Silver linings have appeared from life under coronavirus

We’ve done well in Australia to have such a limited loss of life to COVID-19 compared to so many other countries. In different ways, there’s a very high price to pay.

There’s the loss of life, loss of loved ones that can be so devastating. Grief is a bitter pill. Losing a life partner in later life can be almost intolerable. For many kids, losing a nana or pop is their first taste of real loss.

Many who recovered had weeks in hospital, perhaps in an induced coma, on a ventilator and away from loved ones.

In an economic sense, the loss of jobs has hit unevenly, unfairly and hard. Many businesses won’t survive the shutdown. The personal cost to those involved is horrific.

It seems pathetically self-indulgent to hear people who haven’t been affected in these ways complaining that they’re sick of not having restaurants and pubs open. Worse, those who feel trapped because their overseas travel has been postponed. Those who went through World War II must be dumbfounded that people can have so little backbone.

Nonetheless, slivers of goodness have come out of this. If they stay with us, we will be doubly lucky.

Being forced into a quieter life isn’t a bad thing. Many people who wouldn’t have chosen it have found it quite refreshing. Hopefully, being forced into a reassessment of what really is important has changed us for the better. Couples are reconnecting, families are finding being together more can be a good thing. Teenagers and young adults who might have eaten at home during the week but not on weekends are discovering that home really might be where their heart is.

Outside of family, friends are discovering that absence can make the heart grow fonder. The pleasure in catching up, albeit in smaller numbers, is intensified.

Maybe the crisis has given everyone something else that’s less attractive but still good: a lesson in civics. Yes, Government in Australia 101. The best lesson is one not in books but in real life.

How many times have you heard someone comment that there’s confusion about what you can and can’t do under social distancing? Plenty. Part of that problem is national news services often refer to restrictions in one state or another but mums and dads trying to get the kids to finish homework and have dinner can miss that detail and assume it applies to them. A greater part of the problem is that the states often disagree and people are left wondering why something is OK in one state but not another.

The penny might be dropping that we are a federation. Our national government doesn’t decide everything. We are watching a daily tutorial in the reality that different states have different issues and priorities.

'Yelling across the town square doesn’t illuminate anything.'

Maybe we will understand that this is what governments face all the time. State governments often don’t agree with each other and they certainly don’t always agree with the Commonwealth government. It’s faced by politicians every day in health, education, training and so many other areas. Federations can make things harder for governments. If you have one government holding all the power, you might come to regret that.

We’ve also learned to recognise that there are often different responses to a problem depending on time and place. Cities with higher densities of living find coping with coronavirus much harder and so understandably have different rules.

With any luck, COVID-19 may also play a part in civilising future debate. Surely nearly everyone can now see that the same facts can be legitimately interpreted differently. Whether they interpret the facts the same way or not they may come up with quite different policy responses, equally legitimate. Yelling across the town square doesn’t illuminate anything.

Another small benefit might be that we no longer get sucked in by simplistic statements. Have you heard people complaining about social distancing because "more people die of influenza each year" or "we lose over a thousand every year in road deaths".

People wanting to promote themselves as thoughtful ponder why we care so much about COVID-19 when these other deaths rates are perennial. Sotto voce, they might announce it is because we have become inured to the influenza and road deaths while COVID-19 deaths are new and newsworthy. They might be correct in their facts but have missed crucial aspects of COVID-19 that render their pronouncements foolish.

There’s a high degree of immunity in the community to influenza; it hasn’t displayed the capacity of COVID-19 to spread like wildfire and overwhelm hospital capacity. Drink-driving or lousy driving kills but it's not infectious like a virus. So comparisons with COVID-19 are just ridiculous.

We’ve learnt the value of a quieter life, and family and friends while also being reminded that a federation isn’t easy. We’ve had a real life case study in the process of legitimate debate and disagreement.

And we’ve had a refresher in how to spot those whose nickname rhymes with banker. I hope we’ve learned these lessons well. We’ll need them.