POSITIVE SIDE OF COVID-19

21 lessons learnt from covid-19

People keep saying it: everything has changed.

As the number of people affected by corona virus is increasing the world over, its impact on the world economy appears to be devastating. The new decade started out as any other but rapidly unfolded into a scenario that the world will remember for decades to come. As the days spent in our homes blur together and become indistinguishable, outside in the world huge shifts in consciousness are happening.

Amongst other negative things rapid global spread of a novel corona virus has taught us many positive things too that we are all interconnected in terms of our health and well-being. Displaced populations, including refugees and migrants, are often the first to be stigmatized and unjustly blamed for the spread of disease, yet they are also among the most vulnerable people during a pandemic—to both the virus itself and the measures enacted to control it. Substantial disruptions to humanitarian operations have already been reported from the field, thus compromising access to health and other essential services, and the ability to respond to urgent community needs. In the words of one humanitarian worker: “COVID-19 is making the already vulnerable exponentially more vulnerable, and it hasn’t even hit yet.”

In the last one quarter, life has drastically changed around the world. The corona virus outbreak is not just an epidemic, it’s also a global pandemic. People everywhere are being asked to stay home and stay away from others in order to reduce the risk of infection. Corona has brought with it a wave of negative outcomes, terrible illness and death, but it also highlighted some important life lessons.

1. Forego some of your freedom for the greater good of the public

2: Maintaining essential health services is vital.

3: We all have a role to play

4: Access to infection prevention and control measures, testing and treatment for displaced populations is essential to ensure safety for all

5: Whether there’s a virus or not keep washing your hands. 

6: Option of working from home should be now be given more importance.

7: Pandemic control relies on community engagement and trust.

8: Unite behind the science and support each other in human protective sciences.

9: Precaution is better than cure, so taking that sick day could save lives.

10: Doctors and researchers need to be paid better.

11: Keep learning for a better tomorrow & technology should be everyone’s right.

12: Protect the most vulnerable

13: The importance of talking to friends every day

14: Spending time with family again gain its importance, Compassion should come first.

15: Do IT Yourself (DIY) started gaining popularity & reliance on others started decreasing.

16: Everyone should know how to cook, as you never knew when you will be required to.

17: Prioritize your health and well-being., schedule exercise, fitness and walk in your daily routine.

18: Time to become nature’s friend & learn to appreciate nature.

19: Be kind to yourself first as its best time to learn how to be content alone.

20: Hope and keep learning for a better tomorrow

21: Last but not the least builds your faith in god (Allah).

Ultimately, these lessons give us hope. We’re inspired by the actions everyday people are taking to prevent the spread of disease and protect humanity, and we each can do so much more. When we work together, we can root change. 99% of the humanity who will survive this pandemic , this will not be the end. For them, the post-Covid-19 world will bring lasting changes that would have been considered impossible earlier. The virus and state-imposed lockdowns have wrought changes that are not just temporary. They will change the world as we have known it most of our lives. We need to learn from the lessons already arising from the disease and shutdowns, and adopt changes that will take us to a better and consider this Pandemic not as a curse but a blessing in disguise.

As the peak of Covid-19 started dipping in most of the countries of the world, although the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, countries around the world are beginning to consider steps to ease their lock down restrictions. With a return to some form of normality in sight, now may be the best time to look at the lessons we had learned from this crisis and should try to implement them fully in our lives.

Another important thing to mention here is that the post-Covid economy will render several jobs redundant. But it will also create many new. It would create huge demand for online training courses on how to use online portals to provide the best services to clients, whether these are religious or medical or education-related services. Covid has taught us the virtues of virtual space. Let's adopt them to reduce pollution and guard against the next pandemic.

Covid-19 has exposed our political leaders on grand stages, highlighting their aptitude, vulnerabilities, and ineptitudes - not to mention idiocy - on many levels.  We can’t simply blame foreign powers or the virus for our miseries. Our rulers don’t even think about the diseases people suffer from, neither do they do anything substantial to prevent them. We don’t have medicines, neither do we have enough hospitals but we are more interested in war games. Covid-19 will pass, but we must learn the lessons inherent in it, failing which we are heading to doom. Important thing here is will we remove our nationalistic sensibilities and truly co-operate with other political parties, in order to do the best for the health of our country’s citizens.

In the end I would like to rephrase the phrase I started my article with,

People should hope for: everything should change with positivity.

 

By; ovais asad khan