Our lives will be altered by the pandemic for months or years to come
HYDERABAD: The five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — provide a useful framework for deconstructing the world during this vicious pestilence. People tend to accept harsh realities gradually, but with difficulty. They don’t necessarily pass through all the stages of grief and in most cases, something gets repressed within their psyche.
However, recognition of the pandemic’s impact and widespread embrace of the final stage, acceptance, could speed our collective path to a new, post-pandemic normal. Covid-19 has upended lives around the world. Millions of people are mourning while thousands have lost their jobs. The sooner the people come to terms with the reality of the pandemic, the quicker the world can prepare for lasting changes.
Some aspects are clear: there will be more remote learning as universities shift to online learning. Hand sanitisers and masks will be abundant, and disinfecting ourselves will become a routine. Our leisure habits will shift; instead of large indoor gatherings, we’ll start to crave the outdoors. We may go to fewer restaurants and bars, at least for a while, but we’ll find alternatives to meaningfully connect with people and groups, as many already.
In the long run, Covid-19 may also revolutionise the healthcare system. Hospital-associated infections have been one of the leading causes of deaths in the country. As hospitals adopt measures to control the virus, they can reduce other preventable infections too. The pandemic may change where and how we live. Elderly people may increasingly choose to remain with their families as they age, rather than relocating to retirement communities or nursing homes. Cities may lose some of their luster as population and public transit, once so central to urban life, may hamper efforts to tamp down disease transmission.
Our lives will be altered by the pandemic for months or years to come. Caring for others and prioritising the collective good could lead to a positive societal change. We may come to accept that we are all in this together, first by necessity and then by choice.
Ghulam Murtaza
Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2020.
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