There has been a multitude of social changes that occurred within the time between March 2020 and the present. But it is difficult to say whether or not these changes will be something that stays constant, or fades away, or becomes new changes. A video lecture given by Julie Pryde, the administrator of Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, titled Social Life: COVID-19 and the CU Community, explains planning in regards to pandemics. Along with this video lecture are a variety of articles that delve into the social change that has, is, and might occur due to this pandemic and the possibility of others like it.
Planning for a pandemic is something that Pryde and the Champaign-Urbana community had arranged for. She begins by saying “when we do have another pandemic, which we will” (Mills, 2020). This in itself might be very frightening, frustrating, and even simply annoying to some. This current pandemic has of course affected each individual in very different ways. There have been those who lost everything: jobs, family, friends, etc. Whereas, some people have merely been irritated by having to wear a mask while getting a cup of coffee. These current attitudes towards the pandemic can possibly have consequences in relation to how people react to another future pandemic, whenever that might occur. Julie Pryde continues to explain that “no place can do this by themselves” (Mills, 2020). Meaning, that preparing for and planning for a solution to a public health crisis is not something that is going to be individually taken on. It can be difficult to gather support for a cause that people do not believe in. Considering that there are many people who currently do not believe that Covid-19 is as bad as it actually is or those who believe that it is simply not at all real. This can lead to very serious challenges such as people not wearing masks. Furthermore, Pryde goes on to explain the predictions that the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District had before the present-day health emergency. One of these predictions was that “if we are to have a really large pandemic, it could disrupt our lives in a way that most people have not experienced before” (Mills, 2020). This was incredibly accurate in accordance with what the coronavirus did to the world in 2020. It can reveal that experts on a topic do in fact know what they are talking about concerning their specific field of work.
However, there are many things that an expert in a particular field cannot plan for and take into account. The administrator of CU Public Health explains the level of planning and preparedness that her job requires in order to take immediate action as soon as a health catastrophe occurs. An article by the New Yorker, The Pandemic Is The Time To Resurrect The Public University, describes how “since the pandemic reached the East Coast, at least twenty-three students, faculty, and staff of the City of New York have died” (Robin, 2020). It can be very difficult for people to trust that the people in power of decision making are going to be and are currently capable of making the right choices. There has been a back and forth message that at one moment masks do nothing to stop the spread of this deadly disease, to the next moment declaring that wearing more than one mask is necessary for the protection of the wearer and those near them. It will probably take time and a series of very accurately made decisions by officials to ensure that there is a sense of trust from the general public. This is of course much more difficult than it seems. The covid-19 pandemic is something that was so novel that it was not easy to make quick and correct responses.
In accordance with social changes around the actions and beliefs around pandemics, are those with regards to other social issues. The same article that was previously mentioned, The Pandemic Is The Time To Resurrect The Public University, explains that “the coronavirus has revealed to many the geography of class in America, showing that where we live and work shapes whether we live or die” (Robin, 2020). There will most likely not be great shifts from how we lived before the pandemic to how we will live once it is over. There are many needs going unmet still, more than a year after the world went into a massive shutdown. The people who utilize public universities might be the same people who do not have other options. Many of them are “lower-income students who may not have reliable internet access or private spaces in which to study” and are “the students who depend on college for upward mobility” (Robin, 2020). The shutdown of these colleges have had and will have major impacts on these students. The pandemic has widened an already large gap between those who have and those who don’t have. One example of solving the issues the pandemic has caused could be “universities collaborating with their state health departments and rolling out tracing technology on their campuses” (Robin, 2020). Large amounts of cooperation are required to ensure that the pandemic does not have worse effects than are already occurring.
A global reset is something that is very much needed and can be clearly seen now that a pandemic has occurred. But, it was evident before covid-19 first appeared, that massive scale social change was already required. The idea that the end of the pandemic will alleviate many of these issues is not true. Public universities that serve underserved populations were already lacking in resources that those with resources already had. Instead of viewing covid as the creation of divides, it should be viewed as a magnifier of what the present systems are. There are those who are willing to work to promote and create this social change. But there are so many aspects and areas that need work.
References
Mills, S. (2020, December 3). 13. social LIFE: COVID-19 and the CU Community, COV-Course: A multidisciplinary approach to understanding the pandemic. Retrieved May 07, 2021, from https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_k3r49unq
bbRobin, C. (2020, May 7). The pandemic is the time to resurrect the public university. Retrieved May 07, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-pandemic-is-the-time-to-resurrect-the-public-university