The world is being reshaped by the coronavirus outbreak. While we are all hoping the end is in sight, we are all aware that there are things that may never quite be the same again. Let’s take a look at how COVID-19 may redesign our lives and our world.

The workplace

The workplace is one of the biggest things that has changed since the onset of the pandemic. In almost every country, those who are able to work from home have been asked to do so. This has been a significant shift in the workplace culture. No longer are there meetings and presentations in boardrooms, people huddled over the coffee machine bouncing ideas off one another and popping by someone’s desk to hand them a document. Even in workplaces where there is still staff working on the premises, this is no longer allowed, making employees work a lot more individually. Meetings are now all held on Zoom or Microsoft Teams, work information is accessed through the cloud and workflow management platforms and people are making home offices in their bedrooms or their kitchen table.

Education

Much like the workplace, a lot of education has moved online. Children are taking part in online lessons and working remotely, with very few children receiving face to face education. This, of course, has meant that children have been kept safe from the virus. However, it has also shown a huge disparity in the education that children receive and how they are able to access their learning materials. Some children have been able to do college prep high school online, and this has helped them to keep up with their education and shows that actually, a very high standard of education can still be provided, even if it is not through face to face teaching.

Social lives

Nights out at restaurants, pubs and clubs have been halted for the best part of a year. We are all hoping that at some point, we will all be able to socialise face to face, but for now, Zoom calls and quizzes and meals at home are the way forward. While it is not the same as being able to hug and talk to your friends in person, it has shown us that it is possible to socialiize with someone the other side of the world and that sometimes, a bit of creativity and imagination is all that is needed.

 Healthcare

Healthcare has been at the very forefront of the pandemic. In countries where there is no universal healthcare, the pandemic has shown up the inequality that is offered during illness. It has also shown that in countries where healthcare is universal, there are significant funding issues and that it does not take much for a healthcare system to be crippled.

We do not know when things will go back to normal or indeed if they will ever go back to the normalit that we knew before the pandemic happened. What it has shown is some of the significant issues in society – but also new ways of doing things.