Nov 24, 2022
The Burdens From COVID Years
Scars left behind
Just a few days ago I had to visit my local hospital. As I entered, I was shocked to see that hardly anyone was wearing their masks. Yes government instructions have changed for a while now, but people were still doing their precautionary measures and in hospitals particularly you could still see patients with masks on, aiming to protect themselves and others.
It was delightful to finally see the smiling faces behind the masks but I can not hide the fact that something inside me felt uncomfortable.
Covid years have left some visible problems in the form of major disruptions and backlogs in health care and worst inflation in decades.
“A large portion of what we are experiencing in inflation is due to the deflation which we saw in 2020 during the Covid shutdowns,” says Mike Windle, CEO at Custom Wealth Solutions in Plymouth, Michigan. “As prices work to normalize, it is causing inflationary pressure. Add to that the pent-up demand caused by the Covid lockdowns; we are seeing prices rise quickly.”
But what I fear most are the lasting social impacts Covid has left upon us
It was not only an exceptional public health emergency, but also a challenge our society and our economy had never seen in peacetime, from adults to children every one carries some sort of load from past Covid years.
Covid induced learning gap in early years
Children who started school in autumn 2020 spent the beginning of their academic year, interacting much less than normal with teachers, friends and family. This has left lasting impact on their physical and mental development.
According to www.bbc.co.uk
Data from 50,000 pupils and a survey of schools across England have shown an increased number of four- and five-year-olds needing help with language.
Evidence shows poor speech development can have long-term effects on learning.
The two extremes, children and the elderly are believed to be carrying along most lasting social impacts of Covid.
The lockdown was for every one but digital communication did help most population interact socially. . The digital divide in the elderly population had increased negative effects during Covid.
Elderly population shadowed by effects of Covid
The age based digital divide describes a longstanding inequality in the access to, and skills to make use of, new technology. While this problem is not new, during the COVID-19 pandemic it has created a large portion of the population suffering from the negative effects of the crisis, and unable to make use of many of the digital measures put in place to help ()
Loneliness, separation, and sadness have been shown to predict worse disease outcomes in older populations
The sad part is that it was not just during the Covid years that this affected lives of elderly. Even now I see the aged being very carful while going out or letting people in their homes, most of them still feel anxious in doing things that were normal before 2020 .
Elderly and those with pre-existing chronic diseases are at the highest risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, and, hence, the fear and anxiety levels are the highest.
No doubt we are still carrying the weight from Covid years ,young or old Covid has had an ever lasting impact on our thoughts and this can not be denied .
“And I’m here to say that time does heal things up — -all things, I reckon; but some things…Some things leave behind dreadful ugly scars.”
― Allie Ray, Holler
