After over a year of home-working, offices are cautiously opening their doors. So how do you feel? Excited, nervous or both?
However it’s affecting you, the chances are you’re not alone, and the Airdri survey of 1,000 working British adults provided some interesting reasons why people are concerned about returning to the office:
58% had reluctance relating to having to look smart and dress in office attire
68% said that the commute was putting them off working back in the office
Only 16% were concerned over picking up germs from colleagues and communal areas
With my doctor’s hat on, I’m slightly concerned at the apparent lack of concern about spread of infection as we mix more. We’ve seen how Covid rates sneak up on us before, and whilst we absolutely should enjoy our well-earned new freedoms, we must remain cautious too. Let me explain exponential growth rate and why it can catch us unawares. When we think of growth graphs we usually think of straight lines. However natural growth is often exponential, meaning the graph curls upwards, ever more steeply. The reason is usually due to doubling, so one bacteria splits into two, each of which then split into four and so on – the same with cancer cells, which is why a tumour can be small for a long time and then appear to really take off. Viruses are a bit different but the way they spread follows a similar pattern. So growth starts off deceptively slowly, but because the time for infections to double is the same, whether it’s one infection to two, or 100,000 infections to 200,000, the infection rates can get faster and faster if we do nothing to intervene. Fortunately, with testing, monitoring, vaccination and other controls such as social distancing, we can suppress this exponential growth very successfully. So yes do enjoy those long awaited hugs, but don’t fling out the hand sanitizer or masks just yet – take things slowly, follow the guidelines and stay safe.
And that’s where companies like Airdri can help. To quote Steve Whittall, group director of R&D and operations:
“Whilst employees might not be overly concerned about picking up germs back in the office, it is at the top of mind for business owners/team managers concerned about the safety of staff and visitors.”
“We have seen huge sales increases in our air sanitiser technology – SteraSpace which again shows the investment many firms are making to ensure the safety of their staff. Maybe so much so, that it’s given employees something else to worry about – what to wear”.
Stay safe people, and have fun choosing your outfit.
By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q
Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.