When will life return to ‘pre-Covid normal’?

‘A majority of people expect life to return to something like 'normal' within the next 12 months, according to a new World Economic Forum-Ipsos survey. There are large differences between countries on this, though. The pandemic has also impacted people's emotional and mental health...

‘Differences emerged around the world about the return to something like a pre-COVID normal. Although more than half think it'll happen within the next 12 months, one-in-five think it will take more than 3 years, while 8% don't think it'll happen at all. Opinions on when the pandemic will be contained also closely matched opinions on a return to normal - suggesting that people believe the two to be closely linked.

‘On average, 58% of those surveyed expect the pandemic to be contained within the next year. Some countries - India, mainland China and Saudi Arabia, for example - are more optimistic. But, four-in-five in Japan and more than half in countries including Australia and Sweden expect it will take more than a year for the pandemic to be contained.’

Read here (World Economic Forum, Apr 12, 2021)

Coronavirus may never go away, World Health Organization warns

‘The coronavirus "may never go away", the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, WHO emergencies director Dr Mike Ryan warned against trying to predict when the virus would disappear. "It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," Dr Ryan told the virtual press conference from Geneva. HIV has not gone away - but we have come to terms with the virus."Dr Ryan then said he doesn't believe "anyone can predict when this disease will disappear".

Read here (BBC, May 14, 2020)

The plague writers who predicted today

‘In uncertain – indeed, weird – times like these, as we increase our social isolation to ‘flatten the curve’, literature provides escape, relief, comfort and companionship. Less comfortingly, though, the appeal of pandemic fiction has also increased. Many pandemic titles read like guide books to today’s situation. And many such novels give a realistic chronological progression, from first signs through to the worst times, and the return of ‘normality’. They show us we’ve been through this before. We’ve survived.’

Read here (BBC, April 14, 2020)