2020 has proved to be a disaster with the COVID-19 outbreak right at the start of the year. While it has been intimidating to look at the death toll and gasped at the ever-escalating number of people dying, let us take a step back and look at the effects of the virus. Is it only by taking away the life of our loved ones? It is more than just that. It is a catastrophe!
1. Health
There has never been a doubt that the most direct effect of COVID-19 is on our health. With more than 150,000 cases and about 6000 deaths globally, many governments have declared the current state as a national emergency. People are dying every day and healthcare workers are working longer and longer hours in a desperate fight to prevent more deaths. But has it worked? Are we anywhere nearer to the end of the pandemic?
2. Offices
As the government proposed more precautionary measures to be taken, many offices have come out with their own regulations, including taking body temperatures of workers daily and implementing working from home policies. Some offices have even closed down temporarily to prevent the spread of the virus in their premises. These precautionary measures are making it harder to get tasks done but we should place our health first, shouldn't we?
3. School
Schools are being closed down too and some universities are using online learning as a tool to deliver lectures. While it is for the benefit of our health, many students are finding it a challenge to try to figure things out on their own. Who will be able to clear their doubts and make it less difficult to learn and apply new knowledge? Orientation activities are canceled and freshmen are denied the opportunity to even make friends, for surely one could not make friends by just chatting online, could we?
4. Travels
Have you just planned to treat yourself for a trip to the old streets of Kyoto or the little village in France and realized that you cannot go? And all your plans and dreams of sun-bathing near the beach or getting a full body massage in the spa came to nothing?
Well, perhaps it will be a consolation to you that you are not alone. Flights have been canceled and tourists banned in some countries, leaving travel agencies and tourist businesses near the edge of bankruptcy.
5. Graduation
Graduation has always been the dream of a university student. Imagine getting your degree or masters and there is not even a day where you could celebrate with all your friends and families? You will be missing an important occasion in your life and this has been happening to graduates all over the world as universities postpone and even cancel graduation ceremonies. Does it not seem pathetic?
COVID-19 has taken a great toll on us and not merely by destroying our health but it is disrupting our daily life. Plans need to be changed and new regulations enforced while we struggle to cope with the changes and keep ourselves healthy. All we could do now is pray that it will soon end and that we can carry on with our lives.
