15 March

This is the national governance scheme for response to the pandemic. Lots of committees, lots of levels. All of this does add up to a not bad system, there’s a lot of expertise in that picture. But it’s all very boxy, reflecting institutional territories rather than real-time priorities. Know what isn’t there? The public. This is the gap in all emergency planning now, with social media the public self-organises incredibly fast, which is a phenomenal benefit if it’s understood and used well. Right now most decision makers look down their nose at social media, like it’s some sort of distasteful dumb noise. That’s a terrible mistake, the ‘public’ includes all these same experts and more. It’s the only way for humans to act like a virus, against a virus.