I regularly have to endure periods of 20-30 hours where I can't really leave home due to typhoon weather. During a pandemic, it is possible that people will have to stay home for many days, even weeks, due to containment measures. (I faced ten days of quarantine during the SARS outbreak.)
In these situations, we start to go 'stir crazy' and desperately need to keep ourselves occupied - especially if we face the threat of dying in agony because of an invisible killer. People need distractions.
Watching TV, etc., are OK for a while but they're passive activities. Online gaming is a means to 'do' something, but how many households have enough computers to keep the wh*** family occupied? It seems to me there will be a need for activities.
On the other hand, this enforced idleness provides people with space in their otherwise busy lives to attend to all sorts of projects they have been putting off. This would be the time to fix that wobbly table, make a scrap book, learn how to do card tricks, and inevitably to have those difficult conversations with the people around us we've been avoiding forever.
People will need a source of information and direction at this time that takes into account their current crisis but is not about the crisis. I think a wiki/forum combination where people can share ideas about 'how to do X' and 'what to do about y' would be a great resource for a population that is starting to bounce off the walls of their homes. This would be fairly easy to set-up, and might help to keep people sane during a traumatic time.
The call would be to anyone and everyone to help their community and share their knowledge about everything from mending home appliances, to cooking, to home education, to family games, etc. Everyone has something to contribute, not just the doctors, and by contributing we maintain a sense of purpose and resolve to survive and prosper.
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