How Covid-19 changed things for a lot of people

Covid-19 or the latest pandemic has changed the life for a lot of people around the world. It isn’t something that just happened in one or two countries, the entire world was effective by this. In March 2020 things here in Canada changed and as I am writing this in July 2022 things are still different for a lot of us.

2020

This is the year that the world seems to lock down and there was no real travel and even going grocery shopping and visiting family was such a challenge. Masks were something that we were all wearing, and the rules and restrictions changed quite often while we all tried to manage what was going on around us.

For companies, a lot of them implemented the work from home and the only people that were going into the workplace were those that had to, such as construction works, and health workers. Even a lot of family physicians started to do appointments virtually so that they didn’t have to see patients in person unless it was vital.

Schools at least here in Ontario were doing virtual learning where the students attended classes on their computer and that is how they spent the year learning. Graduations were cancelled and parents had to think of various ways to celebrate the event at home.

2021

The world started to open a bit as the number of cases started to come down only for new variants to appear, and then different countries once again locked down their borders. For us, it was a roller coaster of being able to go out, and then another restriction happened, and life changed again.

Vaccines started to be rolled out in early 2021 which was good, and a lot of people rolled up their sleeves to get it when it was their turn. Sure, there may be some side effects from the vaccine, but for me, I can handle those if it means that I don’t get a bad case of the virus. A third booster was also offered to those that wanted it.

Workplaces still asked staff to work from home possible and schools were still doing a lot of virtual learning. Once again, all the graduation ceremonies were cancelled here in Ontario and parents again figured out how to celebrate at home or at least in smaller groups. By the fall of 2021 schools reopened in Ontario and students were able to go back to in person learning if that is what their parent decided.

2022

The world was opening more, and then another variant appeared, and things were a little harder again. Stores limited how many people could go into them at once, and masks continued to be so much part of our lives. Masks wearing started to be optional more and more, but even as I write this blog some places such as long-term care and senior residents are asking visitors to wear a mask.

Schools finally went back to in person, with some families deciding to continue with the virtual learnings. Celebrations at the end of the school year were in person and group events were larger, and the world started to look more normal.

Some workplaces are now asking staff to start to return at least two or three days a week if possible. Some companies are saying that you must return to work 5 days a week in the office, while other businesses have figured out a method that works for them.

A fourth vaccine or 2^nd booster was offered to those over the age of 60 in Ontario and especially those living in facilities such as long-term care and senior residents. Now, as I am writing this, Ontario is starting to talk about offering a 2^nd booster to those under 60 years old as another variant has been discovered and the number of cases are starting to increase.

Of course, now that we have all lived through a pandemic, things will have changed for a lot of us moving forward. Large events are fewer, and more conferences are offering virtual versions of them so that people don’t have to travel.

Summary

Things around the world have changed and all those just in time deliveries that we all relied on in the past aren’t working right now, and they may take a long time to get back to normal. Stores are having issues getting stock and life is still different for most of us. Masks will still be around for quite a while, but at least currently they aren’t mandatory in most places. Covid-19 changed things for a lot of us, but one thing I know that I learned through all the various lockdowns is how much I enjoy spending time here at home, at least when someone isn’t telling me that I must stay home.