These are extraordinary times, where the human inhabitants of our planet were faced with an unexpected crisis, due to a very infectious disease that jumped from animals to mankind, although there is still debate about the detail.
COVID-19 is not the first disease that has infected man big time, with the situation still developing. Ugly sicknesses like MERS and SARS these last few years had many deaths as I had written in the past issue, nevertheless they did not have such an impact on the economy and life of so many countries around the world.
I have never faced restrictions of this type, being unable to meet people, unable to go out of the house except for strict reasons, thousands of peole losing their job overnight, people taking care to remain so many metres distant from others etc.
I have been amazed to see governments with economic conservative bent feeling constrained to shower astronomical amounts of money on the population in a desperate attempt to mitigate as much as possible the complete collapse of their country's economy. Where the money is coming from is still unknown, and what will be the impact on inflation, which weakens the buying power of the currency, still remains to be seen.
Life experience currently is one of huge isolation, at least in NSW where I live. Everybody is more or less cloistered at home. External contact is limited to the essential, like the purchase of food, where some argument or worse between shoppers seems to have become common. People snap at each other, look at you suspiciously, and it's not hard to imagine them wondering silently “is this ugly person the one who will infect me?”
Going to a small reserve next to home to move some stiff joints, you realise the place is almost completely empty. How the world has changed!
It's occurring to me that perhaps today we are experiencing a little of what life has in store for us in the near future.
Not seeing many people outside, perhaps that is what will be recommended to the general populace, if summer temperatures and the UV index keep on rising that it will be a health hazard to be outside at certain times. Already on some days, it is recommended that one avoid being outside when the sun's radiation is highest, perhaps this recommendation will become more common and extend to long daylight periods.
Currently delivery services of physical products are booming, replacing the need to personally go to shops or shopping centres. Apart from the use of parcel post which has been in place for a long time, there are new services such as good Samaritans (individuals or communities) which are stepping up to take care of vulnerable people in society, others are new partnerships like the postal service with supermarkets to deliver fresh vegetables to houses, then there are commercial companies like Uber Eats that deliver food from restaurants to homes.
I expect that in future, waiting for a product to turn up at home will be the rule and not the exception, with the use of drones that have been tested for some time in a number of fields, not only for household products but also for pharmaceutical and even medical ones.
Currently it is being urged that if one can work from home, then he or she should do that. The technology for doing so is quite well known, and up till today this was probably a choice that wasn't commonly made. In these times, governments of countries are insisting that people work from home if at all possible, even the administration of government itself, and quick steps had to be taken to expand investment in technology, and currently the internet is passing through quite a test of its capacity and resilience.
It seems to me that these are the signs of things to come. If the challenges of managing people not under the continuous gaze of their manager are overcome, and the work is still undertaken satisfactorily, many organisations will ask themselves why are they spending som much on office space in the commercial centres of the country, and remote working will become the default characteristic rather than a choice. How one divides his or her time between work and private life, where as time passes organisations increasingly expect their employees to be constantly present the whole day, that is a challenge we do need to face.
Finally I cannot forget how personal and social relationships start and develop between people not part of a family. Today going out physically with someone not part of your family unit is more or less prohibited. Today many social apps and multimedia communication programs exists, whose purpose is to connect or facilitate the connection of people with common interests to communicate together virtually, at least initially. It was already estimated that about half new relationships start with these social apps, and there are reports that their usage has much increased in this coronavirus period. I expect that in future this will continue to be the predominant way in which human relationships flourish, although surely getting together face-to-face and physical contact are second to none.
A window to the future?
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Dawn huma żminijiet straordinarji, fejn l-abitanti umani tal-pjaneta tagħna ġew iffaċċjati bi kriżi mhux mistennija, tort ta' marda infettiva ħafna li qabżet mill-annimali għall-bniedem, għalkemm għad hemm dibattitu fuq id-dettalji.
Il-COVID-19 mhux l-ewwel marda li affettwat lill-bniedem bil-kbir, u s-sitwazzjoni għadha tiżvolġi. Mard ikrah bħall-MERS u SARS f'dawn l-aħħar snin kellu ħafna mwiet bħal ma ktibt fil-ħarġa li għaddiet, madankollu ma kellhomx impatt fuq l-ekonomija u l-ħajja ta' tant pajjiżi madwar id-dinja.
Jien qatt ma ffaċċjajt restrizzjonijiet ta' dan it-tip, fejn ma tistax tiltaqa' man-nies, ma tistax toħroġ mid-dar ħlief għal raġunijiet stretti, eluf kbar ta' nies jitilfu xogħolhom mil-lejl għan-nar, nies joqgħodu attenti li jitbiegħdu tant metri minn ħaddieħor, eċċ.
Ġibt għajnejja wara widnejja nara gvernijiet ekonomikament konservattivi iħossuhom kostretti li jroxxu flejjes astronomiċi fuq il-popolazzjoni f'attentat iddisprat biex imewtu kemm jista' jkun il-kollass totali tas-sistema ekonomika tal-pajjiż. Minn fejn ġejjin il-flus għadna ma nafux, u x'se jkun l-impatt fuq l-inflazzjoni, li ddgħajjef dak li tista' tixtri bil-munita, għad irridu naraw.
L-esperjenza tal-ħajja bħalissa hija waħda ta' iżolament kbir, għallinqas f'NSW fejn ngħix jien. Kulħadd xi ftit jew wisq magħluq ġo daru. Kuntatt esterjuri limitati għall-essenzjali, bħal xiri ta' ikel, fejn xi argument jew ġlieda bejn ix-xerrejja qisha saret xi ħaġa komuni. Nies jaħtfu lil xulxin, tarahom iħarsu lejk b'suspett, timmaġinahom jgħidu bejnhom u bejn ruħhom “min jaf jekk hux dan l-ikrah se jinfettani?”
Tmur f'xi riżerva ċkejkna qrib tad-dar biex tiċċaqlaq ftit, u tinduna li l-post kważi baħħ għal kollox. Kif inbidled id-dinja hux?
Qed jiġini f'rasi spiss illi forsi qed induqu illum xi ftit minn dak li l-ħajja għad toffrilna fil-futur mhux daqshekk imbiegħed.
Dik li ma tantx tara nies barra, forsi hekk se jkun rakkomandat lill-poplu, jekk it-temperaturi fis-sajf u l-indiċi UV jibqgħu jogħlew tant li jkunu ħażin għas-saħħa li tkun barra f'xi ħinijiet. Diġà f'ċerti ġranet, huwa rakkomandat li wieħed jevita li jkun barra fl-eqqel tax-xemx, forsi din ir-rakkomandazzjoni ssir iktar komuni u testendi għal-ħinijiet twal ta' binhar.
Bħalissa qiegħdin jiffjorixxu s-servizzi ta' twassil ta' prodotti fiżiċi fid-djar minflok li wieħed imur għalihom fil-ħwienet jew iċ-ċentri tax-xiri. Apparti l-użu tal-pakketti tal-posta li ilu jsir minn żmien żemżem, hemm servizzi ġodda li qiegħdin isiru minn Samaritani tajba (individwi jew komunitajiet) li jieħdu ħsieb persuni vulnerabbli fis-soċjetà, oħrajn huma sħab ġodda bħal tal-posta mas-supermarkits li jwasslu l-ħxejjex friski fid-djar, imbagħad hemm kumpanniji kummerċjali bħal Uber Eats li twassal prodotti mir-ristoranti fid-djar.
Nistenna li fil-futur, li wieħed jistenna l-prodott id-dar ikun ir-regola u mhux l-eċċezzjoni, bl-użu tad-drowns li ilhom jiġu ttestjati f'diversi oqsma, mhux biss ta' prodotti ta' ġod-dar imma wkoll prodotti farmaċewtiċi u anke mediċi.
Bħalissa hawn ukoll l-għajta li jekk wieħed jista' jaħdem mid-dar, għandu jagħmel dan. It-tekonoloġija biex isir dan hi pjuttost magħrufa, u sal-lum din il-ħaġa ħafna drabi kienet għażla li forsi ma tantx kienet issir. F'dan iż-żmien, il-gvernijiet tal-pajjiżi qiegħdin jesiġu li n-nies jaħdmu mid-dar jekk possibbli, inkluż l-amministrazzjoni tal-gvern innifsu, u kellhom jittieħdu passi ta' malajr biex ikattru l-investiment fit-tekonoloġija, u n-netwerk tal-internet bħalissa għaddej test tal-kapaċità u r-reżiljenza tiegħu.
Jidhirli li dan ukoll huwa sinjal taż-żminijiet li ġejjin. Jekk l-isfidi tal-immaniġġjar ta' nies meta ma jkunux kontinwament taħt għajnejn il-maniġer jiġu megħluba, u x-xogħol isir xorta, ħafna kumpanniji jispiċċaw jistaqsu lilhom infushom għalfejn qiegħdin jonfqu daqshekk għall-uffiċċji fiċ-ċentri tal-kummerċ tal-pajjiż, u li wieħed jaħdem mid-dar issir karatteristika mandatorja iktar milli għażla. Kif wieħed iqassam il-ħin tiegħu stess bejn xogħol u l-ħajja privata, fejn iktar ma jgħaddi ż-żmien ikun hemm it-tendenza li organizzazzjoni tassumi li l-impjegati tagħha huma dejjem preżenti l-ġurnata kollha, din hija sfida li rridu niffaċċjaw.
Fl-aħħar ma rridx ninsa kif jibdew u jseħħu r-relazzjonijiet personali u soċjali llum bejn nies li mhumiex parti minn familja. Li toħroġ ma' xi ħadd fiżikament li mhux familjari llum huwa xi ftit jew wisq ipprojbit. Illum jeżistu viżibilju ta' apps soċjali u programmi multimedjali ta' komunikazzjoni, li xogħolhom hu li jlaqqgħu, jew jiffaċilitaw lil nies b'interessi komuni li jikkomunikaw flimkien b'mod virtwali, talinqas fil-bidu. Diġà huwa stmat li madwar nofs ir-relazzjonijiet ġodda jibdew b'dawn l-apps soċjali, u r-rapporti huma li ħadu spinta kbira 'l quddiem fi żmien il-koronavirus. Nistenna li fil-futur dan ser ikompli jkun il-metodu predominanti fejn jiżvolġu r-relazzjonijiet umani, għalkemm żgur li l-laqgħat wiċċ imb'wiċċ u l-kuntatt fiżiku ma' jiżbqu xejn.
Tieqa fuq il-ġejjieni?
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