Samantha Motion: We are all in this pandemic together

COMMENT

I used to hate the smell of hand sanitiser.

It's boozy but not in a nice way. Unless you love cheap vodka (no judgment).

That gel stuff smells like a sting.

But in the brave new pandemic-striken world we find ourselves confronting in 2020, I've come to find that stinging odour quite comforting.

It's a scent that speaks to a small way life has already changed, as individuals alter their habits to protect themselves and others.

It was always going to be a weird year in the world with elections at home and abroad ratcheting up the public discourse of almost everything.

I didn't expect, however, that barely three months in we'd be in the grips of a worldwide pandemic.

On Thursday, the tendrils of this terrible contagion felt closer than ever to our region.

One man in custody in Rotorua, recently returning from Hong Kong, felt unwell.

Suddenly we had police in isolation, halls of justice being decontaminated, and prison visits cancelled.

Just as suddenly, it was over. The man tested negative for covid-19 and everything went back to normal.

It might have felt like a close call, a brush with danger, but the truth is that while coronavirus is not yet spreading in our community, it has already arrived in other ways.

The shadow caused by this deadly disease is already creeping over us, and our people are hurting.

Some have lost their jobs, including 24 at Patchell Group of Companies in Rotorua.

The pain of making such a call as an executive must be immense, but to be suddenly jobless in an uncertain economy is a living nightmare.

Businesses big and small will be hit in the pocket. It's hard to imagine an industry that won't feel some sort of pain.

From the Port of Tauranga - long lauded for its immense growth - revising its earnings projection down, to the small tourism operations seeing their biggest season dry up as cruise ship companies suspend operations and travellers stay home.

Chinese restaurants were the first to hurt in the hospitality industry, but if the practice of social distancing becomes the new norm in New Zealand, others will soon feel the pain.

Then there are the hoards of office workers thrust into a work-from-home revolution that few were ready for.

But here's the thing about people: we can adapt, and we can help each other.

Let's start by supporting local businesses.

Book a restaurant - I'm sure they can keep the tables a metre apart - or order takeaways.

This is the time for local manufacturers to shine, as just-in-time overseas import supply chains dry up.

Take advantage, buy local.

Talk to your family, friends and neighbours about how you can support each other sight unseen if sickness hits.

I'm sure there are many more ways we can keep our community strong, and we'd love to hear your ideas.

Social distancing and self-isolation might be the buzzwords of the moment, but in this modern age of a million ways to communicate, they do not have to mean loneliness, helplessness or hopelessness.

We are all in this together.