From a Sleepy Suffolk Village.

So far we have only seen the tide going out, shops emptying, thermometers being nowhere to find, toilet role as valuable as Tulips once were.

My sister lives in Italy, near Milan my brother in Madrid, I am a little ahead of hearing the tales of this unfold. Everywhere seems to be walking through normalcy, when this grips into a community people will die.

It’s difficult to know what is being over interested versus sensibly cautious.

When the wave crashes back it spreads through a region, oppressing everyone within that population. life slows down, globalisation is reversed, local communities become king, local support systems become early warning systems for scaled responses.

This is a marathon where humanity will be turtling from outbreaks across the globe, whack-a-mole at scale. We need to become more responsive than the virus, have tighter OODA loops.

Local Social Facebook groups are already appearing across the nation, generating chatter, data on outbreaks and sharing best practice in containment measures. Most importantly offering help to those in need.

Probable data can be combined with the government's poor approach to testing, we can enrich data sets with open standards. Risk-based, forward bets are now a legitimate tool for shutting down-towns for a month.

There is an imperative upon all of us that as global, becomes local, becomes a neighbour in need we are there for each other. If necessary to hold a hand, a relative or close stranger on their last day.

This will happen in communities in and around you.

Fighting back means contributing, being more responsive than the virus. Create forward-looking dashboards, make vast connections, share local insights into global professional communities. Now is not the time for introverted timidity, look for ways to help and lives will be saved.

We must crowdsource our collective networks in order to find innovative ways to save lives. It is our endeavour and adaptability that will ensure thousands of deaths does not become an accepted norm.

Hold nations, companies and individuals to account for the efforts they make we must now work as a global team, humanity is polarised by a common enemy.

For now, we can all help by:

• Washing hands, be prepared to repurpose scarves for ass wiping if people don’t start working as a team.
• Join local Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin communities, share local problems globally. Create opportunities for innovation to thrive.
• Encourage national chains to engage locally with the community, councils, health, schools and emergency services.
• Keep your head, look for reliable data sources. Don’t trust your biases, enjoy the time at home with your family and iterate daily. Write daily.

Asks:

• Audible/Amazon/Libraries to help the elderly with books during their isolation