A pandemic is not just a disease spreading worldwide, it is a domino effect of catastrophe hitting billions of lives in varied ways. Be it declining health, loss of livelihood, financial crisis, shortage of food, or even death.
Life is not a cakewalk, and a pandemic makes it worse - from striving hard for the most basic things to make overwhelming decisions. Some have to face more adversities than others, but none are unaffected.
The Covid-19 pandemic spread like wildfire, leading to a dramatic loss of human life all over the world. The impacts of the pandemic are quite extensive. It burdened the healthcare sector with the diagnosis and treatment of the virus using the existing facilities and shortage of medical supplies. As the countries restrained movements, the global economy dipped down, world trade got disrupted, and various industries like tourism, information and electronics industry, recreational industry, etc. were severely affected, while a massive number of enterprises face an existential threat, leading to the decimation of jobs. Farmers, street vendors, and informal and daily wage workers became quite vulnerable because, without the means to earn bread, they are unable to feed themselves and their families.
Covid-19 deepened the hunger crisis in an already hungry world. In 2020, 690 million people are estimated to be food insecure & some hunger hotspots are even on the verge of famine.
With the closing of schools and institutions, children are unable to get a proper education. Many even dropped out of school to save money, and some did not have the facilities to get an online education. This not only retards the growth of an individual but the nations as well, affecting generations.
Along with the risk of contracting the disease, facing everyday plights, coping with the loss of loved ones, and dealing with the constant bad news disturbs mental health as well, leading to anxiety, stress, and depression. Prolonged isolation has led to feelings of loneliness, worry, and grief, which are common to all age groups during a pandemic.
Living in a pandemic where children aren't out in the playground nor in school, people have fear to meet up, frontline workers like healthcare members, police, etc are fighting every single day for humanity, and breadwinners striving for one square meal for their family, children becoming orphans, old parents getting abandoned from the house, people are bereaved of their loved ones, pickpocketing and loot increasing to suffice the need for food is terrifying.
How is life supposed to be easy during a pandemic? Yet, we need to smile. Looking at the positive aspects, some get to spend more time with their families, invest in enhancing their talents, and even learn new things. We change our lifestyle to practice better hygiene. Everyone faces a challenge, and they try to cope by coming out with a solution. Many people are coming forward to help the needy, keeping humanity and kindness alive. Nature got time to heal. Technology and digitalization took a quantum leap.
A pandemic is a lesson to teach us the value of good health, the basic necessities of life, and life itself. Each life is at risk during such a situation, suffering how we never imagined. Every life has a story to tell. In a pandemic, we all are together. We must keep hope alive in our hearts for a better tomorrow. For hope, is a light in the darkness.