What started as a lockdown for three weeks on March 25, went into four extensions, changing our world like never before. We will soon enter Unlock 1.0 from June 8 even as the pandemic needs to be brought under control in Pune and Mumbai.
As of today, the collateral damage from Covid-19 has been colossal and the after-shocks will be felt month after month. Businesses across sectors have been hit hard with the worst-affected being the hotel, tourism and the hospitality industry. Schools are yet to re-open and while school and college education is rapidly moving to the digital platform, the poor will continue to suffer with no access to either computer or internet. Struggling with job losses and a livelihood crisis, education for their children is going to an added challenge.
Migrant labourers are still struggling to reach home from various parts of the country and clearly, they are not going to return any time soon even if the lockdown is lifted. Industrial productivity for at least two quarters is therefore going to be affected, and consequently, employment.
While these are the mega challenges before the government calling for major policy interventions, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to take four basic precautions: wear a mask in public places, use the sanitiser and handwash frequently, maintain social distance and avoid crowded places. It has forced us to adopt better hygiene and sanitation…at least for now. In the containment clusters, the Pune municipal corporation has been cleaning public toilets thrice a day, and hopefully, all public toilets will be better maintained in the future.
{{/usCountry}}While these are the mega challenges before the government calling for major policy interventions, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to take four basic precautions: wear a mask in public places, use the sanitiser and handwash frequently, maintain social distance and avoid crowded places. It has forced us to adopt better hygiene and sanitation…at least for now. In the containment clusters, the Pune municipal corporation has been cleaning public toilets thrice a day, and hopefully, all public toilets will be better maintained in the future.
{{/usCountry}}The pandemic has forced us to go digital faster than we expected. It has encouraged us to pay greater attention to our health with immunity-boosting diets and a dose of daily exercise.
Coping with the future in a post-Covid-19 situation would mean work-from-home becoming routine, requiring us to work efficiently from home and re-orienting ourselves, digitally and otherwise. Offices, restaurants and public spaces will need to be re-structured to ensure social distancing.
It’s not going to the same again, at least for the next year or two, till a vaccine becomes a proven prophylactic against the disease. Who would have thought that we would be fast-forwarded into the future within a matter of weeks?