It looks like we are living in a rather grim movie where the world has come to a standstill. A few countries including India have declared lockdown to curb the spreading. We have entered into a 21-day countrywide lockdown. And today marks the first day. Everyday life has been disrupted for all. But, we cannot lose hope. We need to do this so that our future is better. Like everything else, this too shall pass. We also know that life won’t be the same after these 21 days. We are going to see a lot of difference when things go back to normal. In the coming days, we will be posting relevant content related to this.
Current Scenario
India has just started a three week nationwide complete lockdown because of the spike in COVID 19 cases and to reduce the chances of community transmission. The Government has suspended everything except for essential services like banks, ATMs, petrol pumps, hospitals, grocery shops. All Government and private offices, educational institutions, public transportation services, with the exception of those involved in essential services are suspended. As of yesterday midnight, everything in India has come to a standstill and in the coming few days things are likely going to change more. Below are a few of the changes we feel are going to affect us:
- Our Economy – It looks like the world economy is on a path to recession. There is going to be huge financial imbalances globally. Travel restrictions, cancellation of events and concerts, shutting down of shops, and offices have resulted in huge losses. With people aggressively buying due to panic and emptying supermarket shelves and a broken supply chain, things look bleak. We may see a change in globalization, countries looking for more stability and preparedness to cope with a longer period of economic isolation.
- Our Work-Culture – With most of the people who can work remotely, working from home, the work culture has changed drastically. Even after the lockdown is lifted, the knowledge that remote working is possible in certain industries will affect the way companies operate. The boundaries separating personal life and office life are bound to change post this.
- Education System – All educational institutions have been put under lockdown too. This means classes, exams, etc are postponed for a later date. Some educational institutes are offering all classes online, something which they couldn’t have done if the current scenario hadn’t happened. This will change the way we approach education in the future.
- Healthcare System – The Coronavirus being a novel virus has put a lot of strain on our healthcare system. The current lockdown is also a measure to decrease this projected load on our healthcare system. Social distancing will help us to flatten the curve and come out of this situation as early as possible. With the rise in seasonal flu cases and because of the novel Coronavirus, countries will give more importance to the healthcare sector so that it is ready to tackle any unforeseen situations like this in the future.
- Our Mental Health – With entire regions going under lockdown, we will see a drastic change in behaviour patterns of people. We have already seen people panic buying and emptying the shelves in supermarkets, the scarcity of masks and hand sanitizers, etc. Since most people have the internet readily available to them, we are going to see an increase in online activity. In not necessarily the same order, we are going to see people being optimistic about the situation, trying to create a schedule and being productive during the lockdown, having bouts of frustration, irritation and depression because of fluctuations in productivity and boredom, acceptance of the situation and trying to find meaning in everything.
- Our privacy – Drastic measures have been taken by different countries to stop the spread of Coronavirus. Countries like China have started using surveillance methods to do the same. Governments have sensitive information about their citizens with them which has been collected because of this and is a cause for concern.
We briefly touched on the changes we might come across in the near future. Hopefully, we will get to share more about these in the upcoming posts. We have to keep one thing in mind though. That historical events that changed the world drastically have happened in the past. That the world has come a long way and is going to change again. But, the times are slightly better. We are more educated, more connected, more technologically advanced than the previous generations. And we shall overcome these challenges together. Until then, let’s stay at home and make this world better.
