The Covid19 Aftermath

The Covid19 Aftermath

By Linda Farneth

Today I woke up with anxiety as many of you have. So many questions running through my head. What is going to happen? Will I catch this virus? Have I already caught it and am I worrying for nothing? When will people be let out of their cages? When will we be free to roam again? I know it is necessary for the health and well-being of everyone. Stay-at-home orders saves lives and keeps the hospitals from being overrun with Covid19 patients. But sometimes I feel like I’m incarcerated.

Then there are the questions concerning the Covid19 aftermath. What will our new normal be like?  I’m no stranger to new-normals having (for the last 10 years) gone through; anxiety, depression, loss of a loved one, job loss, serious as well as chronic illness and almost losing my home.

But the question haunting me is, how will everyone else deal with their new-normal and how will that affect me?

Right now so much is on hold, going to the doctor for everyday allergies, aches, pains, heart issues, muscle tears or broken bones. Will doctors face an overload of regular human ailments or will people reevaluate their need to go to the doctor for every ache and pain? What will this do to all the medical professionals and students? Will this change healthcare and insurance. Will healthcare crumble financially in the wake of Covid19?

What will happen to the all the people who worked for businesses that have now collapsed under the financial pressures of Covid19? There will obviously be a huge shift in jobs for many of these people. The big questions is where will they shift to? Will one profession expand or will existing workers lose jobs to those who are moving from one career to another?

How many new jobs will be created and how many will drop off as non-essential. Right now only essential workers should be at work, but when the restrictions start lifting there will still be a large portion of the population who is uncertain as to whether they have been infected or not. Antibody testing will be very important to those who have been asymptomatic to determine if they have immunity or do they have to continue to be careful and vigilant.

Then there is the sobering conundrum… Let me put it this way, at the onset of this virus someone catching the virus meant immediate quarantine. In the aftermath of this disease NOT having caught it may mean a life of home isolation until either a vaccine is found or the virus has been eradicated from the human and animal population, the latter definitely being a near impossible feat. Will the healthy non infected people become the population that must be under quarantine?

Will Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a world without money come true? A world where people work because they want to and never fear being sick because their every need will be provided to them by either those who simply work out of generosity or by machines, holograms and robots?

Will this pandemic unite the countries all over the globe or will it drive a wedge further between those who already do not wish to do business with each other?

Will social distancing continue? Will the health of humanity be affected. The CDC has already said this virus affects some races differently. Will the need to stay healthy cause us to move forward or backward in our evolution of social mingling?

Humans are designed to be social creatures as well as have an instinctual tribal nature which creates quite a paradox to be sure.

These are the questions keeping me up at night? The answers lie in the Covid19 aftermath!