6 Things about the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath that no one is talking about
It’s April 1st, 2020, and unfortunately there is nothing to joke about on this day for most of the modern world. Depending where you are geographically based, by now you could have been in quarantine for up to six weeks and counting.
Governments and authorities are running around like madmen trying to get this thing under control, various opinions about the pandemic are in full effect on media channels and social networks, and the world as a whole is trying to figure out what the next step is.
For most people, the whole ordeal is being treated as a mild to high level inconvenience. Sure, maybe your travels plans got cancelled, or you can’t stand working from home, or maybe you are out of toilet paper, but for the most part- you are doing ok.
And I’m fine with that. I have no doubts that humankind will persevere and beat this thing. How long that will that take? No one can really say at this point, as I am just as clueless as the next guy.
What worries me most about this whole pandemic thing, is how it will really shape the world moving forward, once we ”beat” COVID-19.”
Because as I mentioned, the majority of the world is treating this as an inconvenience. For many, the perception is that this will end one day and we will just go on living as we were before.
But this is just simply not the case.
Here are the things no one is talking about, that are going to be radically different, suck, or just be plain weird
1. Xenophobia is undoubtedly going to make another mild to strong comeback all around the world
Humans are stupid. When shit goes wrong in the world, it’s as if it is our nature to go and blame a certain group of people for our problems.
Sure, 95% of the world can realize that singling out a group based on appearance, religion, culture, smell, color, and whatever else makes zero sense, but it’s the remaining 5% we gotta worry about.
Go ahead, Google the phrase “corona virus hate crimes” and Google will cordially serve you up 105.000.000 results based on this term. On the first page alone, you’ll be presented with news reports and warnings from sources such as The New Yorker, ABC News, and even the FBI.
The virus went globally public back in December 2019, which was only four months ago, and some parts of the world are already resorting to hate and bigotry as a way to express their fear of the situation. It’s just plain sad really.
It’s just plain sad really.
In the case of the United States, the people being targeted are obviously Asian-Americans, which in most cases, are already third generation Americans, of which the majority has probably never even been set foot on the continent of Asia.
But it doesn’t end there, if you narrow your searches to major metropolitan areas around the world, you’ll find hate crime cases in most of them.
I have never experienced a racist-inspired event as an Asian-American living in Germany. But I have friends here, right in my beloved Leipzig, that have. When the pandemic started to gain speed in Germany, two Filipino friends of mine (probably the only other two Filipinos in Leipzig haha) were in line at a Supermarket when a couple, with their young son, began yelling the words ”Coronamensch” at my friends.
This was a Sunday afternoon, at one of the most crowded supermarkets in the city located in Leipzig’s central train station.
Directly translated, the word ”Coronamensch” means Corona Person or Corona Human. Basically a disgusting way to address someone, based on no scientific grounds whatsoever.
So Asians around the world, be on your toes in coming weeks and months, because you never know how stupid people can react when they are scared, and only know how to respond with hate.
On the flip side of racial profiling, sometimes people automatically associate Asians with being proficient in various forms of martial arts, so maybe no one will mess with us after all haha.
But seriously folks, keep your eyes open and stay safe. If you look like me, you not only have to deal with the virus, you also may have to deal with ignorance.
2. Businesses need to be ready to step up and modernize
I am very fortunate to have been working within the tech and innovation sectors for the better part of the last decade. I have had flexible working conditions, balance between my personal and professional lives, and for the most part I can do my job anywhere I have a computer and a decent internet connection.
Sadly, the majority of the world is not in this case, because they’re chained behind aging protocols.
This whole pandemic thing needs to really open the eyes of these dinosaur companies around the world that refuse to advance in their nature.
The workforces of the world need to be able to adapt much faster and much more fluidly. These days of firewalls and computer restriction systems dating to the late 90’s and early 2000’s is not going to cut it anymore.
As much of the world’s workforce as possible needs to be able to work from anywhere, and they need to be able to do it fast.
This whole pandemic thing needs to really open the eyes of these dinosaur companies around the world that refuse to advance in their nature.
Granted, there are of course some industries that cannot adopt remote working models — hospitals, hotels, restaurants, etc. But at the same time, look how many companies were forced into a remote working model almost overnight?
How many of those companies were able to do that seamlessly?
How many companies were not?
For the companies that could not seamlessly switch, here is your wakeup call. COVID-19 came in swiftly through the night and kicked your ass, so you need to get your shit together, and be ready for the next wave.
3. Human behavior is going to evolve and change, and some of it is going to be weird, uncomfortable, or just plain awkward
I’m one to try and find the bright side of things, and one good thing about this whole mess is that societies around the world are finally going to get unified lesson in personal hygiene.
For the first time ever, the whole modern world is really understanding how to properly wash your hands. (Because I am sick of seeing people use public restrooms, then just leaving them without washing their hands).
And finally, the world is getting a collective lesson in learning that sneezing and coughing into your hands is not ok. I’m looking at you Europe!
But at the same time, things are going to be really weird and different in the early phases of the post COV1D-19 era.
But at the same time, things are going to be really weird and different in the early phases of the post COV1D-19 era.
This is a human gesture dating back centuries that transcends the globe. There’s a ton of psychology and interpretation behind this ancient human ritual, but at the same time, there are many studies out there proving how many diseases, germs, bacteria, and viruses this ritual can spread.
Our hands touch the most stuff, thus acquiring the most crap, so it only makes sense that they can easily spread diseases.
Will we be stupid enough to just start commonly doing this again once COVID-19 passes?
Can a pandemic swiftly eradicate a human gesture that has existed for more than a millennia?
I don’t know.
But I do know, in general, stuff is just going to be awkward…There’s going to be a phase in time after the pandemic when we’re just all going to be really strange with each other, and sadly, we’re going to all look at each other as a potential risk.
Do I really want to share that beer with him/her?
Do I really want to dance with him/her?
Do I really want to kiss him/her?
See what I mean? Three common social scenarios, that prior to COVID-19, we wouldn’t even have to think about.
But once we get through this mess, you’re gonna be thinking about it. And that is just going to be strange…
4. Psychologists and psychiatrists need to be ready for the aftermath
I get it, we’re all in isolation and for the most part it sucks. But for many, isolation and social distancing has brought people into suboptimal situations that can be extremely mentally damaging.
There are the obvious cases — yes, such as people recovering from the virus, and for those that have lost friends and family to the virus. They will need psychological and emotional support just as much as anyone else, but let’s talk about the other side of this that is not so easily seen.
For example, there’s a story of Sam from the UK, a gay dancer who is now trapped at home in isolation with his homophobic parents.
Overnight, his career vanished, and he was trapped in a home with parents who viewed his lifestyle choices as a “sin.”
And this is one of the stories that somehow got media attention. Sadly, most will not. Think about all the couples couples that have problems with domestic violence, or perhaps a couple that was on the verge of divorce, and are now stuck together in isolation.
These stories are going to be hard to survive, and lots of people are going to need support coming out of this.
5. The world sucks at delivering consistent information that is vital to human survival
By this point in time, I am pretty frustrated with arguing with friends, relatives, or coworkers about what is “good information” regarding this whole pandemic.
Listen, at the end of the day, I am going to do what I think is going to keep me safe and healthy during these times.
I’m exhausted with having debates with people because this source said that, and this hospital said this, and this health organization said that, and this country’s president said this…it’s just too much.
My question is, why is that so?
In case the governments and health organizations / authorities of the world have not yet figured it out, the human race is one species…Meaning the way this thing is going to kill you in Israel is gonna be the same way it is going to kill you in Los Angeles.
Look how this thing has gotten from China to the United States. Everyone running around spreading all kinds of information, some of it more dangerous than useful in some cases, but as a society we’re somewhere between clueless and not clueless.
And let’s not even begin to talk about how social media is just destroying the way people should be interpreting information as a whole…
What’s scary about this, is that corona is a slower killing kind of virus, with a lower mortality rate…and our reaction time and process was still shit.
Sit back and imagine, if a virus as volatile as Ebola had the infection rate of Corona. That my friends, would be truly world ending.
Will governments and authorities around the world come up with unified plans of actions and information dissemination after this? Sadly, probably not, but it is urgently needed.
6. Humanity as a whole is going to remain largely selfish
I’m a vegan, and a fairly devout one at that. I try to keep myself in check with the whole vegan preaching thing, sometimes I fail at that, sometimes I don’t.
Yes, I could sit here and try to have arguments about how if everyone was vegan we wouldn’t be in this whole mess in the first place, but ultimately I don’t have enough scientific evidence to back that claim.
What I will say though, is that humanity needs to take a long hard look at itself if we are to have any type of sustainable future as a whole.
COVID-19 was, and still is, is a huge chunk of proof, that people aren’t in denial of other catastrophic events such world hunger, climate change, animal abuse, de-forestation, human trafficking, and other atrocities.
The problem is, those things aren’t interrupting people’s daily lives here and now.
Tell people that a virus might come knocking on their door tomorrow and may harm them or their families, then populations will run out to the stores and buy loads of medical masks which medical professionals actually need to fight this thing effectively (or they’ll toilet paper for some reason?).
So my question to people around the world who have stuck around and read this entire article is, when and if we make it out of this, what small changes are you going to make in your life to effect long term global change?
Humanity wakes needs to wake up. We don’t own this planet, we are part of its entire symbiotic ecosystem, and we need to start respecting that.
Conclusion
COVID-19 sucks. Make no mistake about that. Sitting around in isolation has given me time to think about a lot lately, and today I was just feeling a bit stoic.
I’ve been taking in a lot of information lately, and just felt the need to get it all out in the form of writing. I think it will be interesting to look back at this article in five years to see how the world has changed, and if any of the things I list here would have been remedied.
But sit back (now that you have the time) and really look at the situation and yourself. The world’s gonna be different when we step out of this.
Be prepared for that.
