At the moment we are all a bit unsettled.

Alert but hopefully not too alarmed.

Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmania

During a crisis, some people behave in ways that we label as panic or being irrational but much of that behaviour (such as stocking up on most everything plus a bit more) has a long tradition in human history.

Where the length of a shock is generally known, such as major flood or fire, there tends to be less irrational behaviour than when we are in more uncharted waters such as those we are now confronting.

The coronavirus shock is likely to challenge many of our behaviours and a few of our values as well.

How we deal with this and who we should trust for the 'right' information amongst the myriad of people on platforms claiming to be experts will take some time to sort.

We will need to increase our resilience, relinquish a few freedoms and restore our sense of security.

Resilience is where we take stock of our personal and community vulnerability to global events over which we seem to have limited control and over which our major public institutions especially governments, also seem to have limited control.

Resilience is important at both a personal and community level.

It's about learning not to run for the lifeboats just because some others are and especially if you are not on the Titanic.

Stocking up helps us feel in control and reduces anxiety and loss aversion.

Resilience is an old word being revisited as we need to learn about new forms of individual and community coping with risk and especially new forms of preparedness and how to bounce back.

Social media is a double-edged sword.

It can be a great asset for building resilience through facilitating support networks and enabling communication in an era of physical isolation, but it can also be a source of misinformation and accelerate fear.

Other people's anxieties are now instant (brawling over toilet rolls) and we need new ways of using social media to build resilience rather than fuelling fears.

A lot of work to be done here.

Relinquishment is where we revisit the cost-benefit equation of some of our taken for granted freedoms and behaviours.

Freedom and security are two of our most basic values but now they are in tension.

Depending on how things pan out it may well be that, notwithstanding the disruptions, extensive and earlier mass testing/screening, social isolation and control of borders needs to occur.

Until a few weeks ago such policies were in the last resort drawer but now we must discuss and make difficult choices

We all enjoy super-fast travel where we can travel halfway around the world in a day - and so can a virus.

The benefits of globalisation are suddenly less clear.

Restoration is where we rethink the notion of security of supply.

With COVID-19 the supply of, energy, fuel and water have not been interrupted but there is now a dent in our belief in the secure supply of some foods, medical supplies/facilities and some 'essential' household items.

In the same way that many of our parents and grandparents who lived through wars and the great depression rarely threw anything away, there is likely to be more focus on what is called the circular economy.

An economy that minimises waste, looks to self-sufficiency, focuses more on the local.

Up until the 1960s, most Tasmanian homes had a backyard with fruit trees and a veggie patch as well as a pantry/larder, backed up by the corner store.

These are all largely absent from modern homes and communities as developments such as refrigeration and supermarkets emerged.

Maybe we need a discussion about restoring an enhanced level of family and community independence.

Community gardens, for example, are a microcosm of this discussion.

There are trade-offs here too, as an island state we have some benefits in being able to 'close borders' but this comes at the cost of being at the end of many supply chains and more vulnerability to supply chain disruptions.

Traditionally in a crisis, communities pull together and share resources, look after each other, but many of our old community bonds have been broken and so in a crisis, there are not always as many neighbours and friends to turn to for support.

Our old stock of social capital has been depleted.

In wars the idea of rationing is generally accepted as a necessity and whilst we do not have formal systems in place to ration, businesses such as supermarkets are taking the lead.

For example with dedicated hours for elderly shoppers.

But rationing is fraught with moral dilemmas and complexity about who gets what and why especially when we get into rationing scarce medical services.

After this crisis, they will be a discussion about how to ration in today's society.

Another discussion we didn't think we needed to have.

If one of the long-term impacts of COVID-19 is that we have these civic discussions in our parliaments and communities and we become more resilient, adaptive and, trusting then there well may be a silver lining.

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