Adam Bonar

In an ideal world, the end of this disastrous pandemic would allow us to revert our lives back to normalcy. We would be able to leave our homes freely, like imprisoned people finally being released from jail and reuniting with the ones we had to separate from for so long. Partly, that will hopefully be true. However, there will be many aspects of life that affect the global and local community. 

I would define the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as the release and wide-spread distribution of a reliable vaccine and reach an effective proportion of herd immunity. Once accomplished, the global community must take a hard look at the situation and assess what should be done going forward, and how we can do better. Not only should there be a pandemic preparation team in place with policies set in place precautionarily, but people should, and will, become more wary of social actions that spread germs such as hand-shaking. Additionally, the climate crisis must have decisive action taken. 

Currently, American hospitals are struggling not only due to filled capacities of hospitals, but also in accurately determining who has the virus and who doesn’t. This simply should not be happening in the richest country in the world who can easily fund wide-spread testing. According to a survey, the most commonly reported challenges “with the coronavirus centered on hospital efforts to confirm cases of COVID-19 and keeping staff safe while doing so” but struggle to combat the challenges due to  “a COVID-19 testing shortage” (LaPointe, 2020). This is unacceptable, and is only one of the many short-falls of the federal government’s efforts to combat this pandemic. Leadership must take responsibility and reform the pandemic response team along with listening to experts’ advice for future crises such as this.

In addition to reacting in a decisive manner on a political and national scale, the average person should, and most likely will, see changes in their daily lifestyle. In the short-term, people will be eager to get back into the groove of their former lifestyles, as we have already seen with states beginning to open up states, “even against the advice of some health experts who say it risks dangerously spiking the number of cases,” with close-contact places opening such as “salons, barbershops, spas and pet groomers” (Maxouris and Hanna, 2020). In the longer-term however, I’d expect a balanced social awareness of certain interactions that were normally conducted before to be curbed, such as simple hand-shaking to cease. Even NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says that he does not think “we should ever shake hands ever again… [as] it probably would decrease instances of influenza dramatically in this country” (Scipioni, 2020). This in addition to other interactions such as public transportation or air travel could very well see a stark decrease for years to come. 

Lastly, and most certainly not least, the climate crisis must be curbed and resolved. There have been few silver linings from this pandemic in that aquatic ecosystems are clearing up along with the skies in normally smoggy areas, where “people are reporting seeing the Himalayas for the first time from where they live” (Gardiner, 2020). While certainly is nice to see, this should be a wake-up call to what needs to happen, as it should be apparent that humans have been fueling this climate crisis for decades now. While air pollution has decreased in some areas, where it is still apparent has been shown to enhance the effects of COVID-19. This is because that “fine particles [from pollution] penetrate deep into the body… [and] weaken the immune system and fuel inflammation in the lungs and respiratory tract, adding to the risk both of getting COVID-19 and of having severe symptoms” (Gardiner, 2020). This simply displays that facets of the climate crisis has the terrifying ability to slyly seep its way into any sort of problem we experience in addition to its already impactful face-value. This is exactly why this must be addressed quickly and decisively.

This pandemic has cast a shadow on the world, and is difficult to be hopeful. However, there is hope, and this will come to an end. But, our efforts to improve the lives of every person do not end with the eradication of this virus. We must be more prepared for future biological threats, be socially conscious of our human interactions, and shed much more light on the climate crisis at hand. Those are just some of the many ways we will be able to improve the lives of others in the short and long-term. To stop pressing forward and displaying compassion for others in the present and the future is to contribute to the loss of our innate humanity.

Works Cited

Gardiner, Beth. “Pollution Made COVID-19 Worse. Now, Lockdowns Are Clearing the Air.”

Pollution Made the Pandemic Worse, but Lockdowns Clean the Sky, National

Geographic, 20 Apr. 2020,

www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/pollution-made-the-pandemic-worse-but-

ockdowns-clean-the-sky/.

LaPointe, Jacqueline. “COVID-19 Testing Shortage Hinders Hospital Efforts to Combat Virus.”

RevCycleIntelligence, 7 Apr. 2020,

revcycleintelligence.com/news/covid-19-testing-shortage-hinders-hospital-efforts-to-co

Bat-virus.

Maxouris, Christina, and Jason Hanna. “Some States Begin to Reopen as US Closes in on 1

Million Coronavirus Cases.” CNN, Cable News Network, 26 Apr. 2020,

http://www.cnn.com/2020/04/25/health/us-coronavirus-saturday/index.html.

Scipioni, Jade. “White House Advisor Dr. Fauci Says Handshaking Needs to Stop Even When

Pandemic Ends-Other Experts Agree.” CNBC, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2020,

http://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/09/dr-anthony-fauci-handshaking-needs-to-stop-even-after-pandemic.html.