We had to create a monster. A monster so huge and so terrifying that we were sufficiently motivated. Motivated to make the changes, stop doing many things, and start doing other things. Things that we would never had considered, never had the strength to do, had this monster not been out there on the loose. The monster was of course the fear of the COVID-19 virus and its creation was easy, as we all watched the horrors unfolding from China and into Europe. Images of teams of healthcare workers in full PPE, patients struggling to breathe behind oxygen masks, streets empty as lockdowns were imposed, panicked and exhausted doctors trying to warn the world what was coming to them. The monster was not just the virus though, who’s danger and deadliness were becoming clear. The monster was also the fear of us catching it, the risk of transmission, it’s invisible infectivity. Alarming graphs of rising cases, coupled by stories of transmission from petrol pumps, delivered parcels, and supermarket packets of food grew our monster into a gigantic beast, a snarling, drooling unseen hideousness.
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