Life and Family Travel in the Time of COVID-19: Pandemic in England 2020

Abstract

This reports an exploratory attempt at a real–time account of COVID’s physical and social impacts on society, particularly family behavior, as the pandemic spread through England during 2020. Particular focus is on its effects on movement, travel and social relations and the contradictions for many in the way these were personally experienced, compared with media representations of national life during COVID. The study started with a sketch of historical pandemics in order to situate COVID contextually in relation to pandemics of the past. This was followed by a year-long, mixed-methodology, qualitative survey combining: diary observations, participant observation, unobtrusive observation, interviews, and oral reports by, and from, observer-informants at different locations in England. The results are reported in tabular form as 10 tracked outcomes, alongside each of which are notes, suggesting how actions might be derived as responsive measures to them in managing future pandemics.