Remember what Contagion and the other disaster films don’t tell you about a pandemic

For reasons that remain unclear, Andrex has turned out to be modern-day chain mail during the coronavirus outbreak

As our months-long winter finally begins to yield to the renaissance of spring and we itch to brave pub gardens and make the most of the longer days and lighter evenings, it feels like an immensely cruel practical joke that our unwelcome visitor has chosen this time to ensure we all remain behind closed doors.

Astronomical spring begins this Friday, 20 March, but how many of us will be able to leave our houses to walk among its colourations remains to be seen. Those over 70 will soon be advised to remain indoors; the prime minister has urged people with serious health conditions to exercise strict social distancing measures for 12 weeks and anyone so vulnerable they rely on carers will suffer further still.

My group of close friends gathered this past weekend – albeit at arm’s length – for the last time in we don’t know how long (what a strange and jarring sentence that is to write). Some were anxious and perplexed; others blasé and in denial. The emotions we shared were a microcosm of those happening globally. As the UK enters the next phase of its of its response to this astonishing and unprecedented situation, it feels as though we are watching a Netflix series that’s already been spoilered for us: we know what’s in store yet remain chillingly stunned by the events unspooling in front of us.

We’ve seen the disaster movies and we know all too well how this could play out. In fact, like arming ourselves for war or rubbernecking our own car crash, we’ve even started re-watching them. Since January, when Covid-19 first broke out in Wuhan, China, downloads of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion (2011) have spiked, making it one of the most popular films in the Warner Bros catalogue, just behind Harry Potter (prior to the outbreak, Contagion was 270th). Wolfgang Petersen’s Outbreak (1995) has also seen a marked increase in downloads. According to these movies, there’s one way things could pan out: with fear and anxiety morphing quickly into aggression and a survival of the fittest mentality. These uncanny depictions suggest humankind, not the disease, could be our downfall.

We’ve seen the trailers already, as people rush to stockpile and fill up their own houses with enough toilet roll to service the bathroom needs of a small army, while sticking their fingers in their ears and blocking out the pleads of those who need supplies most. Yes, it’s human nature to react to a crisis by arming ourselves with whatever we feel will keep us safe, and for reasons that remain unclear, Andrex has turned out to be the chain mail of the coronavirus pandemic. But we must fight against our baser instincts – it is within our power to dictate how this movie plays out.

Read more

• How to be productive if you have to work from home during coronavirus
• Which countries around the world has coronavirus spread to?
• The dirty truth about washing your hands
• Should you be taking paracetamol or ibuprofen to treat coronavirus?
• What are symptoms of coronavirus – and where has it spread?

Because what disaster movies downplay are the small and varying acts of selflessness that are the true cornerstones of human nature. In the past week alone, as the news has moved faster than Abu Dhabi’s Formula Rossa, we’ve seen compassion and camaraderie of all kinds. Italian opera singers entertaining their quarantined neighbours; small businesses handing out free products; nightclubs transforming into food banks and giant conglomerates repurposing entire factories to manufacture hand sanitiser.

Through small acts of decency and selflessness, people have reminded us that however locked down we are, however closed our borders, there is no barrier that can shut out compassion.

From economic fallout to mental health, the jobs market and global travel, the true far-reaching impact of this virus upon our way of life remains to be seen. What we do know is that however this pans out, our lives will have altered immeasurably by the time it is over.

As bust-ups break out on Twitter, quarantined couples file for divorce and housemates clash over working routines, political viewpoints and bathroom rotas, it would appear we are toeing the line of the disaster movie script – but it doesn’t have to be this way. It is within our power to dictate how this movie plays out, in one sense at least.

Whether people feel anxious and confused or laissez-faire and intolerant to the global reaction, emotions are running high. At times of crisis, it’s all too easy to let our baser instincts take hold, but amidst the selfish stockpiling and petty sniping, individual and collective acts of kindness can – and should – abound, for these are the cornerstones of human nature. Soap and self-isolation will not see us through coronavirus. As Phillip Larkin wrote, what will survive of us is love.