Needless to say, the pandemic has caused a wave of difficulties for everyone owing to social restrictions put in place to cut the spread of Covid-19. Schools have been closed, businesses shut and even offices forced to close their doors with employers asking their staff to work from home.
If nothing else, the pandemic has been a logistical nightmare and that is even without additional responsibilities thrown on top. For parents, the pandemic has been particularly challenging with many juggling the responsibility of looking after their children and home-schooling them while trying to hold down a job. Often, one room is utilised as both an office and a classroom during the day – making for a highly stressful situation.
Navigating Lockdown
Hopefully, the end is now in sight with vaccines being rolled out at speed, but we are not quite there yet. Schools are preparing to welcome pupils back in again and, slowly, the economy will be opened up which means thousands of workers who have spent the majority of the last year at home, either working remotely or on furlough, will soon be back in the workplace.
Until then, we must continue to hold strong and continue to juggle responsibilities as best as we reasonably can. Yes, there have been mistakes made along the way, and, yes, there will probably be more made before we cross the finish line, but you cannot beat yourself – we are all in the same boat and, yes, we are all struggling.
Before we know it, we will be living in a much different world. One where we are free to go about our business as we did way back in 2019 without so much as a second thought.
Care in the Pandemic
Without a shadow of a doubt, while we have all claimed to have found the pandemic the toughest period of our lives, no sector has had it worse than the healthcare sector. No matter what country you are reading this post in, carers and medical professionals have been nothing short of heroic over the last year. Their job is not done yet and, with the majority of countries having a building waiting list of patients awaiting treatment, the finish line is still a long way off for them.
In the United Kingdom, funds have been made available to help with the additional strain that the pandemic has put on healthcare and more is expected to be granted as the months go on. All care home residents in the country have now been offered a vaccine, immunizing those most at risk of serious illness and death should they contract Covid-19, and tentative plans are in place to loosen lockdown restrictions leading to the potential removal of all social-distancing measures by 21 June.
Care home residents, that have been isolated from loved ones almost completely since March 2020, can now look forward to regular visits from family members, which is one of the most uplifting events of the pandemic. It means that families are slowly beginning to be reunited with parents and grandparents.
Coming Out of Lockdown
When we come out of lockdown, we all absolutely deserve to be able to go out and celebrate simply getting through one of the toughest periods in recent history. Never again will we take for granted simply being able to pop round for a coffee and a chat when we are able to, and we will certainly never overlook the importance of teachers, doctors and nurses.