Contemplation: Lessons learnt from COVID-19 and their implementation by the EU

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Nidhi P Pawar, a second year medical student at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, in Karnataka, India. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Covid-19 is an ongoing global pandemic whose intensity and widespread approach, has proven to be one of the biggest challenges posed before us today. Affected countries have continued their fight against it through innumerable measures naming it, “The New Normal” aiming at minimizing interaction among people and breaking the geometrically progressing chain of affected individuals.

Measures like closing of educational institutions and workplaces has led to financial instability, indirectly affecting all sectors of people. Shutting down of public places has affected daily wage workers and small-scale industries’ owners, directing many nations towards poverty, driven by the need to survive. With ceasing of tourism and lack of economic support from its inhabitants, nations have suffered a major socio-economic setback.

Post the initial lockdowns, considering the improvement in the situation led to gradual re-opening of services worldwide, including schools in some countries accompanied by the need to find a vaccine alongside.

But the virus lay among us and chose to attack us yet again and stronger this time with new strains and greater intensity, making it difficult to fight it. Adding onto this were a few noteworthy events like, presidential elections in The United States of America, Coup d’état in Myanmar, Indian farmers’ protest in the country.

This was also accompanied by the attitude of people who failed to understand the gravity of the situation and let carelessness creep in.

Gradually, there was a shift of attention towards the vaccination rush where different countries got involved in being the first to discover the most effective vaccine.

Followed by the discovery of various vaccines, hesitation to take the vaccine shots became the new hitch.

Amidst these issues lie a few more important issues like, lack of awareness to deal with the patients who have tested positive, dearth of hospital beds and increased demand for masks and other sanitary supplies.

Different countries tackled these issues in their own efficient ways. Despite increased efforts, some countries have shown very little improvement in their situation. With the third wave making its way towards the European countries, it becomes increasingly necessary for them to impose strict laws avoiding any form of public gatherings and avoid any sort of protests which demands organized governance from the respective governments. Although Europe has started the vaccination drive, they have been moving at a relatively slower pace when compared to The United states of America, which could be due to various reasons which need to be addressed. Also, Europeans have been working on stocking up sanitary supplies to tide them through and the government has had the inhabitants go through frequent Covid-19 testing which has helped them to keep a regular check on the situation.

With respect to the above information, it is obvious that Europe has been fighting its battle bravely but has had a few issues which needs checking up on. Attending these drawbacks and keeping in pace with the other activities will help the Union to succeed in facing the pandemic.

About the author

Nidhi P Pawar is a second year medical student at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, in Karnataka, India. She is deeply interested in serving people and strongly believes that there is no other field which can do better justice to the same, than medicine. She wishes to work towards her goal of being an able and responsible physician and stay true to the nobility of her chosen profession.