Browsing social media recently I came across one blogger who claimed that Covid-19 will be America’s Chernobyl. That seems a bit like hyperbole. Chernobyl, as history records, became a central part of Gorbachev’s Glasnost campaign which eventually led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union (helped of course by the industrial level of corruption among […]
China
Beinn Irbhinn: My Covid-19 Story
It was January 2020 and I had travelled from China back to Scotland to spend a couple of weeks with my family. I’m a teacher so my time off coincides with Chinese festivals rather than Western holidays. We were having a belated Christmas and New Year, as has become normal for us in recent years. […]
Isolation Policy Too Late for Some, as Pandemic Warnings were not taken Seriously
The news that an unknown virus which caused breathing and respiratory problems was spreading rapidly in Wuhan at the end of last year caused little alarm at first, and people could be forgiven for paying it no attention. The other news stories of January and February 2020 included the assassination of one of Iran’s leading generals by the US and the horrific Australian bush fires. In the UK, Labour had suffered its worst […]
Covid 19 and Journalism #BuildBackBetter
Here in China, COVID-19 has changed the conversation about journalism. We need a similar shift in attitudes back in the UK. #BuildBackBetter In December, several hospitals in Wuhan began receiving patients with pneumonia of an unknown etiology. From Decemebr 27th to 30th it was becoming clear that a mystery virus was circulating in the city. […]