UNEXPECTED PANIC BUYING IN THE BAGGING AREA!

In the current emergency, we read that in France tobacconists’ shops are “essential”; in Italy, they’re “serenading”; in Holland, they’re queuing for cannabis; in America, they’re queuing for guns while in the UK, they’re fighting over loo rolls and other unexpected items in the bagging area. Not sure what that says about us Brits!

Seriously, though, the challenge of helping others in a time of crisis brings out the best in all of us. In the UK, altruistic volunteers are teaching technology skills and collecting shopping while groups have teamed up with local pharmacies and supermarkets to help deliver groceries and essential medicines to those in quarantine or self-isolation.

And in Spain? As for me, I haven’t previously written about the virus because, rightly or wrongly, I felt readers had enough information elsewhere and might prefer reading something a bit different. I also personally miss the opportunity to do voluntary work under the current lockdown. As for the Spanish, every night at 8pm everyone takes to their balconies to applaud the efforts of the nurses and doctors who, just like NHS staff, are going way beyond the call of duty.

But the wider emergency is touching everyone – those who fall sick, doctors, nurses and families trying to adapt to this strange new abnormal. And it is in these abnormal times that we really see who is running the show: not the usual business leaders in the news, but the key workers who are the absolute backbone of every country. The coronavirus is radically changing everything and the fallout will be considerable for some time. It’s a Hollywood drama unfolding in real life. Sadly, there will be many losers, both people and businesses.

Bottom line is that we all need to pull together, be mindful, caring and sensitively considerate. So far, that has proven to be the case, with optimistic caution as the watchword. Fingers crossed that we can turn the corner soon as everyone everywhere prays for an early scientific breakthrough to stop this thing in its tracks.

Nora Johnson’s psychological crime thrillers ‘Betrayal’, ‘The Girl in the Woods’, ‘The Girl in the Red Dress’, ‘No Way Back’, ‘Landscape of Lies’, ‘Retribution’, ‘Soul Stealer’, ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.nora-johnson.net) available online as ebook (€0.99;£0.99), ibook, paperback & audiobook.All profits to Costa del Sol Cudeca cancer charity