The spread and eventual resolution of the Covid-19 Pandemic taught the world some very important lessons about public health and safety. Namely, it taught the world that no matter how prepared you think you are, there are some things you won’t be ready for. It also taught the world a great deal about what public safety measures are useful. It’s important to consider which if any of those measures are worth keeping in the post-Covid-19 world.
Sanitary Measures
The front line of any pandemic is in streets and homes across the world. Basic sanitary precautions, from face masks to acrylic sneeze guards, were the shields and fortresses of that battle. While it likely isn’t sustainable to make face masks a permanent accessory for everyone, it is probably a good idea to make it socially acceptable and even expected to wear a mask whenever you are feeling unwell, or if you’re in a situation where you are likely to be exposed to unusual germs, like when you’re flying on an airplane.
From Home Options
Another potentially great addition to our everyday lives is the proliferation of from-home options for everything from doctor’s visits to work to school. While these from-home options are not always necessary, they are potentially very useful. Work-from-home makes full-time employment more accessible to the disabled and reduces the strain on public infrastructure that is created when everyone has to commute on a daily basis.
Essential and Front-Line Workers
Speaking of work, if there’s one thing we should learn from the last pandemic, it’s the importance of front-line essential workers. The highest-paid people in our society are far from being the most important. Grocery store workers, nurses, and sanitation workers bore the brunt of the pandemic, and they deserve better pay and safer working conditions.
Vaccinations
As a final note, the importance of vaccine development and distribution cannot be underestimated. While we likely cannot expect this level of mobilization for the flu vaccine every year, we should nonetheless ramp up production and distribution efforts for more than just pandemic vaccines. Building trust in vaccinations and building better infrastructure for distribution is essential.
No one can afford to assume that the Covid-19 pandemic will be the last. Given the rate at which potential pandemics have been cropping up around the world, it’s likely that this won’t be the last pandemic you see; but with just a few basic safety measures, we can ensure that the next one will be less devastating.
