In the year 2020, the pandemic shocked the world. As it spread from country to country, more and more places were forced to shut down, temporarily or permanently, and people were forced back into their homes by the new disease sweeping across the world.
Even if we lost a lot due to the pandemic, I think there are some things we can learn from it.
The most remarkable thing we can learn from the COVID pandemic is that we took safety for granted while we had it. We were so preoccupied with what we had that we forgot that even something as simple as an outbreak of disease could send us back into our homes. In the future, we should keep a lesson like this in mind- never take our safety for granted, especially after the effects of the pandemic subside. We can return to our everyday lives, hopefully having learned things in the process.
I think we should educate people better, especially on health and safety. Recovering from this pandemic was made harder due to certain people who didn’t properly understand how diseases (and masks work. I think educating future generations better when it comes to health will be very helpful in the future when something like this happens again.
And while I’m still on the topic of health, I think we should turn our attention to essential workers like doctors, surgeons, and even service workers. After all, they put themselves at risk to treat those who were sick and keep services running even during a pandemic, so I think they should be paid fairly. For example, places like fast food, despite being massive, multimillion (even multi-billion) dollar companies still don’t pay their workers enough despite making them work throughout a pandemic. And doctors? Doctors were perhaps the most at-risk, the ‘frontliners’ having to come close to and treat those suffering from COVID; even more so in rural areas where access to proper medical equipment is sparse.
Physical health isn’t the only aspect of this either. Personally, in 2021, my mental health took a severe decline due to the isolation of being stuck in my home for nearly a whole year. So much so that I had to see a mental health professional- and while recovering has been challenging, I am starting to get better thanks to them. Mental health specialists are essential, too, and shouldn't be neglected or overlooked.
Overall, I think the essential workers of the pandemic should be treated better in the future- such as by offering better pay or improving their working conditions.
Although I noticed something else- at the beginning of this pandemic, there were certain people who ‘panic-bought’ and hoard essential hygienic supplies like alcohol. The Pandemic made it hard to come by for others and potentially put others in danger through their lack of consideration for each other. While their behavior is understandable, hoarding essential supplies for themselves was irresponsible and inconsiderate. I think we should learn to be more considerate of others in the future and make decisions that benefit others and not just themselves.
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