country and ignoring advice from the Government to self-isolate and practice social distancingCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Not everything is so fraternal.

There is real anger at the hoarders in our midst — at people like the couple who arrived home with trolleys piled high and a new freezer to store three months of food.

The Sun picture of a ­Teesside shopper with 217 loo rolls hit a nerve, along with the scumbag who made £3,000 selling them at £20 each to pensioners.

So did private cardiologist Dr Mark Ali, who — says The Sunday Times — made £2.5million in a week flogging coronavirus test kits for £375 a go — three times the cost price.

Most employers are doing the decent thing, using help from Chancellor Rishi Sunak to keep workers on 80 per cent pay.

But others are seizing the chance to slash their payroll, risking a huge spike in ­unemployment once the crisis is over. Some household-name ­companies have not covered themselves with glory.

EasyJet effectively abandoned passengers stuck in foreign parts with no way home until Sunak stuffed taxpayers’ cash down their throats.

HOT-BEDDING

My wife and I escaped from Cyprus last week on one of the last ­scheduled flights before hotels and airports were shut down.

A lot of EasyJet over-60s passengers feared being stranded with nowhere to stay.

This crisis has hit Downing Street hard, with ministers and officials working 24-hour days, almost hot-bedding in No10 as they struggle to cope with fast-changing events.

London, the UK epicentre of contagion, is in lockdown as the death toll spurts faster than tragic Italy’s at this stage of the spread. Did Boris get it right? We’ll soon know.

It is interesting to observe the reaction of different age groups to this pandemic.

Schoolchildren are understandably scared by the headlines. Old folk, some of them war babies, are more fatalistic.

But some in their 20s and 30s are flagrantly ignoring advice to self-isolate.

They are the least likely to die of this bug but risk putting thousands of fellow Brits in an early grave.

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised to keep workers on 80 per cent payCredit: PA:Press Association

Comment

TONY PARSONS

We cannot let coronavirus steal the future of one million schoolchildren

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STAY ON GUARD

The world is shaken but the dangers we faced before coronavirus still exist

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KARREN BRADY

Scared yes, but the virus unites us for the first time in years

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THE SUN ON SUNDAY SAYS

We are all in this together – our daily life needs to change now

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JEREMY CLARKSON

Any fool can start a ‘war on coronavirus’, but it will take skill to end it

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DR JENNY HARRIES

The UK is a world leader in preparing for serious disease outbreaks

A few months ago, the UK was split by what now seems a harmless spat over Brexit.

There were Remainer black “jokes” that Britain would rejoin the EU once all we Brexit fogies had popped our clogs and the Eurosceptic virus had been eliminated.

Covid-19 may be culling the elderly, but at least it’s impartial.

‘End of capitalism’

IN the darkest days of the 2008 crash, Labour’s Marxist outriders gloated openly at what they hoped was “the end of capitalism”.

Corbynites will be feeling the same way as stock markets collapse and giant firms hit the rocks.

They applaud their “friends” in Russia, China and others even more extreme who will take advantage of crippled Western economies, especially in Europe.

Once we are through this pandemic, the next truly momentous battle will be between the West’s cash-strapped but creative “free spirits” and the authoritarian iron fists of the former Soviet era.

Sainsbury’s staff barricade an entire aisle so they could restock toilet roll without being overrun by frantic shoppers

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Source : The Sun | NewsColony: World News

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