Covid-19: Humanity’s Worst Crisis Since World War II

The beginning of 2020 was a global turning point and everyone’s life on earth changed completely regardless of their status, race, or origin.

Everyone in the world got familiar with a new word that entered into our lives: Covid-19. When someone pronounces the word Covid-19 in one part of the world, the person from another part would understand even though they do not share a common language.

What is Covid-19 and how it affected our lives?

Covid-19 is the name of the disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2 that attacked the entire world affecting 175 million people and leaving 3.77 million dead worldwide, according to the WHO statistics.

Covid-19 related news and information have sat on top of the agenda for more than a year.

It has been a long journey since we first started to live a life with Covid-19.

We met this virus for the first time in our lives and the uncertainty of the situation made us feel anxious.

We were unaware of its effects and did not know how to cope with it. Without realizing the dimension of the disease, we did not take it very seriously in the beginning.

When the infected people started losing their lives in a short time and the virus spread around the world at a tremendous pace, we got into a panic.

And finally, on March 11, 2020, the WHO (World Health Organization) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), pandemic refers to “an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.”

How did everyone cope with this new disease?

It was time to take this issue very seriously. Everyone had to do his/her best to overcome this distressing process. All we knew was the mask, distance, and hygiene. They were the only weapons we had to protect ourselves from this lethal virus.

Everyone closed themselves in their homes in uneasiness with the worry of catching the virus as soon as we stepped outside. Some lost their psychological balance with the fear of loneliness.

During this process, some of us lost our loved ones. Some had to stay away from their families, relatives, or friends for a very long time.

A lot of people lost their jobs and some small medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt. This was a hard time for everyone both economically and spiritually.

The Impacts of Covid-19

This invisible virus has threatened the humanity of the world physically, economically, spiritually, politically, and socially. Unfortunately, it continues to do so.

Some even underwent heavy traumatic events that triggered PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as a repercussion of this disease because COVID-19 was unlike any of the disasters we have experienced before.

Looking at the statistics of the US citizens released by the NHS, we can understand the deep impact of the disease.

As per the report, 56% of young adults ranging from 18 to 24 years old showed symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder. They are also more likely to report substance use (25% versus 13%) and suicidal thoughts (26% versus 11%) compared to all adults.

Journey to Covid-19 vaccinations

In the first stages of the pandemic, there was negative news that the vaccine was not found. Then, we were enlightened with the news of several vaccines got discovered and approved by the WHO.

We were happy with the initiation of mass vaccination programs. Dr. Uğur Şahin is the co-founder and CEO of the German biotech firm BioNTech. In cooperation with Pfizer, the US pharmaceutical company, BioNTech was the first to have covid-19 vaccine approved in the EU.

Even after the founding of the coronavirus vaccines, there were supply problems. There was no equity among nations being able to get the vaccines. States with big economies could get the most of it while others could get insufficient amounts. What is worse, most developing countries were out of reach.

The issue of vaccine supply shook the global stock markets. Lately, the problem seems to be resolving.

With the current mass vaccine programs around the world, the light is finally seen at the end of the tunnel.

As of 9 June 2021, a total of 2,156,550,767 vaccine doses have been administered in the world.

Turning this crisis into an opportunity

Leaving the negative effects aside, some people turned this crisis into an opportunity for themselves. Their daily habits changed. They did not go to work and worked via home offices instead. This left them extra time for new activities.

They started reading books, taking walks outside, or exercising at home to strengthen their immune systems. They joined online courses and events to improve themselves with the things they enjoyed.

They returned to their inner worlds and took steps towards personal development.

I am one of those who turned this crisis into a great opportunity. I read many books, continued my education to gain my second BA degree in International Relations, attended several online courses such as Applied Formation in Certified Translation, public relations, export expansion, marketing communications, etc.

How to effectively fight against Covid-19

Back to the topic of Covid-19, with the experiences we had during this process, we, as individuals, should never fall into complacency and continue to comply with the current measures because only in this way can we protect ourselves and those around us.

Governments have a big responsibility to continue to manage the pandemic well. The governments should re-design the health system; make plans to increase the society’s health literacy level so that the acquired knowledge is transferred to daily behavior; be transparent during the pandemic combatting process to its citizens; should organize regular education programs about covid-19 to raise awareness among the public.

Both as governments and as a people, we must join hands against this disaster and act for the interests and well-being of all humanity rather than personal interests, and we must make our future life ready and harmonious to fight pandemics.

Disclaimer

This article was first published on another platform.