Table 1.

Some unexpected positives to emerge from COVID precautions and restrictions.

•A rethinking of the work-life balance has been undertaken by many families, emboldened by the COVID-19 mandated forced realignment of the working day to include more flexibility around schedules

•A rapid uptake of on-line communication for work purposes

•The appreciation by employers and governments of the ability to work efficiently from home.

•Notwithstanding the challenges of educating children at home for considerable periods of time, families came together with an appreciation of how productivity can be achieved at home in deference to an overarching sense of presenteeism in the traditional office workspace

•International conferencing being conducted on-line at greatly reduced cost has facilitated greater reach to people across the globe

•Greater collaboration to improve medical knowledge of COVID-19 has been well served by the major journal publishers placing their COVID-19 content on line with unrestricted access

•Vaccine development has been dramatically hastened by collaboration and the application of technology to the point where millions of lives will be saved through immunisation of the global population

•It is likely that the travel restrictions have fostered a greater appreciation of what one’s own country has to offer and reduced the pollution generated throughout the world from airline travel

•Further, a time to reflect upon the nature of zoonotic infections has prompted an appreciation of mankind’s role within the biosphere and ultimately, how tenuous our presence may be on the planet