Just look around you. Everyone is wearing a mask all the time. Not so long ago, wearing a mask indicated that you were up to no good. Today, you are viewed with suspicion for showing your face without a mask. As much as we all would like to get rid of the thing, this might be a permanent fixture in Western countries as it has been in parts of the East for some time.
That said, it is not all bad news. Believe it or not, some of what the pandemic brought is an unqualified blessing. Here are three of many:
More Attention to Healthy Living
My first online doctor’s appointment with my regular physician was a revelation. We did all the things we would normally do and had all the conversations we normally had. But by the time it was over, I realized that I didn’t have to leave the house. Online doctor’s visits have been around for a while. But they became a mainstream alternative during COVID.
Doctors are also a lot bolder about prescribing alternatives to pain. In the before time, they were a bit too comfortable prescribing unnecessary and expensive tests and procedures when creams and lotions with CBD essentials would do the trick.
Products of this type have been available for a long time in other parts of the world. Now that they are more available in the US, more medical professionals feel comfortable with suggesting them to patients. Thanks to coronavirus, we are less dependent on going to the doctor’s office, and more likely to get less invasive treatments and medicines with fewer negative side-effects. That is definitely an improvement we should hang on to as long as possible.
Working from Home
Thanks to coronavirus, more people are working from home than ever. There are many tips and tricks for working from home. But perhaps the most important tip is to ask your employer if you can do it. These days, employers are on the same page as employees. They want you to work from home as much as you want to yourself.
Not so very long ago, you would have been laughed out of your supervisor’s office had you asked if you could stop coming into the office and start working from home instead. Since the onset of coronavirus, many employers have sent the workers home to to the job and have found that not only have they lost no productivity, productivity has actually increased while costs have plummeted.
If you have always wanted to do your job from the comfort of your home, there has never been a better time to ask. Going forward, working from home will definitely be an option on the table.
Social Distancing
UC Health laid out a few guidelines for how to do social distancing:
- Keep in touch with family and friends with electronic devices.
- Work from home instead of at the office, if possible.
- Have large meetings over conference or video calls instead of in person.
As it turns out, this is common-sense advice that we should have considered before the spread of the virus. It makes no sense to stand in a grocery line with shoppers practically pressed together. And hasn’t it been nice to shop without there being sufficient room to push your basket?
We might also look forward to the end of crowded restaurants. Even without the coronavirus, people walk around with contagious colds and cases of the flu. It is amazing how much healthier we could all be by just making a little room between people when possible.
Don’t get me wrong: COVID is a very bad thing. But from it, we are developing smarter healthcare, better work options, and a little bit more personal space. Those are not just changes. They are opportunities from which we can all benefit.
