But will we be thinking about health in a bigger sense?įundamentally, health is not health care. Once this pandemic ends, we’ll undoubtedly be having more conversations about how to prevent future pandemics, and ensure a healthier future. And, despite a number of stumbles, improved therapeutics reduced mortality from the virus in hospitals more than fourfold in a matter of months.īut COVID-19 provided, even more memorably, a terrifying and revealing view of our failure to create a world that generates health. We developed safe and effective vaccines - something that usually takes a decade or more - in less than a year. In some ways, COVID-19 will be remembered as a triumph of biomedical science. We Need To Think About 'Health' In A New Way A Mass General doctor takes a blood sample from a Chelsea resident to test for coronavirus antibodies in April 2020. I’ll pick the first song: “With a Little Help From My Friends.” - Joanna Weiss, Editor, Northeastern University's Experience magazine I want to scream together into a karaoke microphone. I want to sip your cocktail to see if I like it, too. I want to live dangerously with my besties. When the COVID threat is gone, I predict that we’ll double down on the joys of physical friendship. And while many of us have broken the rules at least once or twice, we should acknowledge the lengths we’ve gone to see each other in relative safety. We’ve learned, this past year, that connection isn’t the same when it’s remote. Or you could see their lapses as a feature of humanity. You can condemn all of those people as cavalier about public health. One of the hardest things about COVID has been the way it rendered friendship dangerous - so many transmissions springing from in-person gatherings, as friends came together despite the directives. We’ve needed each other, and that’s good to know. Joanna Weiss, Editor, Experience Magazine When winter came, we layered up like ice fishermen and huddled around fire pits on 30-degree nights. By summer, we were venting our frustrations during walks around a pond, holding birthday dinners outdoors, taking socially-distanced selfies with the timers on our phones. In late spring, I took my first illicit walk with friends we wore masks and glanced sideways to see if we’d be shamed. But the pandemic separation couldn’t last. In the beginning, we had Zoom, and it was fine: virtual happy hours and online game nights that kept friendships alive when we had to be physically apart. (Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Images) I’m Ready To Double Down On The Joys Of Physical Friendship A woman hula-hoops among people enjoying an open air party in Saint-Denis, north of Paris on Aug. Read through each contributor's short essay below, or jump around to different topics using this navigation: But for the first time in a long time, it feels like we can reasonably contemplate the future - we are no longer locked in the “perpetual present.” The truth is, nobody knows exactly what comes next. What will work look like after COVID? What about parenting? Friendship? Faith? Will our understanding of public health change, as epidemiologists race to get ahead of the next pandemic? We asked 10 people to imagine life after the pandemic. We know this pandemic won’t last forever.īut - what happens next? Do we just pick up where we left off in March 2020? Or have things changed in a fundamental way? As more and more people get vaccinated, the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths are finally declining.
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