Five days into lockdown as I write this, and so far everyone in the household is still on speaking terms - and my stepson is “loving” having schoolwork to do online.

Still, Easter holidays soon, and he can take a break.

Councillors work from home a fair bit already, but nothing prepared me for video calling the chief executive in our PJs.

Joking aside, it’s a strange thing, this lack of human contact, and it must be extremely difficult for those in our communities who don’t have friends or family.

We have a whole host of wonderful groups out there who are calling round and having a chat with their service users.

But not everyone is lucky enough to have such a support network.

If you have a neighbour who perhaps you don’t normally see, post a wee note through their door with your phone number and offer them a blether.

Our staff at the council are doing a phenomenal job keeping vital services running.

I posted a short video online thanking them (and others), but it’s absolutely worth another mention here.

Read more: OPINION Councillor Jonathan McColl: Please keep calm and weather the virus storm

Times are very stressful for our staff. Like us all, they have personal and family concerns, and at work there’s a huge amount of extra pressure as staff numbers reduce through more necessary self-isolation.

With all this in mind, I would ask everyone to be especially kind and thoughtful when dealing with workers providing important goods and services.

It’s frustrating having to hold on the phone for ages, or queueing for half an hour to do a shop, but staff and volunteers in our communities are doing their best to keep us fit and healthy.

If you’d like to volunteer, email empowerment@west-dunbarton.gov.uk with a note of your contact details and any particular skills or qualifications you think might be useful.

Whatever your regular job, our role as the public is just as important.

We must follow rules on essential trips outside and social distancing. It’s the only way we’ll slow the spread of this infection enough for services to cope.

This is the easiest thing we could be asked to do. While key and essential workers are out there risking their health for us, we’ll help keep them safe by sitting on the couch and watching TV. My teenage self, trained for this for years.

Seriously though, with common sense and a bit of community spirit, we’ll help each other through this crisis.