COVID-19
How have you experienced the lockdowns? The pandemic brought a lot of challenges and hardships to the world.
However, did you know that the pandemic influenced me in a positive way as well? Because of COVID-19, I learned the importance of futures thinking. I now see how fast the world can change and how important it is that we think about possible futures, before they happen!
Let’s learn more!
What is a pandemic?
I’m sure you know about the current situation. It’s nearly impossible to listen to the radio, watch television or go on the Internet without hearing about it. Unfortunately, we’re currently fighting a global pandemic. A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a disease.
Pandemics have always been a thing throughout human history. Maybe these ring a bell - the Black Plague, the Spanish flu and even Smallpox!
Pandemics aren’t something new by any means, but the world constantly changes and this has an impact on the course of pandemics. Global trade, frequently travelling for fun or business… These are things that factor into the spreading of this new virus.
Modern medicine is constantly progressing as well, which drastically affects the severity and length of pandemics like this one.
What is Covid-19?
You probably know the new disease we’re dealing with is called Covid-19. Do you know what Covid-19 is? Maybe you know the other term used for this virus, although they aren’t exactly the same thing - Coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses found in animals. These viruses can be ‘zoonotic’. This means they can be given from animals to humans, which is what happened with Covid-19 as well, although its exact origins are still being investigated.
Covid-19 can be compared to the common flu, as it has a lot of the same symptoms - a runny nose, cough, sore throat, possible headaches and a fever that can last for a few days.
However, the virus can have a more severe impact on those with a weakened immune system, like older people, very young people, those with underlying conditions or other illnesses… It can develop into more serious respiratory tract illnesses, like bronchitis or pneumonia. Because it’s a new virus and research is still being done, there’s no specific treatment other than the usual things you do when you get sick and ventilation for very serious cases. Some medication that can help, although the effectiveness isn’t 100% proven yet.
Covid-19 is thought to be less severe than other coronaviruses and takes longer for symptoms to develop. About 15% to 20% of the cases end up becoming severe enough to require ventilation in a hospital. It’s generally spread when a person comes in contact with the secretions of an infected person, such as cough or sneeze droplets. This is why it’s advised to keep your distance, wash your hands frequently and wear a mask!
What is the impact of Covid-19 on our society?
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on people all over the world. Let’s think about it. Maybe you haven’t been able to go to school full time, to go play your favorite sport, you haven’t seen your friends and family in a while, maybe one of your parents is currently working from home or you might know someone that got infected by covid-19. A lot has changed because of this pandemic.
But Covid-19 also has an impact on things you don’t think about every day! For example, communication with friends and family is mainly happening online during these times. People facetime, text, snap… Yet they rarely get to see each other in real life. Apart from that, you can see that people spend way more time in their homes. Lots of families started making their homes cosier and more fun to live in, because people want to feel good in their house. This is the place they barely get to leave now, so it should be a place where you feel good.
Speaking of feeling good, the pandemic also impacts the mental health of people all over the world. More and more people are experiencing mental health issues and seeking help. Unfortunately, mental health organizations aren’t able to keep up with the high demand. This leaves a lot of people struggling with anxiety, insomnia, isolation, etc. on their own.
The technology people use today has also changed a lot during the pandemic. people use their phones and computers more often and they look for different ways to keep in touch with their friends. Think about Virtual Reality. VR glasses give you the chance to see friends in a virtual world instead of just texting or risking your health by meeting in real life.
Drones and robotics are also being used more and more. China has used drones to keep an eye on their population and see if they are following social distancing rules. Robotics are being used more frequently in factories as well, since less people need to enter and work in the factory if robots do the work. This reduces the chance of contamination with the virus in these companies.
Lastly, I want to tell you about the impact of Covid-19 on the SDG goals. Do you know what these goals are? If not, I explain these goals here!
So, how did the pandemic influence these goals? Take quality education, for example. The UN wants to guarantee a good education for all boys and girls around the world by 2030. Sadly, Covid-19 has made progress toward reaching this goal very difficult. Luckily, there’s a bright side as well! Covid 19 has helped the underwater life to flourish again. Due to less air, sea and air traffic, less CO2 was released into the air. This gave the ocean the chance to recover for a small period of time
So, as we see, the pandemic has had an impact on a lot of different aspects in your life. Covid-19 has been challenging people in many ways. It caused a lot of pain, but it also opened many opportunities. People had to question everything about the way they lived. Maybe the biggest opportunity we got from this is the motivation to think about the futures. Let me tell you about it.
As I explained earlier, pandemics have always been around and will probably always be. We never know when new viruses are born or how current viruses might mutate in advance. One thing that’s for sure is that it will be different every time, as the way we think and live changes and so do all other living organisms. Humans have a fantastic ability to adapt; it’s what got us this far. We must keep in mind that we’re stronger together, even when a pandemic forces us apart. We need to be considerate and remain vigilant.
However, scientists made an assessment with regards to future pandemics and predicted them to spread faster, be deadlier and cause more economic damage unless we shift our future efforts from ‘reaction’ to ‘prevention’. We need to adapt in advance. This includes focusing more on taking care of our planet and its ecosystems instead of pursuing our current path of expansion and intensification of agriculture, unsustainable trade, endless consumption… We can’t continue disrupting nature or we will see more pandemics in the futures.
This is why I think it is so important that everyone starts futures-thinking. If people start thinking about possible futures today, they can take action to prevent bad things from happening and open up the way for good things to come into their lives.
