ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

Various studies have showed that, the coronavirus outbreak has affected not only a few but
every aspect of human life to some extent. When it comes to the positive impact of COVID-19
on Environmental aspects, the pandemic has ultimately improved the quality of air in various
parts across the world, has lessened the water and air pollution, etc.
However, on the other hand, the negative consequences include increase in overall amount of
medical waste, unmethodological use and disposal of masks, gloves, and disinfectants
endangering the environment around the citizens.

A) Economic and financial impact of COVID-19:

● The pandemic situation has massively affected the entire economy and financial
state of the population, even if that is not felt yet on everyone's household
budget.
● The condition has taken the root in nearly every country on the globe upending
the personal and economic lives.

B) Freedom, physical safety and security:

● In midst of an ongoing pandemic, various organizations had to redefine the
mission of their physical security teams to make sure that their employees and
customers avoid certain likely health threats.

C) Health and Social Care

 In a developing country like India, the accessibility and quality of health care is
not at par with the huge population to be supported.
 This has put a strain on the health care system of the country with individuals
finding it difficult to access quality and affordable health care in the time of the
pandemic.
 The difficulty to access quality health care has adversely affected the quality of
life of individuals.
D) Home Environment
 During the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has been forced to stay
and work from home due to the risk of infection.
 For households where someone has contracted the infection, there is a added
stress of exposure to the virus, as well as looking after the patient who is in
isolation.
 On the other hand, families are getting more amount of time to spend together
which was otherwise not possible. But overall, there has been a drastic change in
the home environment.
E) Opportunities for acquiring new information and skills
 The increased access to internet has put the world at our fingertips. We have
access to any type of information we wish to know. The increase in online
learning has also given a chance to learn new skills in the times when we are
locked at home.
 F) Participation in and opportunities in leisure/recreational activities.
 After contracting COVID-19, the post COVID recovery puts a limit on the
activities an individual can perform, and hence the participation in leisure
activities is reduced which puts a toll on the quality of time spent by the
individual.
G) Physical Environment
 The pollution levels in the environment have decreased as compared to the pre-
pandemic figures. This has resulted in a cleaner air quality as the industries are
closed and there is less traffic on the road.
 The cleaner air is an important aspect for the recovery of COVID-19 patients.

SOCIAL IMPACT:

Throughout the pandemic, most of the individuals reported that their social relationships were
either moderately or highly affected due to some reason. However notably, the relationship
between specifically the parents and their children were either enhanced or not affected at all.
On the other hand, several studies have also concluded that during the lockdown period, most
of the families were efficiently able to communicate with their family members and support each
other no matter what. The findings of these particular studies also revealed that the social
relationships between siblings and their parents did not change even slightly, or simply
improved in several cases.
As a result, more than 70 percent of the individuals reported that they have been able to spend
ample of desired time with their family members after the spread of the coronavirus.
This not only enhanced the communication among all the family members but also strengethend
the resilience of the family.

Furthermore, the same studies also proved that in case of friends and colleagues, the social
relationships amongst this group were negatively affected by the pandemic, where maximum
individuals / participants reported that their social relationships became weaker. Such results
are therefore expected in the beginning itself as there has been physical distancing between
friends and colleagues for a longer time span.

However, multiple liner regressions showed that individuals within the age group of 36-45 were
more likely to have better social relationships during the coronavirus outbreak and the pandemic
as a whole. This could apparently be attributed to the ability of this age group to enhance social
relationships via online and social media platforms.