It is as hard as it is easy to be critical of the many ambiguities, contradictions and confusion in all the messaging that has invariably hitched a ride with the COVID-19 crisis.

On one hand, some of us are feeling high levels of anger and frustration, believing systems in place should have all the bases covered in their design to deal with such a threat.

On the other, there is an understanding that we’re trying to cope with something we have never had to deal with before and are willing to accept some failings. Understanding simple instructions such as observing heightened levels of hygiene and disinfection has been easy.

Comprehending the levels of social distancing required and how society appears to be at the mercy of this bug, has been hard and will get harder.

Meeting this threat has been like confronting a massive bushfire for the first time with only so many tools at our disposal. 

We know we have to stop it and have some idea of what we need to do, but actually making it all happen in time to prevent the ruination of everything is the challenge.

What we do know is that when we make it through to the other side, and we will, we will be picking through the rubble and have a need to quickly rebuild to avoid fresh vulnerabilities. 

There are hard yards ahead, if they aren’t with us already.

While it is important to continue to stress the risk of and explain in detail our worse-case health and socio-economic scenarios, it is also important to retain a level of faith that we will ultimately prevail.

We have said that circumstances would unveil some of Australian society’s greatest strengths and weaknesses and that has certainly happened in the past week.

For example, we’ve seen how our federated system of states work under pressure. Take your pick of the positives and the negatives – all are leading to what will ultimately be a cache of important knowledge for the future.

Leadership at all levels, from the Prime Minister to the workplace foreman, is also under the microscope.

For the moment we must be vigilant in following rules set by our medical experts, pull our heads in and, despite being forced to observe social distancing, continue or start to support each other.

The entire March 25, 2020 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire March 25, 2020 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!