What happens after the Covid-19 crisis?

"Noah at the Sea of Corona" - Painting exercise during locked down period. 

Post-pandemic Predictions

Life – as we know it, will never be the same again.  And more so for our medical front-liners, for those who got infected, and especially those who lost their loved ones.

The SARS COV2 virus is a transformational element that will drive all of us to re-think, reflect and hopefully, do things better for the future.

So, how will the future look like?  Here’s some of my thoughts and predictions of what the world would be like post-COVID19.

1.       Farming and home gardening will see an upward trend.  Self-sustenance will no longer be just a preppers’ advocate.  I guess farm lot prices will soon go up.

2.       We’ll see higher birth rates around December to Feb’21 period.  Don’t even act surprised!  This means that baby products may see a business boom during that period.   

3.       Like Covid-19, face mask (as an ‘accessory’) is here to stay. For the Asian countries that were hit hard by SARS, this PPE item became an everyday fashion. Now the world’s consequential paranoia from COVID will learn to adopt it.  And most will now be locally made and ubiquitously available!  More fashionable model will soon come out. You want extra money – start a face mask business!

4.     Made in China will never be seen the same way again.  It’s not racism, it’s not political – but this pandemic brought the whole world into a standstill, affecting the lives of billions!  The worst event after the second world war. And it came from China. Japan just recently announced closing down all its factories there, and few international companies already shut down their facilities due to the pandemic and which will most likely be for good.  We’ll see the world to be more distant to the world’s former manufacturing powerhouse.

5.       Sadly, wildlife trade will not stop due to human greediness and weird appetite.  The pandemic period is a good pause, a reprieve - but international wildlife trade will continue.  But before blaming traders and traffickers – ask yourself, what new earth-friendly things will you personally change? 

6.       There’s a next Novel COV waiting to happen. Or another type of virus - with a new kind of zoonotic disease. It’s not an if.  Are we ready for the next one?

7.       Continual reduction of people travelling (particularly big tour groups), especially on hard hit areas like Italy, Spain and New York.  And Wuhan. While WHO tried to save it by using a coded name for the disease (unlike Ebola or Zika), the appalling images seen on TV on Wuhan’s wet market are forever imprinted on would-be visitors’ mind.  Hubei or China in general will experience a huge travel revenue slump.  Even Chinese residents in that province are already moving out.  Around the globe, there will be a shift from international to domestic travels for the remainder of the year.

8.       People will cook more!  Staying home helped millions learn how to live a ‘proper domesticated life’ instead of the go-go busy life. Cooking would top the list of new or mastered skills.  Which means – restaurant business may continue to see a decline in their revenue.

9.       Home delivery of raw supplies is here to stay and will expand.  Why go to a fish market if the ‘fish can go to you’, right?  New SME (small/med business) on raw goods retail and delivery system will see a boom.  Go start a business today!

10.   Work-from-home will be part of the norm.  While this is an existing setup for big international companies, we’ll see a continual upward trend. Which means companies will invest more on WFH capabilities like network or telecon technologies, and less on expensive real estate.   As consequences, car-related and near-office restaurant businesses will continue to see a profit decline, while home delivery will see more gains.

11.   Health and wellness system will continue to be challenged for the remainder of the year.  As a grim reality (or high probability) Covid-19 is here to stay.  Even those who recovered may require follow-up medications. Add PTSD and depression (mental) issues, over-eating or sedentary lifestyle-related sicknesses (obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc.) and we’ll see a sustained work on the medical front. 

  I don’t want to include this line, but crime and war are usual consequences of recession – and I hope that these history-repeats-itself items simply go away.  So, let’s all play it cool.

 There you go. I guess these are not exactly predictions as some are already in the news or seen as consequential pattern of previous events.