How Different Will the World Look 10 Years After COVID-19?

The world may witness some immediate drastic changes during and after the coronavirus pandemic; the first one to hit the world in about a hundred years, but there is no doubt that it will have some long-lasting effects that can re-shape our lives forever.

Changes are already starting to shape our lives, even while most of the world's population is living under quarantine. Here's how we imagine life ten years from now.

1. Online Education

While this hasn't been feasible everywhere yet, mainly because very few countries have had digital curricula, more and more countries are moving towards making academic courses available to students using the internet. Schools and universities are now exerting every effort to make sure their students are able to continue the school year to the extent possible. Students have also been offered free unlimited internet connections to help them carry on with daily classes, conducted either by live video streaming or some other educational tools.

In countries with less technological advancements, governments are working on providing daily lessons using radio and TV broadcasts to all levels, so it reaches as many students as possible, including the disadvantaged who may not have efficient access to the internet.

In the near future, we may witness concerted action aiming to provide students of all levels with the needed devices, enabling a full digitalization of the educational systems worldwide.

Yet, schools may still exist in the same form we see today, to create an organized daily routine, help students develop their interpersonal and social skills, in addition to enabling physical activities.

2. Health and Fitness Habits

Until scientists can have a clear-cut answer regarding the process, through which the novel coronavirus was developed, people are increasingly convinced that the Chinese dietary habits, especially consuming wild animals are to blame for the pandemic.

This is expected to raise awareness with respect to what people eat on a regular basis, encouraging them to lead healthier lifestyle.

Over the next few decades and under the influence of today's on-going trauma, organic foods may become even more popular among those who would like to boost their immune system in case other deadly viruses emerge at any point.

3. The News Industry

One of the most heated arguments people have these days is whether China has warned the world of the novel coronavirus early enough when it recorded its first cases in Wuhan or not. 

While China insists that it did report COVID-19 cases as early as December 2019, some world leaders argue that late warnings have caused the wide-spread of the pandemic devastating the world right now.

On an individual level, people are expected to keep up with reading international news on a regular basis, so they avoid making any travel decisions to areas that might be suffering from novel diseases, which will, in turn, make people more aware of international developments.

4. Job Markets Shifts

It's no secret that unemployment rates are surging worldwide as the coronavirus lockdown continues to ravage international economies. Yet, very soon after the virus is contained, the world will witness huge demand for health workers, medical professionals and researchers, with the aim of boosting human health capabilities to fight any future infections.

The agricultural sector can also foresee a huge spike; the more people decide to lead healthy lives and eat fresh foods.

Markets will continue to seek more IT professionals, as businesses decide to digitalize and automate as many processes as possible, including manufacturing, sales, education, and many other fields.

Additionally, businesses whose employees were able to perform their daily tasks successfully from homes amid the coronavirus lockdown might decide to make this practice the new norm, saving lots of costs that typically goes into office rentals and related bills.

5. Economic Policies

Given that governments have been paying the biggest price since the COVID-19 outbreak, they will definitely incorporate all the lessons learned during 2020 in future plans, especially annual budgets.

The healthcare budget will no longer be significantly less than that of the defense one, to ensure that countries are able to produce drugs and medical types of equipment needed for any new ailments and at any time, in addition to funding medical research centers that can respond to future health emergencies.

Governments are expected to introduce new bills that allow all citizens to enjoy first-class, free or affordable, health care services.

More importantly, countries that have been let down by their international allies will work hard to achieve high levels of economic independence, by building sustainable infrastructure and obtaining decades-long food security at a national level.