Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on normal life!

Prelude:

Peeping into the looking glass; Year 2020 holds a significant deviation from the norm. Personal Hygiene, Social Distancing and Lockdowns coupled with the inimitable abbreviation WFH (Work from Home) have become buzz words and has almost become the ‘new normal’ of many nations in the world.

The metaphorical vision 20/20 (ironically, rhymes well with the current year 2020), was severely lacking; where none of the think-tanks of over 200 countries in the world, nor the world bodies like the UN and WHO, could even comprehend how the cataclysmic influence, a minuscule non-living protein matter covered with just a thin layer of fat (Corona Virus), could hold the world to ransom. 

Fear of infection, in this case, is far worse than the fear of death despite the number of infected people recovered so far, far outstrips the cases of death from its infection.

Having said that, I sincerely hope not to see the second wave of relapses with an evolved strain of this virus. God forbid; if this happens, it might spell disaster to many parts of the current civilisation as an already shaken world population would get into a mode of desolation.

Repercussions on normal life:

Well, normal life has been redefined as we have been witnessing a state of stupor in the hitherto known buzzing and chaotic outer world that was an inevitable part of everybody’s lives. As the contagion of COVID-19 spreads; most of the private sector employees are working from home, while essential staff are the only active ones plying on the desolate roads. Public transport in particular and Air, Sea and Surface freight and passenger transports are being restricted to just about minimal and emergency movements, worldwide.

Food security and shortage will be the first ones, to be in the epicenter of strategical thinkers and advisors of the countries worldwide. Enough care must be taken of and by the farmers themselves, about their (and their employees’) health during this massive outbreak. Failing which, agriproducts will be severely impacted. So will be the case with the fishing and other food providing/processing industries. I am sure all the governments worldwide, would have this as one of their top priorities.

Intercontinental trade has long stopped and the ramifications of this will only exacerbate as the days pass by. Shortages of many items are already noticeable on many shelves across different distribution centers and to replenish these stocks to normalcy, will take a long time due to logistical challenges that are imminent once the worldwide lockdown relaxes. Hence, the distribution of food and staples, is sure to be amongst the top of the list in the sequence of their priorities.

Governmental activities in a variety of ways will ensure the return of confidence amongst its citizens and these should be the ones to resume quickly, among the other firsts in the priority list.

Schools and other educational institutions are on a long vacation, yet many of them are going about with online classes and exams thereof. Online education is being refined and redefined during these trying times and so too are many other hitherto traditional activities and concepts that required a set rules of environment for their effective and efficient performances.  

Many a profession that require face-to-face interactions with clients and professionals, are yet to evolve with times that compel them to change and change, they must, to survive and yet deliver the requisite outcomes. Deadlines will be missed and their repercussions are unimaginable and incalculable (like in court cases, deadlines for tax and other statutory submissions, etc.).  

Normal banking activities and other services like insurance (both Short and Long Term), investment activities, collection and payment of various rates and taxes, levies and cesses have taken the brunt of the lockdowns.

Trading activities have come to a standstill with the closure of most of the non-essential items as the world has moved into a warlike situation to combat this minuscule protein particle. So has the manufacturing activities of many and most of the products worldwide.  Resumption of these activities will be important in more ways than one as this feeds the major employment sector.

Handymen like plumber, electrician, masonry, construction workers and others are in their nightmarish worst with the lockdowns and restrictions. Their daily wage-earning has come to a grinding halt. Steps to be taken to address these issues of the tradesmen, in terms of providing handouts or grants to sustain themselves and their immediate families, failing which, we can see a major social upsurge.

Doctors in practice, who rely on the inflow of daily patients for their livelihood, too, are at the short end of the stick, due to this pandemic. Governments must either call them to serve the emergency situation or provide alternative means for their sustenance. With the looming outbreak and agnostic as to its continuance, Dentists, ENT and other oral health professionals will have to wait for a long time before they can start practicing their profession with confidence. So is the case with so many other related health professions.

Porters at various transport terminals and railway stations ring in the same stories, of their daily bread being snatched away and uncertain as to how long will their daily bread remains ‘a pie in the sky’. So is the plight of Auto rickshaw (in many developing countries) and Cab drivers, in general.

Small-time restaurants, hotels and accommodation providers in various cities and towns across the world and more specifically in tourist locations too, would be glaring at doom till some remedy comes their way to avoid the complete collapse of this sector.

Barbers and hairdressers would, probably, be the last ones to resume their profession only after the last of the residual viral strains being neutralised, as this can be the easiest way for the virus to infect the healthy population (in addition to Dentists and other oral healthcare professionals).

So goes many more classes of small-time professions like repair shops of various nature, small mom-n-pop shops, round the corner greengrocers, individual pharmacies, domestic helps, couriers and other deliverymen, etc. The list goes on and on and is very inclusive.

Conclusion:

The mopping-up operations post this endemic is a humongous one, hitherto unheard of during our lifetimes. Thorough cleaning operations, coupled with enhanced personal & herd hygiene and marked changes in social behaviour, is the way we can prevent such outbreaks to dominate mankind, in the future. Preventative measures implemented across various countries’ port of entries will go a long way to mitigate the contamination and contagious impact of these viruses. Budget allocations, previously not apportioned to such activities, will now be prioritised.   

Proactive interventions of the world bodies like WHO, both in terms of mitigating such outbreaks and also in guiding their developing and other member countries in combating these contingencies will repose faith of the mankind in humanitarian purposes for which these bodies were conceptualised and established.