Little by little, we are learning more about Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes, Covid-19. What we are learning is clearing up some of the misconceptions we had initially.

• Covid-19 is not a “Chinese flu.” It is not any kind of flu.
• Covid-19 is HIGHLY infectious. All it takes is a single virus particle penetrating one of your cells to trigger the virus replication machinery that will produce an army of virus particles within you.
• If you are lucky and in robust good health, you will recover from a Covid-19 infection, but that does not mean that you will be as healthy as you were before you were infected. It appears for many, that damage to the lungs, heart, and other internal organs is permanent. This is true even of people who have a “light” case and show no symptoms. This damage will almost certainly shorten a recovered person’s healthy lifespan.
• Even if you are young and in robust good health before contracting the disease, Covid-19 could still incapacitate you for months. It could still kill you.
• It is insane to counsel people to deliberately become infected so that society can reach “herd immunity” where the virus dies out because there are no longer susceptible people to infect. At best, you are consigning such people to internal damage and a shortened life. At worst, you are consigning them, and the people closest to them, to death.

We will be able to control Covid-19. When we do, we will transition from the Covid-19 world we are now living in, to a post-Covid-19 world that will be different from any world we have ever lived in before, certainly different from the world we lived in prior to 2020. It is not clear how different it will be. We are entering uncharted waters. Covid-19 is a warning shot across our bow. What will the next pandemic be, Covid-21 perhaps? Or maybe Covid-25? Whatever it will be, we should protect ourselves in advance by avoiding risky behaviors, such as getting too close to too many other people.

Some things are likely:

• Social conventions could change—the handshake could disappear as a gesture of greeting.
• The arrangements of restaurants and bars could change, spreading people out more.
• Having stuff delivered rather than “going shopping” could shake up the retail industry massively.
• Remote work, using Zoom or something like it could become the new normal for many kinds of work.
• The need to physically move people could be diminished, affecting the futures of transportation companies such as airlines, railroads, and automobile manufacturers. Brand new Boeing 737-Max airplanes that were built, but then grounded due to an easily fixed design error, may now never take to the friendly skies.
• People could isolate themselves into “bubbles” of a few familiar and trusted people, making it hard to meet and understand people of different backgrounds. This is a recipe for distrust and conflict.
• Contact sports could give way to virtual gaming.
• Spectator sports could be played in empty stadiums, conveyed to their online audiences by video.
• Schools, from at least middle school up to grad school could go virtual.
• Reading books could see a resurgence as a popular activity.
• Animation could increase market share at the expense of live action movies and TV shows.

Perhaps most important, things that we do not anticipate will also be impacted by the emergence of the post-Covid world. The impacts of these things may far exceed the impacts of the changes that we do expect to occur.

What should we do?

• Everyone should do everything that they can to help the world move from the current Covid world to the yet to emerge post-Covid world. It is critical to put Covid-19 behind us. That means taking the measures that science directs us to take, such as social distancing, mask wearing, being tested, and quarantining ourselves after exposure to a possibly infected individual. It also means getting vaccinated when a vaccine that has been proven to be both safe and effective becomes available.
• If you are currently in a profession that will diminish in importance in a post-Covid world, consider changing to one that will flourish. There may be diminished demand for workers who build airliners in the post-Covid world. There may be greater demand for people with computer skills, who can work from home.
• Consider what you have in your investment portfolio. Owning office buildings in the center of major cities may not be as lucrative as it has been in the past. Restaurant stocks may face an uncertain future. Cruise line stocks have already been hammered. Any business that depends on people gathering in large groups is at risk.

Regardless of how things ultimately play out, be alert, be sensitive to what is going on around you, and be ready to make major changes on short notice. We live in an exciting and challenging world, one much more exciting and challenging than it was a year ago. If you ever feared that boredom would overtake you, you can banish that concern right now. Things are plenty exciting right now and promise to continue to be that way for the foreseeable future. Foreseeable future? What the heck is that? I don’t believe such a thing exists.

BIO:

Allen G. Taylor is a 40-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 40 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 9th Edition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Third Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at wwwallengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org.