In less than six months into the year, 2020, issues and actions around the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak have significantly dominated conversations the world over. The pandemic has already bequeathed human interactions with a new phrase – “Social Distancing”.
Just like COVID-19, ‘Social Distancing’ features prominently in our daily discussions, government policies, business decisions, religious engagement, and family interactions. According to Awario, a social media intelligence and analytic firm, Coronavirus is not only changing socio-economic paradigms, globally, but the virus has also completely taken over the way we communicate.
For instance, ‘social distancing’ got first mainstream mention 16 years ago, when the Detroit News of December 9, 2004, wrote in a story that “the best way to avoid the flu is a wonderful term we call ‘social distancing’, which means basically to avoid being around the people”. The New York Times had a similar report two years later in 2006 during the avian flu outbreak. But in under 30 days, Awario revealed that the phrase had been used about 1.7 million times in online conversations as COVID-19 rages.
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There is an emerging campaign that the phrase ‘physical distance’ should replace ‘social distancing’ as a prescription for cutting the spread of the virus because the latter is limiting critical social contacts with your friends and families. We call it emotional distancing, and below are reasons we discourage it at all societal fronts at these times.
Your Family: The pandemic’s twin impacts of economic and health anxieties have put an enormous strain on families. There is a considerable possibility that mental health and emotional wellbeing may be adversely affected by these outcomes. So even as you physically distance yourself, please try and reach out to friends and loved ones. If you are capable of rendering assistance at a time like this, the family would be your first touchpoint.
Your workplace: The Coronavirus crisis has impacted the brick and mortar workplace as more organisations opt to work from home. The usual camaraderie with office teammates and buddies has disappeared and replaced with the not so familiar visual-less video conferencing. While we consider the need to save data, we should not sacrifice friendship in the process. Encourage each other to show your faces so that you can revel in those non-verbal clues that foster office bonding.
Institutions: This is also the time for organisations to show empathy and connect with their distressed stakeholders. We have seen leading private sector institutions come to the aid of the government to set up emergency healthcare centres and feed the vulnerable population.
Organisations like Leadway Assurance have always been at the forefront of this kind of outreach. Beyond joining other insurers to provide a #5 billion life insurance cover for the frontline health-workers, the foremost Nigerian insurance brand also donated Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) materials, COVID-19 test kits and foodstuff worth N135 million.
They further demonstrated commitment to the financial wellbeing of customers by giving back to their vehicle insurance policyholders. And to top that, they settled over 2.84 billion Naira insurance claims amid the COVID-19 lockdown.
That is not all; Leadway has also developed a protection plan for their existing and prospective customers during this period. Known as the Leadway Lifestyle Protection Plan, this product ensures that you and your family can maintain a healthy financial lifestyle if one succumbs to this virus or any other critical illness that might not be related to the pandemic.
It is a piece of good news for professionals providing essential services at these times, such as banking, transportation, hospitality, courier services, deliveries and other services that require regular interactions with the public. The future is never certain, but it can be insured at an affordable premium.
Do not just take our words for it; reach out to a professional advisor via our virtual communication channels – (01) 2800 700, Social Media handles @LeadwayAssurance on Facebook & Instagram and @Leadwayinsure on Twitter or send an email to Lcs@leadway.com, on how we can help.
