Although the world is now in the midst of a pandemic, Melania Trump has tweeted a fetching photograph of herself, hardhat perched upon her perfectly defined wavy hair with the tone-deaf caption: “I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavilion at the White House.”

The comments were not exactly complimentary, most of them with a ‘thanks for that, Marie Antoinette” tone to them.

I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavillion at @WhiteHouse. Thank you to the talented team for their hard work and dedication. pic.twitter.com/Wzown2ho26

— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) March 5, 2020

It was an understandable reaction while people are duking it out in the supermarket aisles for toilet paper, there is widespread lack of testing and her useless dolt of a husband claims to know all about how viruses work because his uncle went to MIT and, in his opinion, it all will go away when it gets hotter.

Sensitivity, manners, empathy, thoughtfulness towards others: they are in short supply at the best of times and they certainly don’t seem to manifest themselves in difficult times.

As a person who has worked in fashion media all my life, it is always a challenge to continue sending lame “five new ways to wear jewellery this season” messages during periods of crisis, such as 9/11, global recession, and bushfire devastation.

The show must go on, but writing about the trends from Milan is quite surreal when Italy is in lockdown and the coronavirus death toll is mounting.

The fashion in Milan these days, unlike just a few months ago, is body bags. Photo: Getty

Many workplaces have already quarantined staff members at home for precautionary reasons – including my my son and his girlfriend, who both work at an advertising agency.

I work from home too, so the three of us were an odd bunch last week, all working from our individual laptops on various projects, moving from room to room if one of us was on a conference call.

We were all discussing how to treat non-essential subjects with sensitivity when there are bigger issues at play. That was when I hit on a fashion column about what to wear at home when you’re self-isolating.

Given that people are starting to stockpile rice and canned goods, cheerful recommendations to opt for cashmere separates and at-home face masks are ringing a little hollow.

One tip suggested that you must make sure that you stop for lunch. “Don’t look up and find that it’s suddenly 2pm and you haven’t eaten!”

There was then a helpful recipe for eggs Florentine with a handful of fresh spinach or something ludicrous because we are all worried about THE FOOD RUNNING OUT, PEOPLE.

I certainly haven’t gone into doomsday mode and won’t be stockpiling anything as yet (except for novels), but I can’t help but think that if we are facing a pandemic and its devastating consequences via our laptops, it is going to be with cheerful recommendations to “put on lipstick even if you’re working from home” or “think about a comfortable stretch leggings and a spritz of your favourite fragrance, all available from Amazon now”.

Thanks, Marie Antoinette.

I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities. #BeBest https://t.co/03sx0rq2Nx

— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) March 7, 2020