The Virus – Austina James (Age: – 11)

The Virus
To say that the novel coronavirus pandemic changed the world would be an understatement… it turned the world completely upside down. It has changed an abundance of qualities us humans maintained: it changed the way we think, talk and interact. We were excellent at keeping mental distance but the social distancing has taught us the art of physical distance as well as virtual existence both personally and professionally. The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge to the global community since the 1940s. At that time, following the devastation of two world wars, political leaders came together to forge the multilateral system. Today, we hold the same hope that as we fight to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic together, we can build a more robust international health architecture that will protect future generations. There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone. The question is not if, but when. Together, we must be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly coordinated fashion. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe.
Although being in lockdown has been gruelling on balance, the surprise is that many of us have realized there are some things about quarantine life that is actually worth preserving. We are questioning the very fundamentals of the “normal” we would all come to unthinkingly accept – and realizing we do not want to go back, not to that. For some, going back isn’t even an option. Those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, for example, have suffered a tragic and irrevocable loss, living with the guilt of not being able to do anything. Millions who lost their jobs do not have any work to go back to, and many essential workers have been working through this tough pandemic without much choice. Older and immunocompromised people are still advised to stay at home. At the same time, living in quarantine has offered some – mostly the privileged among us – a rare opportunity to reflect on our lives, and potentially, to reset them. Allowing the community to experiment with new habits and lifestyles.
Undoubtedly, Covid 19 exposed us to many changes all at once; staying home all day, working out of home, staying indoors, having to depend on sanitizers and masks to sustain life. One of the biggest emotional ordeals the world felt in waves was fear. The virus poked and tugged at some vulnerability in us all as it stealthily penetrated all borders, air, land and sea, leaving no cave or cover for safety. Either way, one thing became crystal clear – the world as we knew it was going to
change forever and there would be no turning back. Pushed to the edge of endurance, fear for our loved ones and uncertainty no matter how much we tried to grasp around our tomorrows. We were forced to learn and stretch new muscles to quieten ourselves, cope and survive. Millions of enterprises face an existential threat along with nearly half of the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce being at risk of losing their livelihoods.
Although the coronavirus may not have hit global health as catastrophically as the bubonic plague did in the 14Th century, this latest pandemic certainly will and has changed the world. A disease may be indiscriminate in who it infects, rich or poor, but the effects it wreaks are anything but equitable between disadvantaged or privileged members of society. International lockdown and the effective suspension of civic and commercial activity across entire countries has thrust up a mirror on how our economic, social and political systems operate and forced the beginnings of a global conversation on how they may need to change. Covid 19 has revealed the shaky foundations on which much of what we take for granted on the developed world is built.
As the transmission of novel corona virus (COVID-19) increases rapidly, the whole world adopted the curfew/lockdown activity with restriction of human mobility. The imposition of quarantine stopped all the commercial activity that greatly affects the various important environmental parameters, which directly connected to human health. As all the types of social, economic, industrial and urbanization activity suddenly shut off, nature takes the advantages and showed improvement in the quality of air, cleaner rivers, less noise pollution, undisturbed and calm wildlife. This research aims to discuss the COVID-19 effect on the global environment. COVID-19 became the opportunity for the earth to build a clear blue sky and clean the air. During the period of lockdown across the world, the sight of the blue sky created a sense of optimism among the people towards a clean and better environment. Before COVID-19, all over the world are being suffered by a high level of urban air pollution especially in the form of CO2, SO2, NO2 and particulate matter The major sources of pollution such as transport, industries, power stations are responsible for the increased output of all these pollutants.
We often think of each country as a separate entity and being very different from one another. Within a few months of the virus being identified, the virus spread to nearly every country, and a global pandemic was declared. Despite the differences and distance between places, we are battling the same virus and having the same struggles. It’s a reminder of just how our world economy and
society are interconnected on many levels, including supply chains, communications, technology and travel. Covid has highlighted the importance of social interaction and human contact within almost every aspect of our lives, including education, employment, entertainment and recreation. The pandemic has been a time of extraordinary change, and we have had to rapidly change and adapt to the evolving situation.
If we want to prevent future pandemics that are similar to or even worse than Covid 19, we will need to find strategies that go far beyond previous preparedness plans and that enable us to take strong actions immediately. We will need more international cooperation and more stringent international surveillance systems that identify outbreaks as early as possible. If there is a concern, we will need to act before the scale of the threat becomes clear. Otherwise, we will miss the short time window, in which new infectious diseases can be eradicated.
Nonetheless, Covid 19 has changed our approach to health and health care amongst both positive and negative ways. Since the onset of the pandemic, it is no surprise that it has triggered a wave of mental health issues such as addiction, anxiety and depression. Social isolation has altered the stress in all lives especially the younger ones. Bereavement, isolation, loss of income and fear are increasing mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones. Furthermore, it has allowed us to re-examine our policies, procedures and systems and really come up with a better and sustainable method to see patients in a streamlined and efficient manner. Quarantine has made people value relationships especially family that subsequently helped us to personally re-evaluate the life goals and re-evaluate how we spend a day.
In the wake of this pandemic, we have found ourselves a voice, a mind and achieved the realisation of the significance of prioritizing health, happiness and recognition of who and what we value the most. Even if some have not reached it so far, at least we know the revolution has begun.
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