Going Back to Normal?
February 12, 2021 | By
Nearly twelve months from when the COVID-19 Pandemic first began, going back to a pre-pandemic life seems unlikely. And with new strains starting to take their effect, the idea of normalcy seems further and further away. However, the question that remains is: are there effective methods that can be continued to be used or put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the new variants?
The short answer is yes, that there are many positives that as a society we can continue to use to cause both a decrease in the number of cases and deaths. Masks are a great start, as they both protect the individual wearing the mask, and any other people that individual comes into contact with. And along with masks, to help decrease contact time and exposure, another method that needs to be continued is trying to maintain social distancing. In the last year, both of these methods have proved very effective when properly executed - and that’s the issue. Because these methods only prove effective when used properly by everyone, if even a small percentage of the population do not actively participate, then this causes an unnecessary increase in both cases and deaths. Not only will it cause an unnecessary increase, but it will also put those actively following mask wearing and social distancing at risk. This is why as we near twelve months into the global crisis, it is still more important than ever to continue wearing masks and keeping social distance.
One possible other method that was utilized during the beginning stages of the pandemic was a mandated shutdown. As proven, this was by far the most effective method, as people were able to stay home and not come into contact with many others, which drastically reduced the spread of COVID-19. With the major drops in case numbers and deaths, the shutdown did prove very effective, but at what cost? Having a mandated shutdown wreaks havoc on jobs, businesses, and the economy in general. In order to decide whether or not another shutdown is a possible option, it is important to ask if the benefits outweigh the costs. This mostly depends on the situation for each individual family (ie are they paycheck to paycheck or have savings to live off of).
All three methods do prove effective though, and for the most part mask wearing and social distancing, when used effectively do not need to be accompanied with shutdowns. By actively following government guidelines such as mask wearing and social distancing, a return to normalcy will happen not only quicker, but with less cases and deaths.
