The corona crisis- a pandemic that has successfully made its way around the globe and at the end of February it finally reached Germany. At first it seemed to be a predictable situation here in Germany, starting out in Bavaria, seeming to be far away from Cologne but the spread of the virus could not be stopped. So in the middle of March the different federal states of Germany were called to action and decided to limit the exposure to the virus, and prevent it from spreading so rapidly. The government announced that all schools, nurseries, shops, apart from supermarkets and pharmacies, would be closed. In addition to that,  gatherings of more than two people are prohibited from now and the citizens are supposed to stay at home and avoid any unnecessary contact to other people, since people with chronic illnesses and over the age of sixty are at risk. 

Speaking  of  North-Rhine-Westphalia, the people here seem to be not as limited in their daily lives as some in Bavaria or other European countries like Italy, France or Great Britain. And therefore we are much  more fortunate and have to realize that this social distancing the way it is handled in NRW is just a privilege that can be easily be taken from us if  do not follow the rules and do what authorities say. Another aspect is, that at this moment, the situation seems to be the worst in Europe, especially in Italy, which has the highest death rate. Thanks to our highly advanced healthcare system here in Germany, not as many people have to die because of the virus.  But even the best health care system does not have unlimited capacities. Therefore, we were asked to help to flatten the curve of infected people to help support the hospitals and prevent a flood of infected people needing treatment at the same time, which would be impossible for hospitals to cope with. 

Since all the schools have been closed, the students are required to do their work at home, and mostly the situation for parents is the same if they are not working in a hospital or emergency (medical) branches. Personally, I was at first really curious about to experience how it would be to be homeschooled, I mean in  the USA it is already an opportunity, but now, that it has been about two and a half weeks, I feel very lonely and stuck at home, most of the time behind  a screen. And of course, the advancement of technology nowadays is a huge help and  advantage at this moment, but it made me realize how much I need my friends and how precious just a walk outside can be when it is not taken for granted. Speaking of taking things for granted, everything that we usually do without really thinking about it like going shopping, meeting friends and family, doing sports(..) everything seems to have been cancelled in order to keep each other safe. And this, as it is going on for almost three weeks makes me really question my view of the world. The importance of each other, even going to school seems to be a desire of some people who were actually complaining of this privilege on a daily basis. When this epidemic is over, I really hope that the world has learned from it, in a way that we behave more like humans to each other, be supportive and stop thinking about ourselves the whole time. I really hope that people will understand what solidarity means after this crisis. In times like these, everyone should have each other’s back and help where they can and where help is needed the most- starting by taking some responsibility and staying at home.

And egoism can be considered to be another “side effect“ of this pandemic. This whole new, frightening situation might lead a huge number of people to go shopping like crazy since the economy has been suffering extremely under this virus and are afraid that basic nutrition will not be available in the near future. I can really understand this feeling and I believe that a  lot of others can do so too. In my opinion, it is the uncertainty of not seeing or being able to predict what other challenges the virus comes along with next and this poses an extreme threat to us, as humans, whose natural instinct is to make sure that we will survive. This might seem to be exaggerated up to a certain extent but I would never underestimate human nature. 

The economy is another field on which the corona virus has put pressure on. On the daily news we are being told and can actually see, how the world economy and stocks  are going down by a growing percentage each day. And this is due to all the businesses, factories and markets that had to close. The production of cars and machines is no longer happening and trade has become very difficult to manage since important countries for the world trade like China and the USA have been also suffering immensely economically and “personally“ since the outbreak of the corona virus.  And what I have been wondering at this particular moment is how small, independent and local businesses are going to be able to recover from this crisis since they do not have an employer who is paying them a steady salary every month, speaking of artisans who can pay for their expenses just if they have orders and/or customers, like restaurant owners every day. Even if the government promises to help them with state loans and prolonging the due date of taxes, it will be  very hard  for them, when they do not have something like an emergency fund. 

Apart from the economy, which is actually kind of stable here in Germany, since we all have still enough food in our supermarkets, the personal experience for each of us will be something we will not forget very easily. In this situation, the mental health of each of us is challenged and is therefore definitely a thing we should not forget about when speaking of this crisis. Some might not be as fortunate as us and have a family to be quarantined with and sit all alone at home. Especially people at risk, like our grandparents might be affected the most by this virus. The fact that we have to stay at home most of the day can be really hard to accept but we should be thankful that we have a home to stay at and can be safe from the virus. A lot has been cancelled like concerts, sport events and going to public places is not possible at the moment. Even if these restrictions limit and slow down our daily lives, we should take this as a lesson to be reminded of the luxury we live in and appreciate everything that we usually take for granted. For me personally, the social distancing has given me a chance to “slow down“ and do the things I usually do not have a lot of time for and tend to procrastinate.

Since no one knows exactly when this crisis is going to be over I would like to share some of my thoughts on its impact regarding how it will change the world with you. This situation has shown that we as human beings are pretty vulnerable and depending on each other. And we can also learn that even if it is not satisfying, but necessary that we can adopt new routines in our daily  lives and realize that you should be putting your health first before material possessions and convenience. Secondly, I believe that this situation gives scientists the possibility to gain more knowledge and might find a treatment or a vaccine for the corona virus. The capacities of hospitals and our healthcare system in general are being tested and we can learn from how well this situation has been able to be handled according to our standards. And lastly, the way how the government will respond to situations like this will change so that they can act even more efficient and in a way that the health and the financial situation of their citizens can be secured in future crises.

And I also would like to call upon all of you to practice social distancing because you always have to keep in mind that by going outside you just not only risk your own health but the health of others, more weaker people that are more likely to be affected by the virus. Always remember that it could be one of your loved ones that might catch the virus due to someone acting irresponsible. Even if this sounds easier than it is, you can still stay in contact with the help of technology and social media. Of course, it is not the same, but the most appropriate way of handling the current situation.

If the world will have changed after the corona crisis - I think nobody will know for certain. But we can all hope that we learned our lesson and that our way of handling a crisis will have improved and also our systems of health and government. And I also really hope that the situation which has become more serious and worse in the USA will get better. The infection rate has been increasing over there immensely since the last week, and they even went past China and Italy. I also think that it gives us hope that countries like South Korea and China seem to be on their way to recover from the virus. This fact provides a great example regarding the efficiency of testing for the virus and how the situation has been dealt with. Especially in South Korea, the situation was handled in a very efficient and safe way and people can go outside already again, they just have to wear masks. So, I would recommend this as an example for the importance of social distancing and being and see that if we all follow the rules, the crisis can be taken under control – but it just works that way if we all work together.