What if the pandemic never ends? What would it look like if COVID-19 should be completely merged into our lives and never go away? The pandemic has wreaked havoc on almost every aspect of human life, ranged from the sphere of economic issues to domestic affairs. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, there has been a great number of new laws and restrictions being enacted among most countries. If the pandemic never ends, the impacts are likely to continue affecting us. Here I will focus on two negative impacts and one positive effect of the pandemic.

         First of all, the economy has directly suffered from the impact of COVID-19. During the initial phase of the pandemic, many countries had adopted policies which are aimed at curbing the spread of the virus, such as border restrictions and the lockdown of metropolises, etc. Most of the people then, were cast with a brooding sense of uncertainty, fear, and panic, which consequently changed people’s attitudes– whether it was safe to go out for shopping or any activity–and caused tremendous impacts on the economy. When most of the people in the society are fear of going out, the number of shoppers drops drastically, the circulation of the currency slows down, and the revenue of stores dwindles, which leaves most of the businesses going belly-up. Moreover, the close-down of the businesses also results in the rising unemployment rate. According to the IMF, the proportion of people out of work rose in most of the countries, respectively. However, this is just the effect that we underwent in the initial phase of the pandemic. Imagine that the coronavirus never comes to an end, what the economy would be like.

         Next, women will become more subject to domestic violence under the impact of the pandemic. It is widely acknowledged that in society, women are more susceptible than men to potential danger or harm, such as inequity in the workplace, or abusive violence by the spouse–generally speaking, any maltreatment results from social inequality. All these long-established injustices would be further exacerbated as a result of the pandemic. The more the number of job vacancies declines due to the economic recession brought about by the pandemic, the more difficult it is for women to be emancipated. That is, to be financially independent. Moreover, as more and more restrictions, especially those on movement, are being enacted, women are more than ever trapped at home with potential abusers, which further aggravates their living conditions. In addition, according to UN Women Website, this issue is more noticeable in developing countries, in which the traditionally held concept of putting men before women is still in a predominant status. Nonetheless, this issue might just be the tip of the iceberg. With COVID-19 ceaselessly raging the whole world, various kinds of violence against women may occur accordingly.

         Finally, it is also of the same importance to acknowledge the positive consequences of the pandemic as well, including a genuine relationship. It is often said that the relationship between people becomes stronger in difficult times. As a matter of fact, when we are trapped in the same swamp, facing the same obstacle, and fighting against the same foe, we have a better chance to cherish what we have already had, and that is people around us. According to Vipin Thomas(n.d.), the pandemic actually helps you build a genuine relationship. Take the present time for example, most of the regions among the world are now shrouded in the hazard of COVID-19 and its variants. Being raged by the virus, a lot of places have turned devastated. However, the thing that propels us to fight together, is what we see from those who stand at the front line– their devotion. We start to ponder on the reason behind their dedication, and eventually realize that a relationship is built on genuineness. We all have the same goal to defend against the virus, and we trust each other because of our authentic relationship. One of the positive effects that the pandemic brings to us is that it helps us to recognize the true relationship between people.

         The pandemic has triggered a cascade of changes and severe impacts on every aspect of our lives, including the economy, and domestic violence against women, but at the same time, we must be aware of the positive effects that it has brought to us, which include that it helps us identify a genuine relationship between people. This long-lasting combat with pandemic is bound to have widespread global, social, political, and many other ramifications. What we can do is to stay positive and learn from the experience. 

​

​

​