In dire times of pandemic, your country needs you — to cocoon

Dr Diarmuid O’Shea points out that this is our generation’s opportunity to do something great for ourselves, our society, and our nation by stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

WHEN the Olympic Games was deferred to 2021, it added to a list of major sporting events that were deferred, cancelled, or postponed.

I have always argued that we learn life’s lessons more cheaply through sport. This is another example, if we needed one, of how seriously the world we live in today is treating the pandemic of Covid-19 around the world. We are putting lives before livelihoods.

Cocooning has now become ‘a must’ if we are to meet the challenge of protecting those that are most at risk of harm from the ill effects of coronavirus. The why, the how and the rules around the concept are laid out in the HSE guidance on cocooning.

In his inaugural presidential address John F Kennedy proclaimed, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’. This challenged every American to contribute in some way to the public good. The 2020 version of that question to all of us in Ireland has many answers.

The frontline workers are all playing their part, heroically going courageously, conscientiously, and compassionately about their work. In our acute hospitals, and residential and nursing homes, they are meeting the challenge of treating those that are ill with severe effects of Covid-19. We thank each and every one of them sincerely for their dedication and the selfless sacrifices they are making.

But we now need to slow the rate of spread. We have been given the playbook by the HSE. We must try to flatten the curve and protect those that are most vulnerable if they become ill with the coronavirus.

We have been doing some of this since before March 13. We are now entering a critical phase of this battle, and we are being asked to do more. Since March 27 we have been asked to double up on our efforts to socially isolate, and pay even more attention to all the measures laid out in the HSE website.

We know about the importance of hand washing, cough etiquette, social distancing, and are now learning about cocooning. But can we do more? As another famous American president said ‘Is féidir linn!’, yes we can!

Cocooning was not a term I was familiar with. In terms of nature it is a process where by an insect protects itself while young. It is protected during a period where harm could come to it. The shielded insect emerges after this period as an adult transformed — a butterfly!

The HSE has explained cocooning clearly. But in essence, for most of us, it really is about self-isolation, minimising face-to-face contact, following the guidance on hand-washing, cough etiquette, social distancing, not going outside our home, and avoiding people who have symptoms of Covid-19.

For older adults and other vulnerable people, firmer protective measures must apply. People over 70, and people who are at very high risk of severe illness due to an underlying condition, have been proven to be medically more vulnerable to Covid-19.

If you are in good health, you are independent, and you are used to regular exercise, these additional shielding measures have been put in place to support you to stay that way. The rules may seem overly harsh and challenging right now, but this is what it will take for a time to keep you, and your loved ones, safe and well. To help stop the spread of coronavirus, we must all play our part. It’s not just about your own health, it’s about everyone else’s health.

If you do need assistance, then the people providing your support must follow their particular rules also, while trying to provide this care as quickly and efficiently as possible. So the care you have been used to getting may be a little different for a while.

A community army is being mobilised to help. Working together, local community initiatives, voluntary organisations, in tandem with the HSE, Department of Health, Department of Rural Affairs will try to connect with those that need support and assistance.

Organisations like Alone, Age Action and the Alzheimer’s society will play an important role. Look at how An Garda Síochána, An Post, and public transport are playing their part. Look at the initiative set up by the GAA, Centra, and Supervalu. These initiatives can only make a difference if our local communities rally together, and that is something we do very well in Ireland at times of hardship. But now is our greatest need and our greatest challenge.

For those who are cocooning we need to wrap a protective web around ourselves. Phone your family, friends, or neighbours and tell them what you are doing. Don’t wait for someone to contact you. Do not be too proud to reach out and ask for help. You may be doing someone else a great favour by allowing them to help you. It lets people feel useful and valuable at a time where so much seems outside our control.

Set up your own daily routine. Plan a new one. Set a time to get up, a time for your meals, be sure to do some exercise in your own home or yard, find an old hobby or a new hobby, write a letter to a friend, they may even write one back.

Listen to music, watch a nature programme, or plan your next journey or holiday in Ireland. Stay informed but try not to listen to too much news.

This pandemic will pass, and when it does pass we must remember that we will all have changed. We must embrace the positive changes that will have happened as a result. Your contribution by cocooning yourself, and your community coming together to support you, is every bit as important as the battle that is happening in the acute hospitals.

Your efforts and that of your community means you are less likely to get the coronavirus, less likely to get sick and more likely to cut down the numbers that come into hospital. You will have flattened the curve, so thank you for your efforts.

This will be easier for some than others. Though you may be on your own you will not be alone. American poet, Kathleen O’Meara, penned a poem on March 16 that has received widespread acclaim. It is called In the Time of Pandemic (‘And the People Stayed at Home’). It is well worth a read.

I will leave the last words to our own President, Michael D Higgins. In his inaugural speech at the start of his second term in office he spoke of ‘a life lived together, one where there is a commitment to equality, to strong sustainable communities, to the sharing of history and to shaping of the future together; recognising our vulnerabilities, drawing on and enhancing our individual and collective capacities.’

Never has this been truer, more challenged and more needed.

We all look forward to seeing the “new you” emerge from your cocoon. Though you may be on your own you are not alone. Is Féidir Linn, le chéile!

Diarmuid O’Shea, consultant geriatrician, St Vincent’s University Hospital and president of the Irish Gerontological Society

Useful information
• The HSE have developed an information pack on how to protect yourself and others from coronavirus. Read it here
• Anyone with symptoms of coronavirus who has been in close contact with a confirmed case in the last 14 days should isolate themselves from other people - this means going into a different, well-ventilated room alone, with a phone; phone their GP, or emergency department - if this is not possible, phone 112 or 999 and in a medical emergency (if you have severe symptoms) phone 112 or 999