Professionally, personally, and spiritually, our lives are being tranformed by a microscopic but deadly antagonist. As the world hunkers down to stem the spread of the virus, four voices reflect on some of the unexpected blessings being found amid the havoc of the Covid-19 pandemic

Fiona Fox
Head of the Science Media Centre

Yesterday I looked at my lovely red leather diary, which now lies abandoned in a drawer. As well as being reminded that I should have been attending Easter Sunday Mass in Sicily, I noticed that one of the events I would have been speaking at last week was a seminar at the Royal Society to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the House of Lords report that led to the creation of the Science Media Centre (SMC). With leading scientists bruised by media frenzies over BSE, GM crops and the MMR vaccine, the Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology recommended the creation of an independent press office that would “sit on the front line between the news media and the science community”. It seems fitting that we should be marking this anniversary by working all the hours God gives us on a story in which this kind of war-time language has become the norm.

I first became aware of the story in early January, when reports of a mysterious virus were emerging from China. We sent our first round-up of reactions from a range of infectious diseases scientists on 18 January. We haven’t stopped for breath since. If you are one of those who is glued to the news you will be watching and reading the views of independent scientists provided by my team. Being the first port of call for the news media on such a huge story has sometimes almost overwhelmed my team of five press officers. But it’s vital that journalists, and through them the public, have access to the best scientists in their field providing clear, accurate and measured information and opinion. Never has the public interest in good-quality science been greater.