COVID-19 and our Collective Response

Soon after WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic, there’s a lot of anguish about decelerating sales, weak customer demand, GST rates, credit crisis, digital disruption, amendments in policies, barriers in global trading and whatnot. It is not only the corporate world being shut down; there are the lives of people that have come to a sudden break by the situation. Overnight there’s a lockdown, and it came with uncertainty & a lot of unknowns creating panic. This pandemic is not only affecting the health of the public but also impacting the health of the economy.

This situation is life-threatening and is similar across various countries of the world. With this viral contagion desolating livelihoods, it is essential to be responsible and sensible to cope with the challenges ahead. Many people belonging to the vulnerable sections are moving back to their natives during the strict lockdown as their daily needs are not met. The panic in them is evident as they might feel safer at home, but unfortunately, many of them do not know about the depth of the situation. The primary concern for them is to feed their families and hence the rush, increasing the spread of the disease further.

Some questions come to our minds:

Are we prepared enough or being responsible for our duties as a citizen?
What is the scalability of treatment centers and testing?
Is it accessible and affordable for the people below poverty line/daily wage earners/unemployed/other workers?
Do we see stringent penal measures for irresponsible people?

Social distancing is the only prevention. The more we distance from each other, the more responsible we are. The government of various affected countries has initiated several measures to ease the pain of their population. Some of these measures include

Enlarging the centers for testing, treatment, and quarantine.
Ensuring the treatment is accessible to the most vulnerable section.
Trying to scale up the healthcare infrastructure.
Taking strict measures to penalize the people not following the distancing norm.

With everyone confined to their homes, this is one such event that has changed our lives irretrievably with only uncertainty and an indefinite period of waiting. Friends replaced by phones, laptop screens have replaced the in-person office meetings and video conferencing is the new normal these days. Covid-19 has affected the lives of people socially, physically and emotionally. It has also disrupted the school experience of the kids and many parents are not sure if the schools have a plan towards the new sessions.

There are many questions asked, like how prepared are we to fight the situation, or how can we manage things during a lockdown? How are you staying connected and well-balanced? Is there anything that needs to be addressed and is missing from our part as a citizen?

We would like to know –

The changes you have experienced during lockdown and what has been the most difficult aspect of this
How are you dealing with the changes in your lives?
Do you have the feeling of loneliness and isolation? How do you deal with it?
How do you stay connected despite social distancing?

For some families, this is the time to get along more, carrying on as normal while there are many families who are worried more than the usual days. As a company, our biggest concern is the wellbeing of our people: employees, clients, and all others outside our space. How do you think your life (personal and work) is affected? How do you see the post-pandemic scenario? Let us discuss our views on this and try to discipline our lives to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Zoha M