COVID-19 Quo Vadis?

 (Originally published in LinkedIn on March 29, 2020) 

#Covid19 

I am writing this from home as I get used to life within four walls. Occasionally, I pull myself, to go out for a walk or a run to keep myself sane. Life has changed dramatically, with "Social distancing" as the only possible cure for COVID -19, the novel Corona virus. Social distancing to "Flatten the curve" is not new and was the method that worked during the 1918 Spanish flu (Spain had nothing to do with this pandemic and have been stigmatised unfortunately). Is this change in our personal and social life temporary or permanent? Is this just the beginning of the change, this pandemic is introducing in our life, threatening to make it more lasting. In his much acclaimed book "Homo Deus", Yuval Noah Harari writes "Over the past century, humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague and war. Today, more people die from obesity than from starvation; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed in war. We are the only species in earth’s long history that has single-handedly changed the entire planet, and we no longer expect any higher being to shape our destinies for us." Now the Corona virus threatens that claim and change the way we live in the foreseeable future. To imagine, Corona virus could impact the way we live in 2020, would have been irreverence to humankind, especially with the advancement in Science and Technology. Our priorities as a humankind has been lately into exploring frontiers such as Space tourism, Life in Mars, Artificial Intelligence replacing human workforce, Human immortality etc. But in reality, we as a world, have been left to fight the novel corona virus which is trying to overpower humankind in such a dramatic way. What is all the more surprising is that, none saw it coming, or didn't prepare for a pandemic of such scale. Into 2020, we are beginning to see how this pandemic has started playing havoc in our life, affecting, economy, politics, religions, societies, countries and mankind as a whole. The year has just begun and will be remembered as the "Year of the Virus". We are uncertain how long this pandemic will last but certain that humankind will eventually overcome this demonic pandemic as we have in the past of major calamities, such as plagues and world wars. 100 years after the outbreak of Spanish flu pandemic that killed understandably 50 million lives, we see the similarities even today, in spite of the advancement in Medicine, Science and Technology. What is life going to be after Corona virus? 1. Nations are federated in their action and combating Corona virus outbreak independently. We do not see much needed coordinated efforts by nations, in spite of having well-functioning international organisations, WHO, and G-8 , G-20 around. Lessons learnt from this outbreak could bring in new efforts of cooperation among nations, especially on sharing information, healthcare, logistics and partnership in fighting global pandemics in the future, similar to the way nations fought world wars in the past. 2. We see pandemic preparedness for such a scale has not been foreseen, conceived or planned for by Countries. A Command and Control approach to such pandemic has been shown by very few countries, that had better monitoring control over citizens' social behaviour and this has proved to be successful. Nations would like to enforce better monitoring control over their citizens social behaviour. This could usher in a valid case for citizens' monitoring through devices such as Cell phones, Facial recognition etc. 3. Healthcare workers, the present heroes will see a better recognition in the Society. There could be a surge in the people taking up healthcare as a profession. Pharmaceuticals and Research could see an increased spend in combating such "zero-day virus." Governments could get an improved oversight on medical research especially on vaccines research to have better control over drugs and vaccines during pandemics. Governments could get a better control over Medical professionals, Healthcare infrastructure, the complete ecosystem to help in faster mobilisation in such scenarios. 4. Military commands will see the need for concerted efforts to improve their Pandemic, Biological warfare capabilities in the lines of Nuclear war preparedness. Corps of Engineers will improve their capabilities on building field hospitals, conversion of large facilities into temporary hospitals. Future Naval Hospital Ships will see bigger and better facilities being built in to them, to help provide succour to the patients quickly. 5. Manufacturing companies found that they were clearly unprepared for the Supply chain risk, which the Corona virus pandemic revealed. The over-dependence of supply chains to certain Geographies impacted many such Manufacturing companies. Supply chains have also been under stress due to blockades in ports and airports. Supply chain management will look to being more nimble and agile, to overcome pandemic challenges on a global scale. 6. Corona virus is going to stay longer. Some geographies could see more waves of this pandemic. Vaccines for Corona virus is a big priority for nations now. We could see return of mutated version of such epidemic in future and may not be to this scale as Nations get more resilient to fight such epidemics. 7. Hygiene is going to a big priority for nations and will be promoted and enforced with more rigor. "Cleanliness is Godliness" is not just going to remain a lesson to school children but implemented in our urban and rural infrastructure. 8. Technology companies, Financial Institutions, Retail Industries are coping with the "Stay at home" order. Companies would innovate to empower consumers, employees and other partners to work better from home or shop from home. Working from home or Remote working will be a new norm, which could even let Companies look at ways of saving infrastructure cost and improving efficiency. This could prompt even automobile companies that used conventional methods to sell, will change their outlook at selling through a more virtual method. Recently a realtor I knew posted a virtual walkthrough of the property in view of the open-house that was cancelled. I see People would use innovative ways to use this pandemic challenge as an opportunity to market, engage with their stakeholders enriching the virtual experience simulating reality. 9. I have not visited a church for the past two weeks nor attended my customary Sunday mass, as the churches have been without the faithful on guidance from the Vatican. Ironically my spiritual involvement in religious activities have only increased during these periods of confinement. I foresee that this pandemic outbreak will make people more spiritual and religious activities will see more involvement from faithful across all religions, all over the world. 10. On a lighter note, our social behaviours especially greeting each other could change with more emphasis on non-contact methods such as a bow (Japanese way), Namaste (Indian way) or just a wave. In conclusion, I am confident that humankind will come out stronger than ever before after the Corona virus pandemic, whatever the catastrophic damage it would inflict on us. Till then let us stay "alone together"! May God be with you!