We were all unprepared for anything as serious as the Coronavirus! While it punched us hard in the gut, I’m pretty sure it won’t come close to the impact that the Spanish Flu had back in 1918.

I’m going cut to the chase and list the ways that I think life will change as an aftereffect of the Coronavirus, both good and bad!

Ways the Coronavirus will change Society

1. Companies will embrace automation more quickly and as a side-effect, jobs will become more scarce and competition will become tighter. Companies will find that automation using intelligent AI systems and robotics to be quicker and cheaper after an initially steep “cost and learning” curve.
2. People will need to be more creative in generating money than they have in the past, include working 2 or more jobs, sometimes at the same time, and side hustles. The days of just one job linear thinking will not continue to be a viable option to make a living except for the lucky few.
3. Small companies will find it harder to compete with large companies because doing business with small companies will be envisioned as a potential risk of future closures, at least short term. Long term there will be a lot more online businesses and the like.
4. People will be slow to socialize physically with one another out in densely populated public places (stadiums, theaters). Social media, which already has had a huge increase in usage, will not see a decrease in usage quickly. Restaurants will see more of an increase in clients than Bars, but still, both will have lower attendance than prior to the Coronavirus, at least until we all get complacent again.
5. Companies that can afford it will let their employees work from home more often for jobs than can be done remotely. Duh, right… They will also do rotating shifts with scattered groups intelligently distributed at work (especially call centers), also longer hours and fewer days.
6. Since working from home will be more common, automated monitoring and worker usage metrics will become more prevalent and invasive in the workplace. This is way beyond big brother, but might be a necessary evil since employees are working from home. Employers might even require a monitoring device (both audio and visual) in worker’s homes that would need to be on during working hours. Most of us would put up with it…
7. People will try to be more independent than they have in recent decades. Personally, I’m planning to try and grow some vegetables. I’m even thinking of trying canning. People will also create a monthly, rotating supply of food and essentials. I’m also going to improve my tech skills.
8. Short term, I can see a small increase in both hunting and home protective guns. Obviously, they won’t really be needed but will be purchased all the same.
9. I’m hoping people become more involved in local, state and possibly the federal government. The government is supposed to represent us, but oftentimes they don’t and instead they have a team mentality and all collude together on the party leader’s ideology instead of asking American what is needed.
10. People will have a new appreciation for other people and cultures, especially those states that were in a lockdown.

There will be other changes too. I think people will try to help people out for a year or two, especially those most affected. Rest homes will change for the better in reducing the spread of viruses in their facilities, maybe using ultraviolet, germ-killing equipment (maybe even robotics). For some lucky elderly, robotics and other AI systems will enable them to reside at home longer than in the past. Already home automation, and devices like Alexa and Google Home dramatically improve the life of the elderly.

Hygiene awareness and practice will go ballistic! Door handles, elevator buttons and many other potential virus-contaminated surfaces will not be touched with bare hands. People will wash their hands with soap more often. Purell will be amazingly popular in all locations (at desks, in cars, in backpacks, you get the point). Suddenly adaptation and usage of Smartphones that use NFC and credit cards that have NFC chips will become very popular and preferred. Every possible surface that could pose as a risk will be taken into consideration! Shoot, I might even start to use gloves when I use the ATM machines in my area.

Oh, one big change too, will be a new department that will be crisis-related (I don’t know what they will call it, so I guess at naming it). One of the primary concerns the agency will focus on is virus prevention and treatment. I expect innovation on all fronts of viral outbreaks but mostly preventative and treatment.

Preventative developments will include vaccinations, but since vaccines usually take a year or longer to develop, it won’t initially be the primary area of development. Preventative tools will include proven society processes and equipment like testing, masks, and gloves (many parts of Asian used such processes and equipment to avoid both deaths and shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic). Preventative work will also include new innovations that we aren’t even thinking of yet. Treatment will have similar innovations, include things like antibody injections to folks infected.

Finally, I believe that people will live more fully too. Having a scare like the pandemic should make everybody live life craving more experiences.

Hoping for the best,

Don