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Writer's pictureSimply GenZ

COVID : 19 Present and Future


Government/Leadership

  • Many governments mishandled their response to the pandemic and failed to exercise global leadership, which further added to preexisting tension in some countries.


  • Authoritarian minded leaders have used Covid as an opportunity to make power grabs and further revocation of people’s rights.


  • Possibility for an increase in democracy, with the pandemic showing the ineffectiveness of political populism.


  • Populist governments are unstable. Sometimes they disregard medical advice, downplay the severity of the crisis, and are at war with their administrative states and expert advice.


  • Cyberattacks, financial support for the proxy conflict, political and economic coercion, and information influence projects have occurred.


  • Efforts to stop and protest for climate change have slowed down exponentially.


Economic

  • Financial markets, the global economy, communities, businesses, organizations, and the capital market have all been affected.


  • Manufacturing of essential goods slowed, there is a loss in national and international business, poor cash flow in the market, demands items decreased, and a slowdown in revenue growth are all results of the pandemic.


  • Combat effects and central banks globally have intervened to make sure that liquidity is maintained and to mitigate the economic shock.


  • Trade and export restrictions have continued between the US and China because of both Covid and previous supply chain tensions.


  • New markets are competing with the economic disruptions caused by Covid, which would then cause economic destruction.


  • Other countries will eventually face similar debt challenges as credit markets begin to dry up and refinancing capacity becomes difficult.


  • The Crucial ingredient-foreign direct investment (FDI) has plummeted and is expected to continue its decrease, with recovery not expected to begin until 2021.


  • The negative caused by Covid to hotels and restaurants have had prices of agricultural commodities drop by 20%.


  • The covid measure has impacted the number of available inspectors and delivery staff the are crucial to ensuring verification and the transportation of products.


Hospitality/Travel/Tourism

  • Workers are facing hardships and job losses in this sector.


  • Hotel occupancy public transportation has decreased.


  • Hotels have had to adapt to Covid, with some hotels closing or having temporary suspensions.


  • Travel and tourism companies and organizations have had to adapt to Covid guidelines.


  • Governments have implemented travel measures to help stop the spreading of Covid, with some countries placing bans to enter their country and banning or suspending all but essential international travel or travel as a whole.


Food

  • Panic buying and stockpiling food has created concerns.

  • High demand for food has affected online food delivery, causing it to increase.


  • Food banks have been affected by panic buying and food stockpiling and donations have been reduced.


  • Food shortages may cause vulnerable populations the inability to find food.


  • Stores have made different changes. Some include restricting the amount of each product a person can buy and having set special hours for different groups (seniors, vulnerable populations)


  • Many restaurants, stores, and cafes have been forced to close, are at risk, or have adapted their services for Covid guidelines.


  • Governments worked to get food supplies by increasing domestic production, diversifying food supplies to other countries, and securing agricultural labor.


  • Demand for seeds, chickens and hydroponic and other equipment for vertical and indoor farming increased.


People

  • The pandemic has made it clear that older citizens, who are high at risk, are needed in the workforce, society, families, and communities.


  • New ways to improve elderly care may be in effect in the future, with the utilization of technology and increased biosecurity.


  • People have increased trust in scientists, medical experts, and civil servants.


  • The current declining trust in leaders could impact the beliefs of Gen Z in the future, potentially decreasing their confidence in political institutions, leaders, and their government’s health care policies.


  • Been more negatively impacted, workers placed on a temporary, unpaid leave of absence, have had their work adapt to Covid guidelines, or have moved their jobs online.


  • People have had difficulties with paying rent, mortgages, and other household spending needs.


  • People have been more exposed to domestic abuse.


  • Immigration restrictions implemented, which may cause migrant labor dependent countries to lose a source of labor and entrepreneurship that is brought by recent immigrants.


  • In the future, public health and disease surveillance in cities will be extremely important.


  • In the future, there may be more options for working remotely.


Education

  • UNESCO estimated about 900 million learners affected by school and educational institution closures.


  • Over 100 countries applied nationwide closure of educational facilities.


  • Some policies range from total closure to targeted closure, with some policies excluding children of essential industry workers.


  • Many schools and universities worldwide switched to online learning.


  • There has been a hybrid model, which may allow both in-person education and online learning.


  • Important factors are being brought up, such as the shortfall of administrative and marketing support, an absence of understanding online learning by staff, and the perception of online degrees.


  • Some students have had trouble accessing technology and have been more negatively impacted than others.


  • The pandemic may cause schools to reconsider their tuition rates.


Events and Gatherings

  • Many hotels, restaurants, and religious places have had to close or make adjustments to fit Covid guidelines.


  • The pandemic caused social distancing with friends and family.


  • Many disruptions of cultural, religious, and festive events.


  • Places of entertainment like movies and play theatres, sports clubs, and gyms were forced to close.


  • The number of players online has increased due to Covid.


  • Popular events for gaming have been canceled or rescheduled.


  • Some events include the E3 2020 and other popular Esport leaguers.


  • Many sports events and tournaments are canceled or postponed.


  • Some sporting events include the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Euro 2020, the Australia Formula, and the One Grand Prix.


  • Pandemic will cause the sports industry financial burden.


Healthcare

  • Unknown challenges in diagnosis, quarantine, and treatment of suspected or confirmed cases.


  • High burden of the functioning of the existing medical system.


  • Patients with other diseases and health problems are getting neglected.


  • Overloading of medical shops.


  • The requirement for high protection.


  • Disruption with the medical supply chain.


  • Doctors and other healthcare professionals are overloaded and at a high risk of infection.


  • Strategies to help healthcare workers include the early deployment of vial testing for asymptomatic and/or frontline healthcare staff is extremely important.


  • Some hospitals have reached maximum capacity while having many people to care for high healthcare costs, a shortage of protected equipment including N95 masks, and low numbers of ICU beds and ventilators have exposed weaknesses in the delivery of patient care.


Pharmaceuticals

  • Healthcare changes will lead to enormous investments in the disease prevention framework.


  • The digital transformation of healthcare delivery has quickened.


  • Opportunities for companies engaged in vaccine and drug development.

  • Companies and academic institutions have plans to develop a viral vaccine.


Technology/Engineering

  • Automation replacing labor has increased during the pandemic.


  • Robots have been used in delivering services, disinfecting the public and helping healthcare workers with the prevention of Covid, and stocking shelves.


  • Ground and aerial robots have provided thermal imagery to identify infected citizens, enforcing social distancing measures, and broadcasting public service messages.


  • The incorporation of robots in hospital operations and developments helped in providing more effective testing and patient care.


  • AI is used with digital assistance and recognizing virus patterns for early Covid detection.


  • Biotechnology for the covid response, providing fast progress and new approaches in diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine developments.


  • Convergent technologies like AI and cloud computing have also progressed in biotechnology.


  • In the future, AI may be trained in understanding past crisis events to predict future human behavior.


Misinformation

  • Time spent on social media and exposure to false news and misinformation increased.

  • Since the beginning of Covid, disinformation, and misinformation related to Covid dramatically increased.


  • WHO described this as the “infodemic”.


  • States, civil society, multilateral organizations, and private industry have been struggling with the pandemic, so false information is likely to continue despite covid.

Research Coordinator - Jezreel Gaad

Editor - Priyam Kusundal

Graphics - Jhem Picache









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