What will the post Covid-19 world look like? It’s up to us to decide.
Now that we’re confined to our home environments, only connecting with friends and workmates via Skype, FaceTime or Zoom, it’s natural to wonder what our world is going to look like when the lockdown is lifted.
Now that we’re confined to our home environments, only connecting with friends and workmates via Skype, FaceTime or Zoom, it’s natural to wonder what our world is going to look like when the lockdown is lifted.
Even when the lockdowns are lifted, life won’t get back to normal until a vaccine is available. What does that mean for theatres, cinemas, festivals, experiences, air travel, restaurants…all the situations where we’re in close proximity with strangers? What will the new normal be like for our work and social life? Businesses that adapt fastest in a changed world could reap dividends – both real and nonpecuniary.
There have been unexpected upsides. The silence in our cities. Cycling on near-deserted roads. The improvement in air quality and the blossoming of wildlife. Can we hang on to some of these benefits? Or will we just go back to the old ways, jumping in the car for a half-mile trip to the shops or the daily commute?
For now, we’re watching in distress at the mounting death tolls. We’re applauding doctors, nurses and all the other people who put their own lives on the line to keep ours safe. When this is all over, we could go a little further and ask how we reward all these public servants, when the gap between them and the highest paid has been widening year-on-year.
Politicians talk about the ‘war’ on coronavirus, as if courage alone will bring victory. In truth, it will be months of quiet, painstaking work in some research laboratory that will win the day. When Covid-19 is defeated, it’s going to leave behind a world that’s changed. And what that world will look like is up to us.
