St John Ambulance and the Covid fear factor

Coronavirus has changed our lives. In fact, there is very little that has been left untouched by this pandemic. A risk assessment has been done for every aspect of life, no matter how mundane. So, it should not surprise that St John Ambulance is no different. Its Covid CPR advice may be matter of fact but nevertheless at first sight it is still somewhat shocking: instead of asking people to selflessly give mouth-to-mouth, it now advises rescuers to place a towel over the mouth of the collapsed person to protect the volunteer from Covid. It may not be exactly the ideal image, but in truth this is a sensible way to protect people from a whole range of infections and, reassuringly, will make precious little difference to the effectiveness of the process. On the face of it, nothing to see here. But I still think it serves as a very good metaphor for an ongoing societal shift that I believe is taking place due to the collective crisis we find ourselves in.