There will never be a ‘normal’ again

“Physical health is now a policy priority that is put above all others: above freedom, above mental health and above supporting livelihoods.”

We’ve heard it all too often, the promise of a vaccine signals in many people’s minds a belief that life shall return to the ‘normal’ we once knew before the pandemic began. However, to my mind, there are a number of long-term impacts that shall persist thanks to the oppressive lockdowns instigated by governments across the globe.

First, I think it’s worth noting that fact that the vaccine will not spell the end of our suffering in the present, this government cannot be trusted to roll out the vaccine in a quick manner and they certainly cannot be trusted to return our freedoms with gusto as we might expect them to do. Chris Witty already said that restrictions could be needed next winter to battle the usual flu outbreak, just one example of how governments across the world will now put health measures at the heart of how they govern.

Physical health is now a policy priority that is put above all others: above freedom, above mental health and above supporting livelihoods.

The class gap that will emerge in the coming years thanks to the closing of schools, the cancelling of exams and the devaluation of university degrees will hurt the most vulnerable long after COVID comes to a close. SAGE and the Prime Minister were more than willing to sacrifice the future of those that are not even medically vulnerable to COVID-19, and I’ve no doubt they’d be willing to make those same sacrifices again.

Instead of spelling an end or reduction in globalisation, coronavirus has hastened it with countries instigating the same health policies at the request of international organisations like the WTO. This trend of global governance functioning by medical diktat is now a trend that shall take hold indefinitely. A powerful lobby of elites will overshadow national governments, demanding that they take stringent public health steps without any regard for the damage they may cause. Scientists have now been elevated, their advice put above everything else – they shall now hold power that they have never held before.

Outside of large factors, small things in our lives with be transformed. Masks will remain, workplaces will now opt for online work instead of the office space and governments will demand we be cautious at all times in regards to catching illnesses - even after COVID-19 is defeated. The police have been emboldened, and the public have shown that they will automatically consent to the stripping of liberties if they are told it is for the right reasons.

We have to ask ourselves what powers will be given back, and what precedent this sets for the state and the police in our everyday lives. It’s clear, from whatever angle you view it from, that the pandemic has changed everything and there will never be the ‘normal’ we once knew again.