COVID-19: Never going back to normal, say experts

A mask-clad woman walks at the Deira Souk in the Gulf Emirate of Dubai on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

As the pandemic seems nowhere close to an end, experts say people need to adapt to the changes brought on by COVID-19, CNN reported. "Things are most likely never going 'back to normal'," CNN quoted experts as saying.

Experts believe masks, physical distancing, people spending very little time at grocery shops, disappearing handshakes and embracing would become the new normal. "Politicians who pretend that 'normal' is just around the corner are fooling themselves or their followers, or perhaps both," CNN quoted Thomas Davenport, the president's distinguished professor of information technology and management at Babson College in Wellesley as saying.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California, said we should adapt "to the mask as the new normal". "When both good and bad things happen, at first you feel intense emotions... Then you adjust and you go back to baseline. This is much more powerful with positive events. People don't adapt as completely to negative change in their lives," Lyubomirsky said.

Pakistan opens all educational institutions

Pakistan on Wednesday opened all the educational institutions that remained shut for nearly six months due to the pandemic. Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said the decision was taken after only 1 per cent infection was detected in educational institutions.

Madrid plans new anti-outbreak plan as virus spreads

Spain's capital and its surrounding suburbs, the European region where a second coronavirus wave is expanding the fastest by far, are edging toward stricter curbs on people's movements and social gatherings following a political dispute that angered many Spaniards. Madrid is leading the resurgence of the virus in Spain and Europe. The region has a two-week infection rate of 784 cases per 1,00,000 residents, which is 2.5 times higher than the national average of 294 cases.

Virus outbreak in Wales hospital

Planned surgeries are being suspended at a hospital in Wales following a COVID-19 outbreak there.The Royal Glamorgan Hospital says it has identified 82 cases, some linked to transmission within the hospital. As a result it has announced some temporary curbs.

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