Something exceptional has happened in the UK since the Coronavirus self-isolation abruptly changed our worlds. A good-natured but hard-working country has now been given the gift of time. There is now the opportunity for a companionship and humour that has been missing from many lives in the rush of everyday life. People are engaging in 2-hour phone/FaceTime calls, making and sharing humorous videos, passing along jokes and generally trying to see the brighter side of the worst crisis that has hit this country since the Second World War. London neighbourhoods where residents barely knew one another now have WhatsApp groups, and whole districts have burst forth in compassion ready to help the vulnerable and alone.

Amidst the fear of illness and loss of income, there is certainly a most wonderful uplifting spirit of humour; kindness is manifest, and creativity has made a big come back. And yet these are uncertain and frightening times in the UK: the Coronavirus death rate, which stands at 5,368, is forecast to reach 1,000 deaths a day by Easter. The Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock appealed to the British public to stay indoors in memory of two young nurses with children who had just died on the front line: ‘This advice is not a request, it’s an instruction.’

We are experiencing ‘Lockdown’, albeit in inverted commas: confined to the house except for one period of local exercise a day while practising ‘social distancing’ of six feet; very limited shopping; and a visit to the doctor or pharmacy. The message is clear: stay off the streets to take the heat off the hospitals as the alternative will be an official Lockdown, where a certificate will be required to venture outside. Currently no public gatherings are allowed, funerals are limited and religious services have been cancelled.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is currently in hospital himself, has been loath to impose full Lockdown, while the desperate search goes on for more testing kits and ventilators and medical support staff.  Yes, there was initial hysteria over panic buying, which has now subsided, and there have been sightings of obsessive exercisers, and party lovers insanely flouting social distancing, but overwhelmingly the UK is self-isolating and the streets are empty. How long this can last with the warm weather approaching nobody knows, but people are behaving very responsibly.

Just after World War II, when social conditions were still tough, young people descended on the UK from different parts of the globe to study or work. These included members of my own family and in their recollections of their time in the country they barely mentioned the bombsites, the lack of food and the freezing ‘pea-soupers’ when smog engulfed London as if on an Alfred Hitchcock set. What they loved so much about their time in London was the people’s great humour, honesty and warmth that supplemented daily acts of survival that could sometimes be hilarious or heart-rending. There were vestiges of the stiff upper lip but there was compassion, warmth and wit. This they called the ‘Blitz spirit’.

We’re certainly experiencing that now. People have risen to the rallying cry: ‘We survived the War for five years; we can easily do this!’ In my own circle it has been heart-warming. I’ve only been out twice in three and a half weeks and yet have been connected with friends right round the world in frank and uplifting conversations. And with British spirit, people have been inventive. An actress friend has spent her time making Easter bags for all her neighbours’ children; a well-known philanthropist has been creating a poem tree via email; a doctor has created an online choir to raise money for respirators. My street is a particularly friendly one and now even more so. We are in regular written and oral communication, checking on each other, and sending medical updates. Anyone getting a bit worried over the future is given a shot in the arm of solidarity and a metaphorical cup of tea! People all over the country with time on their hands are showing they care in often small but nonetheless heroic ways. Over a million people have put themselves forward as National Health Service Volunteers and the website has had to close temporarily to cope with the volume.

People have been on self-imposed rations but have been relishing the opportunity of using things up, of not over-indulging and finding creative ways of not wasting. It’s been a time to enjoy the ‘old fashioned’ arts of drawing, baking, sewing. Savouring delights SLOWLY instead of rushing. Appreciating Nature through the window or on an exercise walk in a way one had not done before.

Above all, there is open appreciation of the heroism of the front-line medical practitioners who are working without proper protection, and gratitude to the other workers who carry on bringing us food and utilities. The Government has encouraged everyone to stand outside their homes each Thursday night at 8.00 and, maintaining social distance, clap and cheer for those key workers who risk their lives for us day in, day out. It is a joyful and unique experience and an important national rallying cry.

Three-quarters of viewers in the UK tuned into The Queen’s special broadcast on Coronavirus – 24 million people – and felt ‘uplifted’ by her message of resilience and determination to carry on. International support also bucks the spirit. The American Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson has written a rousing letter of support to Britain pledging that  ‘We will win this fight together.’

One feels that something has changed fundamentally in British society. Yes, people still sometimes break down and ask whether you think this could be the end of civilisation when they hear that so many people have died worldwide. But Britain was a society in which a YouGov poll in 2019 found that 28% said they didn’t have a best friend, 15% said they had no close friends, while 8% said they simply had no friends at all. This must now have changed as online forums buzz and neighbourhoods connect and rally. Instead of overlooking those most vulnerable and alone, we have all been exhorted by our peers to seek them out and develop a sense of social responsibility and friendship.

And has there ever been so much shared laughter through the plethora of WhatsApp videos and online photos? Who will ever forget the Marsh family from Kent’s hilarious but rousing rendition on YouTube of ‘One Day More’ from Les Mis? We are all living through sickness and tragedy, but the Blitz spirit is prevailing in the UK and is making better people of us all.

London resident Genevieve Muinzer is an author, editor, journalist, broadcaster, and founder of Ad Astra Films and Media. She serves on the boards of Historic Royal Palaces, Inspiring Girls, and Princeton University Foundation in the UK, and is a media advisor of CivicStory.