In thinking of how to begin this article, I may have accidentally tired myself out. The mental list of effects Covid-19 has had on our society, as a whole and as individuals, is tremendous. Endless. It’s hard to think that this global pandemic is arguably one of my generation’s harshest wake up calls, and yet a lot of us are still sleeping.
Unified yet utterly divided in a fight against a common and unseen enemy, this pandemic has offered a great number of first-world civilians, front row seats to witness the fruit of successful leadership in several countries such as New Zealand and Germany, alongside the pitfalls of a multitude of others, including the United States, France, and India.
How ignoring, downplaying, and denying Covid-19’s existence was ever a contemplated solution, will forever be a school of thought I don’t subscribe to, nor graduate from. Perhaps this isn’t as common a phrase in every household as I thought, but after insurmountable suffering always comes great relief.
With that being said, the patterns of both stabilized and turbulent nations are evidence in itself that stricter guidelines and policies are necessary at the beginning, and when followed responsibly, its intensity can swiftly be alleviated. As easy as it sounds, the efforts should not stop there, as innumerable countries across Europe are seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases after successfully slowing down outbreaks early in the year.
Take Paris for example, after a summer of relaxed lockdown laws, alongside total of 957,000 cases and 34,048 deaths, the Parisian authorities have finally reconsidered their constituents’ after dark freedoms. Reeling in a strict curfew as the virus rears its ugly head in a massive second wave, the mesmerizing City of Lights has never looked more barren. With an out-of-shape tourism industry, and locals cooped up at home, the streets of Paris are eerily silent – proving once again that these newfound safety regulations are anything but temporary and unessential.