In 2019, a dangerous virus was just reported in the city of Wuhan, China, and was threatening to expand in the whole world. Since then, we are dealing with this virus and with the consequences of its raising. But what are exactly these consequences we are talking about?
Everyone knows that the most affected system during the pandemic was the medical system, hospitals being full of people and doctors trying their hardest to keep at bay the COVID-19 virus. But this wasn’t enough. The number of reported cases started increasing, and of course also the number of deaths caused by this virus. There were a lot of severe cases, which caused the ICU to be full and forced doctors to decide who to save and who to let go of. Statistics show that so far there are 60,265,132 reported cases and 1,218,183 deaths around Europe.
The economic system was also affected due to the pandemic. Because of the fact that quarantine was required in order to stay safe, big businesses and a lot of small businesses went bankrupt and tourism was basically dead. Also, statistics show that the unemployment rate rose from 6,5% to 7,5% over the year 2020. Moreover, the economic problems during lockdown created a favorable environment for corruption and bribery in the Member States.
To stay safe but also in school, during lockdown, students were required to study online, which wasn’t as easy as everyone thought it would be. Imagine being in elementary school and suddenly being put in front of a computer, without your friends surrounding you. Awful, isn’t it? Teenagers were also affected by it, this causing gadgets addiction and isolation from family and friends because of getting used to the online system and not being encouraged to socialize. Even teachers were affected by online classes, some of them being old and not used to using devices in order to do their job. But let’s not forget that there are children that can’t afford a gadget or have wi-fi connection. That’s why the risk of dropout has increased since the start of the pandemic.
Last but not least, the pandemic had a negative effect also on mental health. Doctors started dealing with depression and suicide attempts because of the stressful environment in the hospital during the pandemic. Unemployed people and teenagers also developed mental health issues. But people are fighting against these like they are fighting against the COVID pandemic.
We had a lot to learn and experience during these hard times. This pandemic made us stronger and connected us all to fight against this powerful enemy. Remember to socialize, keep in touch with your friends and family and simply enjoy life. We can do this and like High School Musical taught us: "We’re all in this together".
Mihaela Răduț
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