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Voices out of lockdown 9
Introduction: Words, silence and the Word First there was the silence of thinking that an outbreak of disease on the other side of the world had little to do with us, preoccupied as we were with the climate crisis, the plight of refugees, and the chaos of Brexit: silence which was lack of response. Then there were the voices of those who saw more clearly what was coming: scientists, epidemiologists, hospital doctors, the World Health Organisation. Our response was the silence of not wanting to hear, or of questions hanging in the air. Then there was the clamour of our questions, of What will happen now? How much danger is there? Where is it? What can we do? How can normal life go on? Inside – the cold silence of fear. Then it was clear that the pandemic was upon us, among us, and lockdown was imposed. Communities were silenced by shock, of incredulity. And then, as each person or household ‘sheltered in place’, the silence of isolation broke upon us: a silence that roared in our ears. Many were completely alone. But even couples, families, were cut off from each other. Sure, we had phones, radio, TV, Internet, FaceTime, Skype … soon there were Zoom conferences being set up. There were daily briefings and hourly news bulletins, political bluster and breaking news. It was a perfect
