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.

The past six months

 Who would have thought any of us would have been living through a pandemic.  Well, we have for the past six months here in Canada.  On March 13, WHO (World Health Organization) declared that Covid-19 was a pandemic, and that was the day that everything changed for a lot of us.

When you look back and think about how things have changed in the last six months, there are a lot of things that changed, and I am going to be talking about some of what happened here in Ontario for us.

• Schools - were going into March break, so they decided that they would extend the break by an additional week.  That March break turned into online learning for the rest of the spring, and then finally students have started to go back to school in person in the last week.  For this year parents and students could decide if they wanted in person learning or online learning so that is happening. Masks are mandatory for in class learning.
• Colleges/Universities - they also started to hold most of their classes online in early April, and they continue to hold most classes online.  Of course, there are some courses that need to be in a lab, etc and those are the ones that are being held in person. Masks are mandatory for in class learning.
• Businesses - a lot of businesses as soon restrictions were starting to be put in place asked staff to work at home as much as possible.  I know that some businesses couldn’t operate with staff at home, but the businesses that could are still working remotely. Masks are essential when you work in an office unless you are at your desk and able to maintain a distance of 6 feet from others.
• Retail – a lot of businesses if they were not considered essential closed their doors in late March and slowly started to reopen in June through now.  Yes, there are still a lot of restrictions about how many people can be in a store at once and how you pay for your purchases.  A lot of stores are now debit and credit where possible, and some are NO cash. Masks are mandatory for entering a store.
• Restaurants – these also closed their doors in March and were only providing drive through or take out where possible.  Finally, in early August some restaurants were able to open and have table service on patios, so that was a nice change. Later in August limited in restaurant dining was allowed but with a lot of restrictions such as masks until you are at your table.

Yes, things have changed a lot over the last six months and things continue to change.  The number of people that you can have in a private home for an event change depending on the number of cases that we have in Ontario. 

A lot of municipalities have put by-laws in place making it mandatory to wear a mask in any public place. This by-law also means that people living in apartments and condos are also required to wear a mask outside their units.  This can sometimes be a challenge, but it is best for everyone.  Also for apartments and condos they are recommended limits to the number of people in an elevator at one time, so that creates its own challenges.  Apartments and condos with a lot of families with school age children now have to figure out ways of getting their kids to school on time. 

I know that there have been some challenges through these last few months but if we all do what is necessary by social distancing, wearing masks and limiting our contact with others maybe one day we will be able to get back to seeing our friends and families again.