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Covid-19 is both a threat and opportunity

According to Arnold Toynbee,

“All the history can be written in a simple formula – challenge and response. The environment creates
a challenge and the individual, institution or the society comes up with a response. Those who
respond to the challenges effectively make history. Those who do not rise up to the challenge become
history”.

December 31, 2019 was the day when the first case of the novel covid-19 was reported in Wuhan,
China. After this, the covid-19 spreads like a wild fire to almost the entire world with the exception of
Antarctica, affecting myriads of people. Deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and
severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction, World Health Organization (WHO) made the
assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. This caused a
complete lockdown in most of the countries in the world, confining entire population inside the walls
of homes. Earth had never seen a situation like this before where busy streets were deserted and
people started fearing each other as every person could be a potential carrier of this lethal virus.
People of the earth started adopting themselves with this new pandemic and alternative ways were
discovered to continue the progress of humanity. Slogans such as “work from home”, “keep distance”,
“stay home” etc. were continuously buzzing on both main stream media and social media to spread
awareness among the general masses in order to stop the onslaught of the covid-19. Consequently, the
efforts of governments paid off and the spread of the virus was controlled somehow in many countries
and smart lockdown was imposed afterward. But still, the conditions are not in control and extreme
measured are required to eradicate the virus completely.

The current covid-19 situation can be considered both as a threat and an opportunity. As a threat, this
situation is the biggest crisis of our generation. The decisions people and governments take in this
chaotic situation will probably shape the world for years to come. They will shape not just our
healthcare system but also our economy, politics and culture. We should also take into account the
long-term consequences of our actions. When choosing between alternatives, we should ask ourselves
not only how to overcome the immediate threat, but also what kind of world we will inhabit once the
storm passes. Many short-term emergency measures will become a fixture of life. That is the nature of
emergencies. They fast-forward historical processes. Decisions that in normal times could take years
of deliberation are passed in a matter of hours. Immature and even dangerous technologies are pressed
into service, because the risks of doing nothing are bigger. Entire countries serve as guinea-pigs in
large-scale social experiments. What happens when everybody works from home and communicates
only at a distance? What happens when entire schools and universities go online? In normal times,
governments, businesses and educational boards would never agree to conduct such experiments. But
these are not normal times.

Moreover, the lockdown due to covid-19 pose a much greater threat to economy which would prove
as a last nail in the coffin of human civilization. Joblessness has been increased since the outbreak of
the pandemic as companies do not want to bear the burden of employees when they are earning
nothing due to the complete lockdown. Apart from it, the psychological threat these dark times pose
to humans is much greater. Consequently, domestic violence has been increased along with other
societal problems which are also serious problem in themselves. Interestingly, the lockdown due to
covid-19 is threatening the population crisis of the world and according to a UNICEF report, five

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million children will born by the end of this year alone in Pakistan, increasing the population to an
alarming position. The threat of this virus is more than what people have anticipated so far and
adequate measures are required to stop the eradication of humanity.

On the hand, this pandemic is an opportunity for all the humanity to reassess their life for the
betterment of humanity and start rebuilding a more environment friendly world. There is a restart or
reset button in every electronic gadget for the user to use when it is not responding properly, and I
believe that this ccovid-19 is that restart or reset button for humanity to start afresh. The hectic daily
routine of corporate workers and other civil and private servants has come to stop, thus giving these
workers to be themselves inside the close doors of their homes. Kids are no more in hurry to prepare
themselves for school. For wives, the covid-19 is a blessing in disguise as they do not have the find
the lost pair of socks for their husbands every morning, or bear scolding for the misplaced tie.
Moreover, there is less burden on their as there are many helping hands available to help them out in
the kitchen. It has been long since we had time for each other or even ourselves; this pandemic has
given us loads of time for each other to share our grievances, resolves our differences, and for self-
contemplation. In addition, thanks to God for confining our relatives to their home who would just
come to our home for comparing and ask nasty questions about our future and how well are we doing
in our life?

The covid-19 has proven beneficial for middle class families. Due to lockdown, most of the Fast Food
chains were closed thus providing a relief to the middle class families who has been buying food from
such expensive outlets due to societal pressure. Kids have learnt that they can eat home cooked food
and spending money on food is not compulsory. The less economic burden we have on our shoulders
the more informed and less selfish decisions we will make and this will in turn bring in a culture of
helping people. It is just a realization that our one-time expense at a fast food restaurant can be food
for a whole month for a family.

Apart from it, the environmental implications of covid-19 are impressive and many mile stones have
been achieved which would be impossible if not for lockdown. For instance, Lahore was placed as
the second most polluted city in the world according to the US Air Quality Index (US AQI). Lahore’s
average US AQI was above 200, which is considered damaging for health, whereas an AQI of less
than 50 is considered good or healthy. But due to lockdown, it came down to 16 US AQI which is
more desirable even than Paris.

“When life gives you lemon, make lemonade” is an idiomatic expression used for encouraging
optimism and positivity when things are not going as we wished it could be. In my opinion, this
covid-19 is that lemon that we have to convert into lemonade by thinking positively and taking paths
which can contribute in the welfare of humanity. It is obvious that the threat of this pandemic is much
greater and many people have succumbed to it so far but we have to control our nerves and avoid
panicking. This lockdown has shown to the people of the world that how it feels to be confined inside
the four walls thus giving the people an idea about the miseries of the areas which have been under
lockdown by a powerful country, and I need not to mention those areas. Such time is a wake-up call
for the entire humanity who has been busy in the extravagant life and completely gets adrift from the
path of God. The best thing we can do in this covid-19 situation is to preserve humanity and start
afresh once this whole pandemic is over.

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