How does a post Covid-19 world look?

[Tourershine]

I thought it would be interesting to see peoples opinions on how this planet will look once we are in a position to claim the current Corona-Virus (Covid-19) is behind us. These types of threads can be really interesting to read through in the years to come, just to see how accurate our predictions were as the general public and not scientists, leaders or fact distorting journalists, just real people.

For me, i've spent weeks, and now coming up to months glued to the news channels and websites, which might not be the best thing to do during a crisis, but that's me. There has been big chatter about how we come out of this predicament, and I guess no one will know exactly until after, so every hypothesis we read or debate is exactly that for the time being.
One thing i've learnt is not to take anything for granted. Things we never thought would be implicated in a modern world are now just a daily reality. Who'd of thought that a developed country like Britain would have it's liberty removed pretty much over night, and the vast majority of the county to respect that, and uphold these new rules, even embrace them as the current new order. But, where next?

Are we looking at the new future, or will everything just slot back to how it was? Is it realistic to imagine that this will be the whack in the ass the world needed to finally take things far more seriously, or is that just the current thought simply because it physically feels, and visually looks better to all of us. It's been said that the sky has never been this Blue and the air hasn't been this clean for decades, shown that the oceans have never been this calm in the modern world, albeit with an underlying hue of what we've done. Does wildlife look far more prevalent, or is it just because we didn't have the time to notice it before.

All amazing side effects of the current order, but my thought is it will just drop back to how it was sadly. I don't think it's realistic to think all of this can be sustainable, and I hate to admit that. We are not yet in a position to scrap all the smoke bellowing old busses, cars and vans on the roads and swap to far cleaner vehicles. Judging by how glitchy and slow connections have been on almost all the interviews i've watched on the BBC news that are done remotely, our broadband isn't ready for a mass switch to working from home. Reading how desperate consumers are to get to any shop that is aloud to open, even if that means potentially risking their lives in some circumstances, we are not in a position to side step a certain counties cheap plastic crap and start to produce things ourselves.

I could be wrong of course. We might of learnt hard lessons. Governments might be far more prepared next time, and there will be a next time. People might even be more considerate of each other. Only time will tell and all this is just hypothesizing, but an interesting topic.

 

[Ads_Essex]

I think your penultimate paragraph hits the nail on the head; generally things will go back to how they were (albeit with higher unemployment) because no one is ready to change.

There’ll be some changes though, I reckon.
The office workers who feel cooped up will initially enjoy going back in to the cities to see their work mates, but soon realise that the 3 hour round commute isn’t that fun, and they’ll work from home more. Firms, too, will have seen that WFH can save them an awful lot of money on building costs.
But on pollution / looking out for neighbours / respecting the NHS and other frontline workers... no. That’ll go by the wayside.

I hope I’m wrong, but that’s what modern-day Brits are like. Impatient, entitled and quick to forget.

 

[Pete C]

The thing that will shape how we return to a new normal will be the continued existence of Covid-19. Most of us don’t appear to have had it, so we are still vulnerable to catching it. This means social distancing will still be needed, until a vaccine is available.
This will be a challenge for air travel, public transport, restaurants, pubs, most shops etc. These services still need to make money with less customers, so I expect prices to rise. We also have to pay back the massive debt that the government is incurring, so taxes will rise.
I do expect more working from home as people now know they can do it successfully.

Pete

 

[Ads_Essex]

The thing that will shape how we return to a new normal will be the continued existence of Covid-19.
Most of us don’t appear to have had it, so we are still vulnerable to catching it. This means social distancing will still be needed, until a vaccine is available.
This will be a challenge for air travel, public transport, restaurants, pubs, most shops etc. These services still need to make money with less customers, so I expect prices to rise.
We also have to pay back the massive debt that the government is incurring, so taxes will rise.
I do expect more working from home as people now know they can do it successfully.

Pete

Sorry - I was talking about post post-Covid. Once it’s been officially ‘controlled’.

You’re right - there’ll be a really odd time in between it, and that’ll be something we’ll all have to adapt to, like it or not.

 

[Skyliner33]

Interesting post.
in my opinion it will take many years, if ever until things go back to exactly the same as pre-virus. I would include things like air travel in this. However day to day things might be a lot faster, maybe too fast.
I would like to think that people and governments will try to look after the world more, for example electric cars. We are already behind places like China, where in areas there are already roads that will recharge cars as they drive. But I also believe that the economic impact of the current situation could prevent things like this happening as fast.

i have a real fear for a lot of our pubs as they were already struggling and I think it may be a long time before people are willing to put themselves in places like this by then it could be too late.

my belief is in some ways our lives will never be the same again. How different depends on factors still not known. For example will you be immune if you have recovered from the virus, permanently or short term? Will a vaccination be developed? If the answer to these is only for a short time and no then the future may be very different.

 

[Bryn23]

It will be a little different, the debt around the world will never be paid back, all the countries around the world are using money they don't have nor can realistically pay back within our generation

I also see the EU as we know it folding, the debt loaded smaller economies will cause huge issues.

Will be we a positive move to dealing with the climate issue.... i doubt it, governments will only care about trying to pay back debt instead of using this as a platform.

 

[Tourershine]

This thread is more about how we think things will look once the current Covid-19 is classed as over. Although I do see the Corona virus rearing it's head again in our generation, unless we tackle/monitor the actual source according to a very interesting 25 min documentary on Netflix called Coronavirus Explained.

I think things will change, but it will be the sort of things we don't see every day. There will be a huge worldwide investigation in the coming months and years, because countries will want someone to blame for this along with how each country dealt with the spread initially, and to try and prevent it from going global again. I'm hoping more emphasis will be concentrated on stemming any outbreaks much faster in the future and one potential good outcome for future generations is far more knowledge from our current suffering.

 

[Lukavell]

Great idea for a thread!

We do a lot of travel in my game, a lot of which is not really necessary, as such we've had to adapt and use video conferencing which works just as well. It's cheaper and easier so I hope it will be maintained where it is appropriate.

My brother works for the local council and reckons that since all the staff who could, were told to work from home, productivity has risen considerably. I hope this will continue for those that can. The knock on to this could be less cars on the road with commuters which can only be a good thing. However, only time will tell.

 

[.50]

I thought it would be interesting to see peoples opinions on how this planet will look once we are in a position to claim the current Corona-Virus (Covid-19) is behind us. These types of threads can be really interesting to read through in the years to come, just to see how accurate our predictions were as the general public and not scientists, leaders or fact distorting journalists, just real people.

For me, i've spent weeks, and now coming up to months glued to the news channels and websites, which might not be the best thing to do during a crisis, but that's me. There has been big chatter about how we come out of this predicament, and I guess no one will know exactly until after, so every hypothesis we read or debate is exactly that for the time being.
One thing i've learnt is not to take anything for granted. Things we never thought would be implicated in a modern world are now just a daily reality. Who'd of thought that a developed country like Britain would have it's liberty removed pretty much over night, and the vast majority of the county to respect that, and uphold these new rules, even embrace them as the current new order. But, where next?

Are we looking at the new future, or will everything just slot back to how it was? Is it realistic to imagine that this will be the whack in the ass the world needed to finally take things far more seriously, or is that just the current thought simply because it physically feels, and visually looks better to all of us. It's been said that the sky has never been this Blue and the air hasn't been this clean for decades, shown that the oceans have never been this calm in the modern world, albeit with an underlying hue of what we've done. Does wildlife looks far more prevalent, or is it just because we didn't have the time to notice it before.

All amazing side effects of the current order, but my thought is it will just drop back to how it was sadly. I don't think it's realistic to think all of this can be sustainable, and I hate to admit that. We are not yet in a position to scrap all the smoke bellowing old busses, cars and vans on the roads and swap to far cleaner vehicles. Judging by how glitchy and slow connections have been on almost all the interviews i've watched on the BBC news that are done remotely, our broadband isn't ready for a mass switch to working from home. Reading how desperate consumers are to get to any shop that is aloud to open, even if that means potentially risking their lives in some circumstances, we are not in a position to side step a certain counties cheap plastic crap and start to produce things ourselves.

I could be wrong of course. We might of learnt hard lessons. Governments might be far more prepared next time, and there will be a next time. People might even be more considerate of each other. Only time will tell and all this is just hypothesizing, but an interesting topic.

A very balanced read there.

Humans are a revolting species.
We find it impossible to live in harmony with each other and our environment.
Throughout our evolution and social development we have either been killing each other or destroying the planet.
I would love to give my honest opinion of how I see this current situation, but unfortunately, the truth about the majority that are affected is so unpalletable, that neither I or the wider media will dare to discuss the reasons.

We have completely backed ourselves into a corner with lockdown, and the pain caused by it and the virus will pale very quickly once we've had a few years of mass unemployment, limited movement and a stagnant economy.

9 million people die each year of malnutrition and related disease.Thats 24,500 a day!!!.

1.9 BILLION people worldwide are overweight with 650 MILLION being classed obese.

2.8 MILLION die each year of Obesity which is completely PREVENTABLE but I somehow cant see us being told to stay inside and the global economy being trashed until we get this figure under control.

Everyone is now looking to a vaccine to get us out of this mess, when the reality is that we need to maintain good health and be realistic about our lifespan.

Those in our society with unavoidable heath problems who would be severely impacted by CV 19 need to sheilded and supported and this is always easier with a healthy economy and the taxation it brings.

Lockdown has been overcooked now.
I have been working throughout the whole thing, and yesterday I would say there was 10 times the amount of traffic on the roads than a month ago and this is evidence that people feel they have been shut up for long enough.
I hope I haven't offended anyone with this post, and my opinion is always fluid and open to be changed by reasoned debate

 

[Tourershine]

Great idea for a thread!

We do a lot of travel in my game, a lot of which is not really necessary, as such we've had to adapt and use video conferencing which works just as well. It's cheaper and easier so I hope it will be maintained where it is appropriate.

My brother works for the local council and reckons that since all the staff who could, were told to work from home, productivity has risen considerably. I hope this will continue for those that can. The knock on to this could be less cars on the road with commuters which can only be a good thing. However, only time will tell.

Interesting. I don't actually know anyone personally that has moved to working from home, so it's good to hear direct experience.
My 14 year old has had to school from home and that has not proven to be a success. She's easily distracted and needs things like her phone for certain tasks, so you can imagine how tough it is for a 14 year old girl to concentrate. Her schooling has been adequate, but not great considering I have to pay for her education, which hasn't been reduced due to not being at actual school. My 18 year old is has just finished her A level work all ready to go to Manchester University in September. Will that even happen??? She is at that road in life where she wants to fly the nest. We've already got her accommodation in Manchester paid for and secured, but September isn't that far away.

I think if it's an obvious choice for many companies, they might start to move people to working from home. Higher productivity, much lower costs, and the fact they can boast a smaller carbon footprint is always good for business.

 

[Tourershine]

A very balanced read there.

Humans are a revolting species.
We find it impossible to live in harmony with each other and our environment.
Throughout our evolution and social development we have either been killing each other or destroying the planet.
I would love to give my honest opinion of how I see this current situation, but unfortunately, the truth about the majority that are affected is so unpalletable, that neither I or the wider media will dare to discuss the reasons.

We have completely backed ourselves into a corner with lockdown, and the pain caused by it and the virus will pale very quickly once we've had a few years of mass unemployment, limited movement and a stagnant economy.

9 million people die each year of malnutrition and related disease.Thats 24,500 a day!!!.

1.9 BILLION people worldwide are overweight with 650 MILLION being classed obese.

2.8 MILLION die each year of Obesity which is completely PREVENTABLE but I somehow cant see us being told to stay inside and the global economy being trashed until we get this figure under control.

Everyone is now looking to a vaccine to get us out of this mess, when the reality is that we need to maintain good health and be realistic about our lifespan.

Those in our society with unavoidable heath problems who would be severely impacted by CV 19 need to sheilded and supported and this is always easier with a healthy economy and the taxation it brings.

Lockdown has been overcooked now.
I have been working throughout the whole thing, and yesterday I would say there was 10 times the amount of traffic on the roads than a month ago and this is evidence that people feel they have been shut up for long enough.
I hope I haven't offended anyone with this post, and my opinion is always fluid and open to be changed by reasoned debate

Nothing offensive there, only what people are really thinking without the sugar coating.

 

[Lukavell]

Interesting. I don't actually know anyone personally that has moved to working from home, so it's good to hear direct experience.
My 14 year old has had to school from home and that has not proven to be a success. She's easily distracted and needs things like her phone for certain tasks, so you can imagine how tough it is for a 14 year old girl to concentrate. Her schooling has been adequate, but not great considering I have to pay for her education, which hasn't been reduced due to not being at actual school. My 18 year old is has just finished her A level work all ready to go to Manchester University in September. Will that even happen??? She is at that road in life where she wants to fly the nest. We've already got her accommodation in Manchester paid for and secured, but September isn't that far away.

I think if it's an obvious choice for many companies, they might start to move people to working from home. Higher productivity, much lower costs, and the fact they can boast a smaller carbon footprint is always good for business.

Yeah, I think it's a no brainer if your company can do it and really hope it sticks.

I'm with you on the schooling. My wife is a primary school teacher and my eldest is in year 6 but despite being lucky (or unlucky if you ask them!) enough to have a teacher for a mother it is more difficult than in a normal class because of the age range of our children 5, 9 & 11. Also, teaching at home is different game without the structure available in a classroom, especially with the restrictions on movement so we can't go out for the day. I also hope that teachers will be given a bit more credit for what they do due to parents trying to emulate what a teacher does day to day and realising how much work goes in behind the scenes.

 

[Tourershine]

I also hope that teachers will be given a bit more credit for what they do due to parents trying to emulate what a teacher does day to day and realising how much work goes in behind the scenes.

Same goes for many other undervalued jobs that have been lifelines in our time of need.

 

[Lukavell]

Same goes for many other undervalued jobs that have been lifelines in our time of need.

Exactly that. So many unsung heroes which society has just learned to take for granted.

 

[Skyliner33]

Exactly that. So many unsung heroes which society has just learned to take for granted.

Exactly, but unfortunately as soon as we get to anything like normality the self centeredness of the majority of people in the uk will return and everything will be taken fir granted again.

 

[dubber36]

I've seen a lot of 'key workers' lording it around full of their own self importance. Delivery drivers, truck drivers, BT engineers... A few of them are just doing what they normally do day to day, and at no greater risk, but have an air of superiority about them.

 

[Tourershine]

I've seen a lot of 'key workers' lording it around full of their own self importance. Delivery drivers, truck drivers, BT engineers... A few of them are just doing what they normally do day to day, and at no greater risk, but have an air of superiority about them.

Just so I can understand what you mean, can you elaborate on that? It's not something i've noticed personally, but then i've not really seen many key workers for the last 6 weeks, and live in a quiet close that has no passing traffic or people.

 

[Skyliner33]

Just so I can understand what you mean, can you elaborate on that? It's not something i've noticed personally, but then i've not really seen many key workers for the last 6 weeks, and live in a quiet close that has no passing traffic or people.

Im glad you asked, because I did wonder the point of this. As a key worker I have been driving at (not so) rush hour but not noticed anything, unless I didn't notice because of my air of superiority and self importance.

 

[dubber36]

I said a few of them. Maybe it's because we now have the phrase 'key worker'. You always get a few bad apples and there are some that I have come across that seem to be using the situation and their new title to brag about what a life saving hero they are.

Out here in rural Shropshire, apart from the way we work, shop and not going to the pub, nothing has really changed. A handful of people have caught the bug, but it's gone no further due to most people being sensible. There are obviously higher risks where there are more people, but round here, where we are few and far between, we get certain people talking as if they've found the cure. No fella, you've just lobbed a parcel from Next in the direction of my porch.

 

[Lord Mfwic]

Im glad you asked, because I did wonder the point of this. As a key worker I have been driving at (not so) rush hour but not noticed anything, unless I didn't notice because of my air of superiority and self importance.

I'm also a key worker. The roads are a pleasure to drive on as virtually no traffic.

However, I "Lord it" everywhere I go, lockdown or not.