The Future: How COVID-19 Will Change the World
The world needed a catalyst to set a new course in motion. Only a few people thought a pandemic will be the catalyst. Not even the 18 million people, from all over the world, who listened to Bill Gates’ warning about a pandemic during his Ted Talk. I bet we all just listened and hoped it never happened.
This is not the first pandemic the world will face. Thanks to advancements in science and modern medicine, it is being greatly contained. We don’t and hope not to compare the COVID-19 pandemic to the Spanish Influenza of 1918. The pandemic took about 50–100 million lives. That was as much as 5% of the world population then.
Every crisis the world has faced leaves a harrowing mark on humanity and ushers in a new phase. Let’s consider two crises that shook the world.
The Spanish Influenza of 1918
The Spanish Influenza of 1918 has been the deadliest pandemic on record. It killed more people than World War I and about or more than the number of World War II. It didn’t originate in Spain as the name would have you think, its origins are still quite unclear. However, records show that the First World War greatly aided its spread. Soldiers caught it easily and as they moved from continent to continent, they carried the illness alongside their weapons.
The soldiers fought in the trenches where poor sanitation and rat-infested conditions made them highly vulnerable to the illness. More, the illness killed young and able-bodied people with strong immune systems. Instead of fighting the illness, their immune systems overreacted to it.
When the Spanish Influenza became a global concern, science was still at the cradle. The death of millions was inevitable.
The world in the early 20th century was largely controlled by imperialists and authoritarian monarchies. Britain had a large imperial hold over territories in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Australia. Ironically, Britain is an island country with a relatively small size. Her naval power was second to none and this was an effective intimidation tool.
Russia was still under the Czars. Names such as Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible are enough to send cold sweat down the spine. However, the Russian Revolution of 1917 was heating up and the system was at the edge of phasing out.
Spanish Influenza saw a wave of workers’ strikes and anti-imperialist protests across the world. It turned out that imperialists and dictators couldn’t save millions from dying; they were not as powerful as they seemed.
Independence movements and the workers’ unions took this as a sign. In less than 50 years, independence returned to many former colonies.
The September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks
I need not go over the sad story, but we know that four airplanes were hijacked during the 9/11 attacks and the death of 2,996 people was recorded. Al Qaeda took responsibility for the hits. This ushered in the era of counterterrorism and antiterrorism moves not only in the United States but in other countries of the world.
Because Al Qaeda operates from the Middle East, specifically an Islamic country, Islamophobia became the thing. You don’t want to be fully dressed in Middle Eastern regalia and act suspiciously at a United States airport. You may be gunned down like a criminal.
The way we look at the Middle East is now different. To many people, it’s a breeding ground for terrorists. You don’t want to identify as an Afghan on a plane. It’s enough to register terror in the minds of many.
The World After COVID-19
Every global crisis reveals inadequacies. The Spanish Influenza revealed the inadequacy in the health system and cracked a hole in the glass wall of imperialism. The 9/11 attacks revealed the gap in national security. The COVID-19 pandemic has also revealed a lot of things. The most obvious of these is how unprepared our healthcare systems are.
The population of the world stands at 7.8 billion people. One-third of this number is confined to homes. Is the world currently on pause, or shifting to adapt?
Here’s how the present is going to impact the future.
Technology
With one-third of the world at home, the internet becomes the window to the outside world. There are more online orders as movement is restricted. People are catching up with their backlogs on Netflix. Video calls and social media become pastimes. Digitization couldn’t have come at a better time.
People critical of technology are now being forced to live with it. If not for anything, to check for updates on the vaccine.
Digital companies such as Facebook, Alphabet (Google), Apple, PayPal, Zoom, Netflix, Amazon, and many others are becoming more powerful. We rely on them to interact, do business, get information, purchase, send and receive money, and hold meetings.
Our current dependence on technology is not going to reduce after the pandemic. This is because our lives have been adapting to the new normal. By the time the pandemic is over, the dependence on technology will greatly increase.
Many businesses with expensive office spaces will realize that they are better off working remotely as they are still meeting targets. Conference calls will take the place of physical boardroom meetings.
Small internet platforms like Payoneer and Zoom will see an increase in usage. Analog is finally phasing out. What would require your physical presence before has phased out.
Jobs
Automation has wiped out many jobs. Fortunately, it has created many jobs to replace them.
The phasing out of jobs was going gradually until COVID-19. Before the pandemic, there were a lot of people working in order fulfillment and deliveries. Now, Amazon and Fed Ex are using delivery robots to deliver to doorsteps.
There are now more openings for robotic engineers and those who specialize in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Privacy
As much as technology gives you freedom, it eats away your privacy. Now more than ever, government agencies have to be able to trace where a person has been and is. This is what has helped China and Israel in containing the virus. The technology used in Israel uses smartphones to trace movements. It is very helpful and every country should get it.
However, what happens with this technology after the pandemic? In the hands of the wrong government, you may be in trouble.
As more people are hooked on technology, more data is being stored in the cloud. Unfortunately, the world has not seen the last of its data privacy issues.
Public Health
The world is going to get past this pandemic. The vaccine may not come as fast as we expect, but one way or the other, humanity is going to survive.
On the 30th of March, Johnson & Johnson, a United States pharmaceutical company, announced that its experimental coronavirus vaccine could be ready for human testing by September, and for early regular usage by early 2021. Several tests have to be carried out to know of possible side-effects and the right dosages. Thus, we may be looking at 9 months to a year before things can return to normal globally.
“Pandemics are equalizers. They reveal what is not working in our healthcare system. They show us where to scale and innovate.”
COVID-19 is the biggest public health emergency the world has faced in a century. It has clearly shown how ill-prepared countries are in the face of an emergency of this nature.
Public health is finally sitting on the same table as national security. It is now of topmost priority. Public healthcare spending will increase as more money will be budgeted for health. Just as the United States beefed up security after 9/11, there will be special funds for public health.
Speaking of healthcare inadequacies, there may be uprisings against governments who fail to contain this pandemic. In the United States, this pandemic will greatly influence the forthcoming presidential election.
The Days of Agoraphobia
“Agoraphobia is the fear of wide-open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions.”
Having spent months at home from the fear of being infected, people are going to be extra careful of crowded spaces. More people will work from home, order online, call Uber instead of taking the bus, and eat at less crowded restaurants or even eat at home.
Public buildings and centers are going to pay more attention to wide spaces. Social distancing won’t go with the pandemic, it will modify human behavior.
Those who were infected but survived may develop agoraphobia. People will be more careful about how people touch them. Finally, namaste is becoming more popular than handshakes, kisses, and hugs.
Religious congregations will now be more online. Sadly, pilgrimages and rituals are being negatively impacted already. Things are not just going to revert to normal after the pandemic. Religion is entering a new phase.
Public Consciousness
Just like hot iron will forge a mark on an object, this pandemic has forged a new consciousness in our minds. We now wash our hands several times in the day and use sanitizers.
When HIV became an issue of global concern, the use of condoms became popular. Nowadays, it requires little or no prompting before a condom is used with a new sex partner. It comes naturally. Hand washing may become like that. Public buildings will feature hand-washing basins and sinks in conspicuous places.
Telemedicine
This is the worst time to have flu, you may be isolated.
More people are going online to source for health-related information and services. People are calling doctors to keep up with treatment, education, monitoring, and even remote admissions. This is telemedicine.
A third of the United States population uses this already. This can only go up. Doctors and consultants will spend more time with patients on the phone or social media.
The New World
With the spotlight shifting from national security to public health, the world shifts with it. It has now become clear that a pandemic can kill faster than terrorists if not contained early. More funding will go into medical research to prevent future outbreaks.
The new world will be smaller as more people will be on the internet. The world will have to sacrifice privacy for the newly found convenience.
A pandemic is a catalyst for social change. COVID-19 will not be different.
