Effects of Covid19
The covid-19 pandemic has affected virtually every aspect of life since it began in late December 2019. The effects of the virus can be thought to be exceedingly more than those caused by a small health crisis because the pandemic has affected both the social and economic lives of people across the world. People have resolved to quarantine, some governments have introduced lockdowns and curfew cessations to curb the spread of the virus in their countries. In a nutshell, the pandemic has affected every aspect of our lives, and people have been forced to adopt new ways of living to prevent contracting the disease. This paper conceptualizes on the crucial lessons based on my experience could be drawn from the effects of this pandemic.
Based on my experience, historians have alot to document about life in the pandemic. First, tracing back to 1918 -1919 during the outbreak of the influenza pandemic, people living in major Canadian cities rejected quarantine and strict government orders (Jones,2005). They began blaming immigrants for the faster spread of the epidemic, thus, making them suffer significantly due to ignorance. This pandemic has been different, and there is little ignorance since most people have embraced quarantine, wearing masks, washing their hands, and maintaining social distance while in public. Although practising such containment measures have led to the economic and social crisis across the globe, historians argue that the aftermath effects of the virus won’t be worse compared to the impact of influenza in 1918 to 1919.
Second, this pandemic has led to an economic crisis which will be remembered throughout history. The epidemic resulted in the closure of schools, businesses, and industries. Most people have preferred to stay at home and not going to work as this may have led to a faster spread of the pandemic. Although I began working as a receptionist on July 15th, most people have still not gotten back to work. Some people were laid off from their jobs, therefore, making it difficult for them to meet their basic needs such as food, clothing and proper housing. Lastly, this pandemic has resulted in the loss of rigid social connections with other people. People have been forced to stay at home and to avoid public gatherings, therefore, eliminating interactivity and growth of interpersonal relationships.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all races, gender and social classes. However, the effects have not been the same due to their differences in economic, social and political influence within the society. Low-class people have been adversely affected by the virus; this is because, most of these people have lost their jobs, making it difficult for them to satisfy their basic needs. On the other hand, the upper-class pundits can fulfil their basic needs. Although most of their businesses have collapsed due to the pandemic, their savings can satisfy their needs until everything gets back to normal.
Additionally, gender equality has been dramatically affected by the epidemic. Recent research reveals the epidemic has resulted in disproportionality employment opportunities for men and women. The little opportunities available have been accorded to men, thus, leaving most women to suffer economically. Therefore, in families where women are sole breadwinners, it has become difficult for them to get food, clothing and housing during this tough period.
Social, economic conditions influence the risk of individuals contracting COVID 19. Even though the diseases have affected millions of people across the globe, no small part because of sense that everyone is at risk and the condition can affect anyone despite colour, race, gender, social status, and age( Nishiura, Oshitani, Kobayashi, Saita, Sunagawa, Matsui, & Suzuki, 2020). However, from the lessons we learned in class, I have realized that just like as it is with other health issues, corona pandemic is very discriminative among the population of the world. The individuals at high risk of contracting the disease are those people already disadvantaged and vulnerable by way of gender, economic status, race, and social class. I have realized that socio-economic status is a fundamental driver of our health, and it plays out as our risk of contracting the Covid pandemic. For example, the socio-economic status influences what the environments we live in, the types of jobs we handle, types of food we eat and determines if we will access medical and health insurances, high-quality healthcare.
In my observation, I noticed that the socio-economic status in my country is equally associated with race and ethnicity. Individuals with colour are not appropriately represented among people with minimal income, less education, and a shameful legacy of racial and ethnic segregation that has existed in America. For example, I noted that poor housing and environments influence COVID 19 contraction due to poor sanitation. In ghettos, there are cases of overcrowding, no social, physical distance, and reduced access to medical care facilities. When combined, the above factors increase the chances of people from lower socio classes to contract the pandemic.
In my daily experiences, I realized that Immigrants work in jobs that demand them to attend physically, poor working conditions, and usage of public means of transport to access their places of work. Requirements increase chances of the immigrants and poor people to contract the pandemic more than individuals from the upper class. Social, economic status determines the type of health insurances and treatments. Covid patients can access.
I realized that gender had been widely affected in the COVID error. It is undeniable that the pandemic has been killing both men and women. However, I realized that men are more prone to the epidemic than women. The number of men who have died since the outbreak exceeds the number of women by a significant margin. It is also worth to note that the disease has increased domestic violence. Violence has been reported throughout the world. Women and girls are exposed to their abusers and limited access to health facilities.
Corona pandemic has brought many social lessons. Apart from sanitization, washing hands, and maintaining social distance. Countries of the world and individuals need to learn that there is a need to put up a unified response to tackle the pandemic, instead of using diverse disconnected strategies. Other lessons people should learn from my experiences is to show true friendship, care, work hard, and learn to love others. Cases of domestic Covid-19 has shown me my close ones, and the real colours of the people I thought were my friends, but then they turned out to be just the acquaintances. I feared that earlier when I was jobless and sitting at home just talking to my peers, I would lose all social skills by now, but working as a receptionist has helped me gain back that confidence.
COVID-19 pandemic has killed over five million people and affected people from all walks of life across the world. Among the areas widely affected are the educations, games, health, and economic sectors. However, the experiences vary because of social classes, gender, colour, race, and age. The diseases have impacted, and people and left a lot of social lessons to learn.
References
Jones, E. W. (2005). “Co-operation in All Human Endeavour”: Quarantine and Immigrant Disease Vectors in the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic in Winnipeg. Canadian bulletin of medical history, 22(1), 57-82.
Nishiura, H., Oshitani, H., Kobayashi, T., Saito, T., Sunagawa, T., Matsui, T., … & Suzuki, M. (2020). Closed environments facilitate the secondary transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). medRxiv.