Post Covid World Essay

Post Covid World Essay: Introduction

Since the beginning of the 21st century, there have been many endemic and pandemic diseases such as SARS, especially in Eastern Asia (Jacobsen, 2018). Nevertheless, none of them has been as drastic as the COVID-19 [Coronavirus]. Accordingly, in this assignment, the aftermath of Coronavirus in Turkey, America, Canada, and the U.K. have been meticulously analyzed and compared. The paper also presents insights into the national level and social class level to highlight the impacts of Coronavirus in selected countries. As we all know, the Coronavirus has dominated the world agenda this year. Each country has implemented certain measures and provisions, such as prohibiting and limiting the social life in order to prevent the transmission and to protect the citizens’ well-being. Subsequently, the way people live has been revolutionized, and populations have been exposed to the drastic shifts at many levels in terms of their cultures and professions.

Body Paragraphs

Turkey is known to be a collectivist nation in terms of lifestyles and decisions made by individuals, thus enabling an obedient approach to the regulations and precautions taken by authorities, as many suggest (“Koronavirüs Toplumsal,” 2020). In Turkey, firstly, elderly citizens over 65 and citizens with chronic diseases have been banned from going to public places, since the mid-March (“Koronavirüs Toplumsal,” 2020). However, social support groups were constituted in order to meet their daily needs. After two weeks, the government also banned the people under the age of 20 (“Coronavirus Tedbirleri,” 2020). Although these implementations have some shortcomings, such as the disobedient children being left alone at home, one can readily infer that they have certainly precluded probable deaths and decelerated the infected numbers. In the following days, the measurements included planned curfews, limitation of shifts in public and private offices, and some regulations regarding the medical precautions such as masks and social distancing in public buildings (“İş Hayatındaki Corona Mağdurları,” 2020). In this sense, one can infer that Turkey was comparably responsive to the crisis, and as statistics inferred, it managed to control the pandemic within the country.

Nevertheless, on a national level, there have been certain cultural and financial outcomes for many citizens. Many people from various sectors became unemployed, such as tourism, service, beauty shops, entertainment, sports, and so on (“İş Hayatındaki Corona Mağdurları,” 2020). On the other hand, people who could not work from home were again mistreated. That is, masks were not provided for them, and they had to use mass transportation, so they confined themselves to cologne. Although the exporting of masks was banned unless permission was obtained, the costless mask distribution that was promised was insufficient, and the pharmacies were mostly empty due to the redundant storage of the community.

On the social level, one can readily infer that Turkey is a collectivistic society in which people do not hesitate to show their affection through close contact. Even when people wait in line at the atm, they find it hard to keep a distance. Visiting family elders and showing respect through kissing their hands are crucial in terms of the culture. All of these may indicate that social distancing caused a bigger hardship compared to other individualistic societies. In time, the obligatory isolation may give place to a voluntary one and cause Turkey to become a society in which collectivism and individualism are intertwined. In terms of education, Turkey surely was not ready for an online education system. Research showed that only 60 percent of the university students have a tablet or a computer (“Korona Salgınının Eğitime Etkileri,” 2020). Also, the primary school lessons were given from the T.V., which were completely inadequate, and religious and violent contents were shown between the lessons. However, one can statistically conclude that Turkey is less affected by the Coronavirus than the U.K., America, and Canada, mostly thanks to the government-based healthcare system and measurement implementations.

On the other hand, American and the U.K. were late to implement precautions against Coronavirus. Accordingly, the presidents of these nations first believe that the virus was not as dangerous, and they neglected the importance of such a probable pandemic within their countries. Statistics reveal that America has almost 2 million cases and more than 100,000 total deaths, and the U.K has more than 250,000 cases with more than 35,000 of total deaths, as of today (“Coronavirus Cases,” 2020). When considering the Turkey’s statistics (150,000+ cases with more than 4,000 death toll), one can suggest that these countries were late to respond to such a danger (“Coronavirus Cases,” 2020). Especially, the President of the U.S. and the U.K. first denied the danger. Subsequently, the statistics reveal the importance of timely precautions.

On a national level, both America and the U.K. were alerted economically and socially. That is, stock markets in these countries collapsed, and many international organizations have lost drastic values. Due to the nature of the healthcare system of the U.K, it was not affected as much as America because its healthcare system relies highly on private insurances and hospitals (Sullivan, 2011). Therefore, many people first had a hard time adapting and taking measurements in terms of medicine. Furthermore, there were regional inconsistencies in America because federal authorities could not agree with local ones, thus creating the most extreme death toll in the world (Song & Hei, 2020). On the social level, as the demographical and sociological factors of America vary depending on the state, one cannot claim a certain interpretation (Song & Hei, 2020). However, citizens living in Los Angeles and Florida had a hard time keeping up with the requirements of social distancing and other measurements (“U.S. States,” 2020). This fact also created nation-wide confusion; that is, there were even protests against social distancing and curfews. On the other hand, U.K. citizens are known to be more intellectuals than American citizens. More specifically, they could keep up with the lockdown measurements and thus decreasing the number of cases and deaths.

Canada is considered one of the most developed nations of the world, both economically and culturally. Also, the statistics show that Canada has more than 80,000 cases, with slightly 6,000 deaths, as of today (“Coronavirus Cases,” 2020). One can conclude this slight success with the developed healthcare system, trust to authorities, and education level of citizens. On a social level, Canada also managed to control the crisis, when compared to America. Although there exist economic outcomes for every nation of the world, Canada shifted its economy to freelance, and home-office based applications thus prevented a more drastic economic lost, as many countries such as Germany, Turkey, and the U.K.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper has investigated the aftermath of Coronavirus in America, Turkey, Canada, and the U.K. Accordingly, relevant statistics have been presented to highlight the interpretations, along with findings. Firstly, one can conclude that the pandemic has inevitably affected the economy of each country, but the sociological impacts can differ depending on the individualistic and collectivist nature of the societies. That is, although Turkish people could follow regulations, American people (especially in Florida and L.A.) had a hard time following measures, thus increasing the number of cases and death toll. Also, although the U.K. administration was late to intervene with the pandemic, the established structure of healthcare and the level of literacy has helped a lot eradicate the pandemic, similar to Canada (except the government was responsive). Also, Coronavirus has drastically changed the nature of work. In the following years, there might be an increase in freelance and home office jobs across the world. After all, one can finalize that the way people live has been revolutionized, and populations have been exposed to the drastic shifts at many levels in terms of their cultures and professions.

References

Jacobsen, K. H. (2018). Pandemics. The Oxford Handbook of Global Studies, 646-662.

Koronavirüs Toplumsal Alışkanlıkları Değiştirebilir. (2020). Retrieved May 27, 2020, Cnnturk.com

Sullivan, L. W. (2011). Introduction: An Overview of the US Healthcare System and US Health Disparities at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century. Healthcare Disparities at the Crossroads with Healthcare Reform, 3-6.

Song, B., & Hei, X. (2020). Models and Strategies on Reopening Lockdown Societies due to COVID-19.

US States' Moves to Ease Coronavirus Lockdowns Risk Dangerous Patchwork.