BLACK AND WHITE ASPECT OF CORONAVIRUS

BLACK AND WHITE ASPECT OF CORONAVIRUS

The coronavirus which started to spread from December 2019, was announced as the global pandemic by the WHO in March, within the time span of fewer than three months, it was reported to be the most fatal diseases of this generation. Moreover, the causes of the diseases are only mild illnesses something similar to, common cold or minor headache, yet it has been found, it can be very severe with its rapid transmittable nature. Currently, as per worldmeters.info, there are about 13.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 570 thousand have died because of this virus.

Yet, we all know that every era or the generation has its own difficulties and harsh time to go through, and ours is now, with COVID-19 crises, the “global emergency” has been declared, and societies, economies, and humans across the global map has been immensely affected by it. The shape of the world has been permanently changed, be it the way we communicate with people, connect with people, travel, or anything else- the social distancing has been the new form of our life- something that seems irreplaceable at least for few more months or years to come.

Nonetheless, with so many drastic changes and adjustments that are to be made because of the virus, we are filled with new opportunities and immense challenges that directly impact every little aspect of human society, across the broad range of issues like trade, governance, health, technology and many more.

Firstly, as rightly said by Albert Einstein, “in the midst of difficulty lies opportunity” so despite the harsh reality of all the problems and difficulties caused by the pandemic or the virus in general, here are some of the positive and negative aspects of it. To begin with, the pandemic has provided all of us more than enough time in our hand, to “think, reflect and reconsider”, the things we used to take for granted, like for example meeting people, going on parties, driving down the street with friends and family, shaking hands, and all the social events- all these things that we thought to be simple and normal, have now suddenly changed.

The pandemic has taught and provided us time to think about the importance of having people around us, it has enlightened us to value people more and more than that it has taught us to value our life. Therefore, it has provided us an opportunity to rethink our habits, behavior and make ample changes as needed, in order to grow stronger and be a better human for today and tomorrow.

Likewise, with coronavirus where the only normal thing is “social-distancing”, we acknowledged the importance of technology and understood the vital role that the innovation can play to benefit the society and the future generation. Without, the internet or the latest innovative technologies, it would have been much worse than that we can imagine about the COVID-19 situation, in terms of surviving and fighting against this virus. People are able to connect with their dear and near ones, get expert advice in terms of health and economies, support trade, and stay connected globally, without going out of their homes.

Moreover, in respect to business houses and organizations, those who are still working under bureaucracies, with long paper works, complex hierarchical module and so on, for them the pandemic has been the worst nightmare of all time- with difficulties on having the physical presence of the people at the workplace, many organizations are unable to carry their regular operational activities, many are facing financial downfall with maximum risk, many employees are losing their jobs permanently and the overall businesses are at the state of shutting down. Thus, this stimulates the importance of innovation and incorporation of technologies at the workplace to deliver the ease and efficiency at work.

Furthermore, the pandemic has also provided an opportunity to live and envision a better and cleaner environment. Worldwide, with big industrial work, previous hectic schedules of people, and haphazard traveling activities, the climatic condition of the Earth had been the worst. Yet, now as the factories are closed, roads are free of traffic and places or cities are not crowded, as many people returned to their hometown or villages, all of a sudden the earth feels to be a better place to live, with less pollution and cleaner environment.

And with this, the pandemic also provided us a prospect, where we can again visualize the better earth with less pollution and environmental issues. The pandemic showed us that if we, humans can control our insensitive movement and activities, then it is possible for us, to work for a better earth and environment. Previously, “we lived in the illusion that controlling human activities is impossible” for a better environment, but with the pandemic, we understood, we can have control over our insensitive activities and help mother nature to embellish.

Yet, with all these good points, we cannot outlook the harsh reality of the pandemic, the inherent vulnerabilities lurking in the complexity of today’s interconnected world. With globalization, people have become a global citizen, they have easy access to traveling and underpinning their existence to global commodities from different parts of the world. However, after COVID-19, things are not the same, with the global economic and social downfall, the most affected industry among all is “tourism” industry, as people are unable to travel.

For many nations like Nepal, Maldives, Thailand, Vietnam etc for them, one of their prime economic support was their tourism industry, but now with deep uncertainties and risk of holding social events or travelling, have resulted, the shutdown of the tourism industry as a whole, with no guarantee by when they can get resumed. Similarly, various other social issues have also risen and grown bigger during this pandemic, such as racial differences, communal biases, domestic violence, gambling, alcoholism, and many other anti-social activities.

Here, because of the coronavirus, all of us are compelled to stay at home and remain resilient, we all have the pressure of coping with our financial upheavals, mental stress, and anxiety, physical up-being, and dealing with our overall day-to-day activities. Therefore, at many levels, we might be struggling to adapt, been stressed out, or might be losing our mind by staying in and feeling depressed. And on a bigger picture, nations around the globe are also compelled to adapt and maintain the fundamental aspect of governance, trade, national economy, citizen security, health and education and many other things, without losing national integrity and development agenda.

It is and has been a difficult journey of over 7 months now, the virus has impacted and effected each one of us in a larger scale, which is something undeniable, yet we need to remember, “the only way to get out of a difficult situation is facing the difficulties with wisdom and determination”. And, for now, the only way for us to face this pandemic is by “staying home” and taking our time to overlook- how can we grow bigger and better together, while being socially distant from one another.

Maybe, we require an initiative seeking to respond to the socio-economic damage wrought by COVID-19, stressing for the policies and actions that engage expertise and are addressed by technologies and innovation. Lastly, KAii Group aims to work together across disciplines in a global manner, to advance and support the critical movement and improvement needed to minimize the risk and impacts of the pandemic. KAii hopes to work together with the innovative and futuristic entrepreneurs and investors for better tomorrow, exploring each opportunity layered under the threats and challenges of COVID-19.