So, I am a Public Health nerd and I have responded to outbreaks before. The one I worked most heavily on was Zika. What have mosquitos go to do with droplets? Nothing, but we learnt relevant stuff. So here in no particular order is what is ringing in my brain: 1/10

Risk population is not the same as target population. In Zika we targeted messaging at our risk ppn – pregnant women. But they weren’t solely responsible for disease spread! Same goes for elderly + people who are immunocompromised. Promote collective responsibility 2/10

Be careful with your words! Unlike many of us public health nerds most people don’t spend time thinking about diseases. So, when you say there is no cure some people think that there is no treatment (and this impacts who turns up for care). 3/10

Epidemics have significant knock on effects, this includes stress that can exacerbate gender based and domestic violence. Home is not a safe space for everyone. Know what community resources are available for support and how to refer. 4/10

People hate not knowing. But we have to be ok with saying “I do not know”. People will try to fill that vacuum with misinformation. Do not ignore them! Listen to it, provide good information (but do not argue) and try to understand where people are coming from. 5/10

Vaccines take a long time. Thinking that one will save the day in the near future is not realistic. Even if we find one, we have to trial it, then rapidly increase production, then devise protocols for who gets it and who doesn’t. 6/10

Mental health and psychosocial support are critical needs. We don’t make scary films about outbreaks because they are so much fun. People are scared. Their coping mechanisms are under threat. Learn to actively listen. How? Learn psychological first aid. 7/10

So that people do not feel helpless, tell them what they can do. Not just on an individual level (wash your hands!) as a member of a community (social distancing, help out your elderly neighbour, face time your friends). People actually WANT to help. Help them do that. 8/10

We will do too much and we will do too little and we will do things right and we will do things wrong and we all need to keep talking about it and figure out together how we can be better. Be ready to admit mistakes, share the lessons so we don’t make them twice. 9/10

Be kind. That’s not a lesson learnt from Zika response but…just life. 10/10