Long term social effects of the pandemic

[Jason]

I wonder if anyone would be interested in this topic. What long-term effects do you expect in how people might go about their daily lives after the pandemic. COVID-19 isn't likely to go away but it may be little more than a cold. But after having almost a year and a half of this, do you think it will change anything?

My thoughts are that people are going to be more careful about hygiene (washing hands and regular sanitizer) while out and maybe participating less in large events. I can't see how it wouldn't affect us in some way. It may at least change our habits. And we did get to see what happens when we take these measures more often. The flu was virtually non-existent this past winter. And when we started the lockdown in the Spring of 2020, the flu season ended about six weeks ahead of schedule.

I could see it affecting children the most because it has happened in their formative years. But kids are also very adaptable unlike us old adults and older folks. Until they have a vaccine, COVID-19 may be spreading around them the most so perhaps masks will be an ongoing thing for years or schools will have to split days into two shifts to accommodate social distancing. But with any luck, they will have a vaccine for children soon. But it might be longer off since society is going to worry about its possible effect on children who rarely get sick from the virus anyway.

Personally, I plan to wear a mask during peak flu season and what will likely become peak COVID season. The vaccine protects most from severe symptoms but may not for all. We also have a fairlly large group of vaccine-hesitant people that may cause more variants to emerge or at least hotspots.

Before this all started, I was beginning to use hand sanitizer during flu season to protect older folks which turned out to be very handy when you couldn't buy any.

What do you guys think? Have you given any thought to this?

[ssfc72]

For me, I will continue to follow my routine of when I get home, I immediately go straight to the washroom to wash my hands.
I also, after washing my hands, went back with a soapy cloth and wiped any surface that I touched, on my way to the washroom.  This last step I only did, during the period of very high number of COVID cases.

We will have to wait and see what the threat level of COVID will be for this coming Fall, Winter and Spring.

[Jason]

For me, I will continue to follow my routine of when I get home, I immediately go straight to the washroom to wash my hands.
I also, after washing my hands, went back with a soapy cloth and wiped any surface that I touched, on my way to the washroom.  This last step I only did, during the period of very high number of COVID cases.

We will have to wait and see what the threat level of COVID will be for this coming Fall, Winter and Spring.

I am completely sure that we will have another surge starting in the Fall and staying on for the winter.

While the number of confirmed will increase, I think it will likely be about the same as during the first wave which was small because people took the pandemic more seriously when we didn't know much about it. The vaccines will slow down the transmission but more importantly will prevent the most severe cases for those breakthrough cases. It'll be like getting the flu or even a cold.

As such, hospital cases will continue to decline along with ICU cases. How many cases we get is going to largely depend on how many vaccinations are needed to get the transmission rate below 1. I'm concerned that there will be 10% or more Canadians who will refuse to vaccinate and with Delta, we may need a larger than 90% vaccination rate to keep it from circulating.