WELCOME 2022 | It's a NEW YEAR | OM-NI-CRON!

 

It's 2022 and it's ANOTHER variant. 

Did we actually think Covid wold go away? No, it lingered on and evolved a little more. Masks, social distancing and some restrictions are back.

Guys, just stay safe for yet another covid-year.

Regardless, from me to you, I say: WELCOME 2022!

2021 Covid Chronicles | Post-2020 Reflection | APR-OCT 2021 (Post?) Covid World

And we're living in a [covid world] and I am a [double vaxxed] girl.

And here we are...slow easing into full freedom. Masks are optional, bubbles non-existent, all business are opened and fully functioning, hybrid office operations and vaccinations for all.

Variants still exisiting: Delta (Indian), Epsilon (USA), Zeta (Brazil 2.0), Theta (Philippines), Iota (USA 2.0) and Kappa (India 2.0).

But here we are and there are two Hamletian™ questions:

• To mask or not to mask?
• To vax or not to vax?

Being brave is exercising wisdom - i.e. wear a mask even if you don't want to - and protecting everyone even though they don't to protect you.

Welcome to the covid (hopefully soon, post-covid) world!

Next: TBC

2021 Covid Chronicles | Post-2020 Reflection | MAR 2021 Easing

As the 8th March came in, schools and offices reopened.

What's the difference?

The Vaccine Roll Out.

The correlation between vaccination rates and freedoms came about. The more jabs the more easing. But as vaccinations were rolled out more people feared the cure than the virus. New, new, new normal. We now live in a world that's divided between the 'Vaccinated' and the 'Non-vaccinated'.

Not that we haven't before, any parent will tell you how difficult it is to get a placement for their unvaccinated child in any day care centre. But now, it's your: work pass, passport and public access ID. In a world of QR codes and online data, vaccinations are the access to the world.

Let's see what the aftermath will be post-post-Covid.

Next: Post-Covid World

2020 Covid Chronicles | Post-2020 Reflection | NOV20-FEB21 Lockdown 2.0 and 3.0

 

As November rolled around, the Alpha Variant (UK) and Beta Variant (South African) were prominent enough to shut down the hospitality industry again. Eventually, a 'Tier System' was introduced to slow down the shutdown of 'non-essential' trade of good and services. This was Lockdown 2.0. Schools were still operating, but it was clear that the mutation of the virus was now targeting the ages that the initial infection did not previously 'attract'. Eventually, as Christmas came through, everyone was shut in and celebrations did not exist.

As the New Year rolled in, there was nothing 'happy' about 2021. Eventually, the rising numbers in Brazil released a new variant, the Gamma Variant, and drove the world into a new panic. The UK went into Lockdown 3.0, shutting schools and re-enforcing the work-from-home mandate, reverting back to Lockdown 1.0 protocols.

It was a very long and uneventful winter. Lockdown was a reality. Lockdown was normal. 3.0 is the post-Covid way of living.

Next: Slow Easing

2020 Covid Chronicles | Post-2020 Reflection | SEP-OCT 2020 Bubbles

 By the time the new school year began, there was another new normal that was introduced:

• Masks in classrooms and hallways,
• Teaching from the front and
• School-Year 'BUBBLES

There was no such thing as encountering other year groups.  Teachers were the ones moving about and navigating teaching outside of their personalised classrooms. For the first two months of the school year, students all saw a handful of classrooms, followed one-way systems and had different timetables. It was insane. 

Outside of my realm of teaching, a lot of offices near my abode were figuring out a hybrid approach to in and out of office presence. I lived near the BBC TV Centre and noticed that no one was eager to be back in the office just yet.

It seemed as though no one as convinced anything was quiet 'safe' yet.

Next: Lockdown 2.0

2020-21 Covid Chronicles | Post-2020 Reflection | JUL-AUG 2020 EO2HO

 

As summer came about, things started to "open" and the biggest turn of event was the UK Government's 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme to help boos the economy and reopen restaurants around the country. As great as this initiative was, it highlighted two things: the high percentage of restaurants that closed during the first lockdown and the rapid evolution of Covid.

As everyone started to eat out the help that we were giving, unbeknownst to us, was Covid itself. As the public started to mingle, Covid started to mutate and thus brought about the 'British / UK variant'. 

After five months of 'Stay[ing] Home,' the world did not know how to ease into a new, new normal. Summer was all about being outside again, boosting exercise and fitness routines, along with adjusting to wearing masks in any enclosed places. Summer was re-navigating life for the first time with Covid.

Next: Bubbles and Schools

2020-21 Covid Chronicles | Post-2020 Reflection | JUN 2020 Equality

One Cause for All Causes

In the quake of the Black Lives Matter movement, many more inequalities came to the forefront: inequality between the minorities and majorities, LGBTQ+ rights and colonial aftermath. 

Seemingly overnight, everyone had an opinion about the past and present in order to bring a better future. The fight for equality gave many "netizens" the right to cancel anyone who did not fit the new wave of advocating for equality. 

With Covid-19 still keeping most of the northern hemisphere in their homes, it was hard to ignore the voices that came from every social media stream. Between the Netflix, Prime, Disney+ and Hulu binging, most people were also glued to social media to find answers about this pandemic-driven chaos. 

We were very close to a real-life Hunger Games. Who was going to be cancelled next? Which sensitive topic will make us all sit uncomfortably? What will make us rethink our daily reality?

Regardless, every protest and anti-protest showed the world one thing: change is inevitable.

Next: Summer?