How quickly things can change; it’s just a few months ago that I was musing in this column about the idea of “achievementism” as discussed by the Rev Ian Cowley in the Anglican Church Times.

The nature of world values means that we are constantly driven to succeed to the point where it becomes an obsession which begins to rule over our lives. Cowley suggested last year that it would be a good idea to take 20 minutes in the evening to “Be still and know that I am God.”

But he admitted: “When I try to stop and do nothing, I find it is not easy.” In the Coronavirus crisis many thousands of us are finding the stillness we craved is upon us and we find that he’s right; but for those of us who are struggling to adapt to new habits and regimes, we’re the lucky ones. We’ll manage.

More worryingly, we’re seeing an increase in anxiety and depression, possibly in some cases brought on by the worry of a financial hit further down the line. And it’s being reported that domestic violence is increasing. Who’d have thought that a respite from a hectic world would bring its own problems? So it’s obviously right that people struggling should heed the advice in looking after themselves first and foremost.

The new norms seem to suggest a move away from negativity to help us cope. Social media posts focus on someone who has recovered from Covid-19 and suggests, “Share this, if it was someone dying it would be shared everywhere.” Fair enough, but society generally needs to be focused also on the reality that people ARE dying, including a 13-year-old schoolboy in England with no pre-existing health issues.

The story in the Impartial Reporter of Tom Best’s anguish at losing his wife, Ann, and not being able to attend her funeral was truly heartbreaking. It needed to be told, and was told very sensitively by Rodney Edwards and John McVitty.

Let’s get the balance right; even in these times of uncertainty and fear, there are some serious questions to be asked of those in powerful positions. The media needs to continue to challenge, not least because it is asking for greater urgency for measures in which Britain appears to have been behind the world’s curve.

There will, of course, be a time when decisions will be fully reviewed. But that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be some level of scrutiny now.

Donald Trump will not come out of this well; an article in the New Yorker described him as a President totally unsuitable for the crisis which saw the death toll in the United States approach 4,000 this week with 175,000 people testing positive. With their president describing it as a “foreign virus” early on and downplaying its risk as “very low”, Americans are challenging him robustly.

On this side of the Atlantic, there is some irony that Prime Minister Boris Johnson contracted Covid-19, along with his advisor Dominic Cummings and other leading figures. Embarrassing given the way Britain seems to be adopting a different strategy to the rest of the world. And as questions intensify about why the UK hasn’t done more and earlier, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jenny Harries claimed comparisons with Germany, who seem to have much more control over the virus, are premature.

We’ll see, I suppose. But trust in this Government is in short supply, so the idea that people in Britain should just let them get on with it and see how they do is not just fanciful, it’s irresponsible not to hold them to account now.

In 2016 the Tory Government embarked on a major exercise called “Operation Cygnus” in which major Government departments, the NHS and local authorities all took part to study the response to a potential pandemic. Alarmingly, the then Chief Medical Officer in England, Professor Dame Sally Davies warned that the country was “intensely vulnerable and society would struggle to deal with the huge numbers of people killed by a serious pandemic.”

It warned of such issues as the health service rapidly running out of critical care beds and doctors forced to choose which patients would get the care they needed; of a serious shortage of masks and personal protection equipment, a lack of ventilators and testing equipment.

Nothing was done, and the report was buried.

Far from it, while the World Health Organisation advised to “test, test, test”, Britain still lags behind. Germany’s plan was to test, find out where Covid-19 is and treat and isolate it. Britain’s early policy was to think “we can’t stop it” so allow it to spread and build up a herd immunity.

Yet, we in Northern Ireland appear to have slavishly followed Westminster’s lead.

I have been following the debate over our approach and found myself identifying with the sentiments expressed by Professor Gabriel Scally, the Belfast-born Honorary Professor of Public Health at the University of Bristol and President of the Epidemiology and Public Health section of the Royal Society of Medicine.

As people constantly remind me, I’m not an expert. But he is. And he has consistently highlighted the shortcomings in the response in Northern Ireland to the Coronavirus crisis. In a platform piece in the Irish News on Tuesday, he warned that differences in the approach north and south meant a squandering of our advantages as an island in dealing with the problems.

Calling for a common approach, he said “Lives can and should be saved.”

Professor Scally went on: “The political leaders in the north need, on this specific issue of coronavirus, to decouple themselves from the Whitehall approach.”

However, this was immediately dismissed by First Minister Arlene Foster, who went as far as to say “It’s important we move on from this sort of commentary.”

Mrs. Foster fully backed her officials, saying: “I am very content that I take my advice on science and what we need to do from our Chief Medical Officer in Northern Ireland (Dr. Michael McBride) who has access to all the modelling in the UK and here in Northern Ireland,” and she pointed out that they were keeping in close contact with the CMO in the Republic of Ireland. And indeed, it’s good to hear of a Memorandum of Understanding between north and south CMOs.

I would ask, though, has Dr. McBride become the oracle, the font of all knowledge, or are we simply continuing to follow Westminster’s dictates? And why can we not openly debate our fears and doubts instead of shutting down the commentary of such an expert voice?

Let me say, I realise two things. Firstly, this is a time of awesome responsibility for all our politicians and officials who have shown themselves to be vulnerable human beings doing what they think is right in circumstances which we’ve never seen before. So, I question respectfully.

And secondly, I fully realise that in these times, there may not be the appetite for challenge and for this debate among many people struggling to adapt to the strange times we live in.

But this isn’t scaremongering, we must continue to ask questions of the people who are making life or death decisions on our behalf.

In the meantime, please, please stay at home, stay safe and stay well.