#StayAtHome: What to expect once the coronavirus lockdown gets over?

The coronavirus pandemic has us all clamouring for that breath of fresh air while we find out new ways to kill time at home. Most of the world has been on lockdown for more than a month as all of us continue waging this war against the virus. With no major improvement in sight, no one knows until when we will have to wage this war. All we can fight for is the hope that situations will improve and life will be back to normalcy.

So, what should we expect once the lockdown gets over? Do we jump straight in or do we bide our time and wait? How will this major blip impact our lifestyle? Let’s have a gander.

1. Life will NOT go back to what it was before the lockdown. There will be several protocols introduced to ensure that a second wave of the virus does not hit us. Full freedom may not be given to maintain a balance in society. As time passes and so does the threat of a second wave, only then will the rules be relaxed.

2. Yes, the stories about rivers getting cleaner and videos of dolphins emerging in places where they haven’t emerged for a long time are all true. This shows who the ‘real’ virus on this planet is. We can hope to see nature at its splendid best for a few days after the lockdown gets over. What we should strive afterwards for is to maintain the human-nature balance.

3. Workplaces and schools will have several new rules and regulations in place even after the threat of the virus passes away. Plus, the work-from-home formula will be encouraged for quite sometime after the lockdown gets over. Social distancing could be made mandatory in such places along with sanitization stations placed at regular intervals.

4. Usage of public transport will be a bare minimum in cities where it is possible to travel with a personal vehicle. However, in a city like Mumbai, it is next to impossible to not use public transport in your daily life. This will be the biggest challenge to overcome. Also, with increased usage of private vehicles, the burgeoning impact of pollution on nature will grow exponentially. Thereby undoing all the improvement made by Mother Nature during the lockdown.

5. The last but not at all the least is the booze market. One thing that lockdown has shown us is the people’s thirst for hard drinks has risen to a whole another level. An end to lockdown means that the wine shops will open up and long queues forming in front of them will be a common sight everywhere. Don’t be surprised if you see a growth spurt in the number of drunken calls and texts!

Waking up to a new normal is not an easy task by any means. But it can be made easier if there is a mutual co-operation between all of us as we work towards a corona-free world.

(Header: Royalty-Free Photo by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash)