Health Column
COVID-19: Where Do We Go from Here?
Zoom magnifies your face, your droopy eyelids and undereye bags… E-self-consciousness will continue to mark an increase in cosmetic surgery. By Islara Souto.
The one thing this pandemic of three years has taught us is that predictions for the course and behavior of COVID-19 are futile and perhaps foolish. However, as a public health professional and vigilant observer of the pandemic and its effects on individuals and society, I will conjure some prognostications — not based on scientific models from a super-computer.
One
As Omicron sweeps through the US, data is beginning to emerge that perhaps the Omicron variant, as well as the IHU variant found in mid-January 2022 in southern France, may actually give us some protection against the devastating Delta variant.
Two
Lockdowns will cease in the U.S., not because of “The Science” but because of politics and economics. The antagonism between Democrats and Republicans will continue, using COVID19 as the catalyst for continued disagreements.
Three
Actual deaths due to new variants should diminish. However, if the mutating virus continues to find unvaccinated victims or “Covid19 virgins” who have never had the disease (and therefore, no natural or vaccinated immunity), it will continue to have a fresh supply of opportunities to mutate into yet a stronger variant.
Four
The market forces between competing pharmaceutical companies vying for the next effective treatment and vaccine will continue to push profits ahead of people’s health and lives.
Five
“Zoom boom” will undermine the confidence of men and women, resulting in an increase in cosmetic surgeries, such as eyelid tucks (blepharosplasty). Pandemic lockdowns have had more people working from home and in front of their computer screens, often in Zoom calls. Because you can literally magnify your face while in Zoom, people notice your droopy eyelids and undereye bags, crows feet, “11” wrinkles or fat chins. This “e-self-consciousness” has resulted in a marked increase in cosmetic surgery (especially since the eyelids are one of the first things people note during a video call or while wearing a mask over noses and mouths). Cosmetic surgeons will continue to be challenged to keep up with demand.
Harvard Medical School surveyed 134 board-certified dermatologists in May 2021, and found that 56.7% had seen a rise in cosmetic consultations while in the midst of a global pandemic. In 86% of cases, patients specifically cited video conferencing as the reason for cosmetic consultation. They are now calling the phenomenon “Zoom dysmorphia.”
Pause and Cause for Optimism
Pandemic Fatigue will affect millions of people, whether they have immunity from vaccines or from acquiring the actual disease. Fed-up with the perceived infringements upon their liberties to go where they please, anytime they want, the COVID19 virus will continue to spread — although less virulently — deep into 2022.
Scientists are searching for ways to predict Covid’s next moves, looking to other pathogens and past pandemics for clues. While tracking the effects of the mutations in the variants so far, we are still watching out for new ones. Past pandemics have taught us that COVID19 will eventually evolve more predictably and become endemic (always around), like other respiratory viruses, such as the common cold and the flu, an endemic seasonal disease that has caused multiple pandemics.
Lessons learned, however, give pause and cause for optimism … but that is next month’s column.
Islara B. Souto, CLC. MPH. CEO Ydeas, Inc. Consulting for Public Health. Columnist Downtown News.
