Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

No complacency, abide the law

SAMUEL-KUTTY
SAMUEL-KUTTY
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Even as the number of COVID-19 cases started plummeting and signs of a vaccine to fight the pandemic are progressing, we have to grapple with the fact that whether life will be the same as it was before the pandemic or not. Unfortunately, many of us do not have a clear answer to this yet.


While life has already changed for millions, others are still finding to garner enough strength to recover from the shock of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has shattered their lives. Some of them are optimistic, some not. And thousands are still falling prey to the microbe even though the enormity of the cases has mellowed down.


Unlike in the past, when the world had been a witness to a number of health crises like Spanish Flu or any other calamities, this time it is different. COVID-19 has, undoubtedly, caused a massive shake-up of our daily lives from battles on the frontlines to social distancing from our kith and kin.


Millions have lost their jobs worldwide. Robust economies of a few months ago have hurtled towards a crash. Salary cuts have become the new norm. The poor have become poorer. Few are reporting on the misery of the middle class, whose financial struggles are frequently hidden behind gaudy lifestyles.


We are now living under a new health protocol, in addition to the new normal of work from home and remote education to our children. At the same time, we have developed a number of positive attitudes in our habits and behaviours that we have been forced to learn because of the pandemic.


Awareness on personal and public hygiene measures have witnessed a surge thanks to the contagion. Social distancing measures are in place. People are getting used to wearing face masks when going out of their homes.


People are progressively becoming less important to businesses than machines and the electronic protocol. Apps and their killer applications of every kind apart, digital and zero-touch have already become the new mantra for the new world ahead of us.


In the pre-pandemic globalised world, we enjoyed a certain level of trust we mostly took for granted. We could travel almost without limitations, meet people without restrictions and order products worldwide.


Now our airports, airlines, hotels, restaurants and the retail trade of every kind have already adopted the new protocols.


Most businesses that were manned by smiling faces and handshakes in the past are now zero-touch and non-human. All the more, we will have to reorient our jobs, career, domain and the like.


The current saga of sufferings will come to an end without doubt. We will get back to our lives and visit the great outdoors. The situation is a challenge to our lives.


But at the same time we should not leave any room for complacency, and that’s why we should all continue to abide by the rules and why we will consider very carefully whether we need to take any further steps.


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