COVID-19 Employee Mental Resilience

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread around the world, uncertainty is growing among people; not only does the virus seem to evolve, public opinion about the outbreak shifts rapidly amidst the spread of unverified news.

While the mortality rate of COVID-19 remains fairly low (currently 2%), we are seeing new confirmed cases added to the global count each day, with no abatement to the spread of the disease in sight. The increased transmission outside China is a core concern, with⁠ governments and companies taking more precautionary measures to combat this – travel restrictions, remote working, and the activation of Business Continuity Plans are accelerating.

What companies need to focus on now is keeping their employees safe, well-informed, and positive. This is much harder than it sounds.

The internet has, unfortunately, proved to be a worse breeding ground for harmful “viral” infections than any live food market; the amount of unsubstantiated news circulating about the COVID-19 is unprecedented. What is more damaging is that these news articles seem to spread far more rapidly (and widely) than any official, more accurate, circulars.

People are worried, and justifiably so. It is hard to know what news to believe, and being sent to work from home only makes one more isolated and tempted to trawl the internet for more information. As more employees are exposed to this, it is hard not to panic.