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The COVID-19 changes that could last long-term

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The COVID-19 changes that could last long-term

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The international lockdown and the suspension of civic and commercial activity across the great majority of the world has thrust up a mirror on how our economic, social and political systems operate and forced the beginnings of a global conversation on how they may need to change. COVID-19 exposed the weak foundations on which much of what we take for granted in the developed world is built, from the intricately interwoven nature of globalized supply chains and manufacturing infrastructure to even the simple things like being able to go outside. COVID-19 has given the people a greater appreciation for even some of the most basic things in life, and while our appreciation for these things might eventually go back to the way they were previously, the high appreciation for basic things in life will most likely be that way long-term. The things we saw as easy, or didn't even notice at all suddenly became almost scarce, or in high demand. The long term effect of COVID-19 will leave people seeing things they once saw to be trash, as a delicacy.

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The Covid-19 changes that could last long-term

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From the extinction of the daily commute to transforming our relationship with food, Covid-19 is changing our world already - and in some ways, it looks set to get better.

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After being forced to relocate from their MIT dorms during the COVID-19 crisis, two members of Professor Rebecca Saxe's lab at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research are now applying their psychology skills to study the impact of mandatory relocation and social isolation on mental health. Hung developed a survey to measure how the social behavior of MIT students, postdocs, and staff is changing over the course of the pandemic. Survey questions were designed to measure loneliness and other aspects of mental health. The survey was sent to members of the MIT community and shared on social media in mid-March, when the pandemic hit the United States, and MIT made the unprecedented decision to send students home, shift to online instruction, and dramatically ramp down operations on campus.Although it is too soon to form any conclusions about their research, Hung predicts that feelings of loneliness may actually diminish over the course of the pandemic. Whether we find ourselves feeling more or less lonely as this Covid-19 crisis comes to an end, both Kosakowski and Hung agree that it will fundamentally change life as we know it. https://news.mit.edu/2020/saxe-lab-examines-social-impact-covid-19-0421

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MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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After being forced to relocate from their MIT dorms during the Covid19 crisis, two members of Professor Rebecca Saxe's lab at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research are now applying their psychology skills to study the impact of mandatory relocation and social isolation on mental health.

"When 'social distancing' measures hit MIT, we tried to process how the implementation of these policies would impact the landscape of our social lives," explains graduate student Heather Kosakowski, who conceived of the study late one evening with undergraduate Michelle Hung. This landscape is broad, examining the effects of being uprooted and physically relocated from a place, but also changes in social connections, including friendships and even dating life.

"I started speculating about how my life and the lives of other MIT students would change," says Hung. "I was overwhelmed, sad, and scared. But then we realized that we were actually equipped to find the answers to our questions by conducting a study."

Together, Kosakowski and Hung developed a survey to measure how the social behavior of MIT students, postdocs, and staff is changing over the course of the pandemic. Survey questions were designed to measure loneliness and other aspects of mental health. The survey was sent to members of the MIT community and shared on social media in mid-March, when the pandemic hit the United States, and MIT made the unprecedented decision to send students home, shift to online instruction, and dramatically ramp down operations on campus.

More than 500 people responded to the initial survey, ranging in age from 18 to 60, living in cities and countries around the world. Many but not all of those who responded were affiliated with MIT. Kosakowski and Hung are sending follow-up surveys to participants every two weeks and the team plans to collect data for the duration of the pandemic.

"Throwing myself into creating the survey was a way to cope with feeling sad about leaving a community I love," explains Hung, who flew home to California in March and admits that she struggles with feelings of loneliness now that she's off campus.

Although it is too soon to form any conclusions about their research, Hung predicts that feelings of loneliness may actually diminish over the course of the pandemic.

"Humans have an impressive ability to adapt to change," she says. "And I think in this virtual world, people will find novel ways to stay connected that we couldn't have predicted."

Whether we find ourselves feeling more or less lonely as this Covid-19 crisis comes to an end, both Kosakowski and Hung agree that it will fundamentally change life as we know it.

The Saxe lab seeks additional survey participants. To learn more about this study or to participate in the survey, click here.

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After being forced to relocate from their MIT dorms during the Covid19 crisis, two members of Professor Rebecca Saxe's lab at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research are now applying their psychology skills to study the impact of mandatory relocation and social isolation on mental health.

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“Humans have an impressive ability to adapt to change... And I think in this virtual world, people will find novel ways to stay connected that we couldn’t have predicted."

In the context of COVID-19 on society, this quote is saying that the "shutting down" of practically the entire world, showed how persistent humans can be. With all this time on our hands we found new and creative ways to stay in touch and interact with each other.

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Is there a correlation between Economic Class and COVID-19 diagnosis's?

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What are some of the heavy effects of COVID-19 on The Economy?

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Other source relating to COVID-19 on society

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Other source relating to COVID-19 on society

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This article goes over not only the impact of COVID-19 on society, but the economy as well.

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From equality to global poverty: the Covid-19 effects on societies and economies

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From school closures to devastated industries and millions of jobs lost - the social and economic costs of the pandemic are many and varied. Covid-19 is threatening to widen inequalities everywhere, undermine progress on global poverty and clean energy, and more.

The best solution is to stop this damage from happening, through the use of tests, treatments and vaccines everywhere they're needed. This will cost only a fraction of the huge economic loss the pandemic is causing every week.

The pandemic impacts all aspects of society

Businesses closed too, leading to the equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs lost, in terms of working hours, in 2020. Among the worst hit are workers in the informal economy, young people and women. Any economic recovery will likely be uneven, leading to greater inequality in the coming years.

Women have been harder hit economically by the pandemic because they are a large proportion of the workers in sectors severely affected by Covid-19, including accommodation and food services, and in front-line occupations, such as the health and social care sectors.

With the closures of schools, they have also had to take on more care responsibilities at home. Whether through job losses or school closures, the pandemic threatens to undo decades of progress on gender equality.

Covid-19 has been slowing down progress on clean energy too, at least temporarily, by curbing investments and delaying the expansion of clean energy technologies.

There was some positive climate news: global energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 5.8% in 2020, the largest ever decline in global CO2 emissions in history. But that was only a short-term effect of lockdowns, not a sustained change, as the demand for coal, oil and gas returned to almost pre-pandemic levels in 2021.

No epidemic is ever just a health issue in isolation, and Covid-19 has emphasised this on the global stage. We need to be looking at it in terms of an economic issue, a livelihood issue, a social issue and a political issue too.

Juliet Bedford, Anthrologica

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It's impacting progress on tackling global poverty

Since March 2020, governments have spent staggering amounts on fiscal support - and deficits are the highest they've been since World War II.

The effects are felt unevenly across societies.

The Wellcome Global Monitor 2020: Covid-19 report, the largest study of its kind, found that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on low-income countries and people with low incomes across all countries. Almost half (45%) of workers in low and lower-middle-income countries lost a job or business due to the pandemic, compared to just 10% of people in high-income countries.

The ACT-Accelerator

The Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global collaboration of health organisations, scientists, businesses, civil society, governments and philanthropies, including Wellcome, working together to get lifesaving tests, treatments and vaccines from the laboratory to the front line.

Until we get the virus defeated everywhere, the world economy will not return to normal.

Erik Berglof, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

The investment needed is less than what it is costing the economy

Without tangible solutions to stop the virus from spreading and treat those who fall ill, the pandemic will continue to steal lives and livelihoods.

The greatest investment we could make now is in the research, development and fair distribution of tests, vaccines and treatments.

Securing this funding now will prove to be the wisest investment humanity has ever made.

Jeremy Farrar, Wellcome

The good news is that the investment needed is small compared to what the world will keep losing if we don't act. For every month's delay in expanding access to Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments equitably around the world, the world is losing 120,000 lives and $460 billion in economic output , the International Monetary Fund estimates.

The investment needed relies on countries and international organisations showing leadership, pooling resources together and acknowledging that this crisis can only be overcome if we act together.

We're funding research to better understand what causes and drives infectious diseases to escalate and the solutions to control their impact.

There are currently no open funding opportunities for Infectious Disease. Learn more about the funding we provide .

This article was first published in September 2020.

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The Covid-19 effects on societies and economies | News | Wellcome

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From school closures to devastated industries and millions of jobs lost - learn more about the many social and economic costs of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The global effects of COVID-19 - Related Image