The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has become one of the most discussed topics all over the world. For this reason, it is not surprising why students get essay writing assignments the point of which is to dwell upon a certain issue related to COVID-19. Here are the most commonly discussed COVID-19 essay topics and useful samples that will guide you through the writing process.
Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic Essay Sample
How has the pandemic affected mental health? What defense mechanisms do people use to deal with loneliness? How hard has it been to stay apart from the people we love? These are just a few issues discussed in the sample on the topic under consideration.
COVID-19 Pandemic Burnout Essay Sample
This sample covers the main reasons why COVID-19 pandemic has caused burnout and what can be done about it.
COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy: Comparison and Analysis Essay Sample
Take a detailed look at the comparison and analysis of the available COVID-19 vaccines and their efficacy in regards to preventing hospitalization and death from the virus.
Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccine Among the Black Americans Essay Sample
This sample offers a detailed overview of the vaccine uptake among the Black Americans. What is more, you will find out more about the main reasons why some people are more hesitant to take the vaccine than the others.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Economy Essay Sample
The issues discussed in this sample include a detailed description of the challenges which the global economy has faced due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The analysis of the impact on the global economy is based on the examples from the most impacted areas, such as stocks, hotel and restaurant businesses, airlines, and sales.
How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Reformed HR Management in the Hotel Industry? Essay Sample
This sample provides a deeper insight into the changes that occurred in the area of HR management within the hotel industry.
Impact of COVID-19 on Nursing Practice and Healthcare Essay Sample
Nurses are the essential workers who treat patients with coronavirus and help doctors fight the pandemic. Therefore, the pandemic has taken a huge toll both on their life and practice. These and a few other aspects are discussed in this sample in detail.
Social impact of COVID-19 Essay Sample
The way people interact with one another has changed drastically due to the pandemic. Here are the main consequences of COVID-19 on society in general and on social interactions among people in particular.
Business and Work in a Post-Pandemic Future Essay Sample
What will our world look like once the pandemic is over? Will it have its impact on the way we live and do business? The answers to these burning questions can be found in our sample.
Students’ Experience of Online Learning During COVID-19 Essay Sample
This sample covers the main challenges students face while learning during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as shows how they manage to overcome them.
Solutions for Preventing the Next Pandemic Essay Sample
What can we do now to prevent the next pandemic? How can we ensure safety when the next one arrives? Answers to these and other questions together with a few working solutions are presented in this sample.
Loneliness During COVID-19 Pandemic Essay Sample
The COVID-19 pandemic affected not only the economy and society but also the mental states of people. One of the most notable consequences of self-isolation became the growing sense of loneliness that might lead to severe emotional problems. Although the pandemic made people experience loneliness, it is important to recognize the ways how to deal with this problem and help others establish connections with people.
The occurrence of the pandemic forced people to stay at home in order to protect themselves and others from the spread of the virus. Working from home and having to stay at home at all times reduced the amount of time people spend with one another. The lack of small tasks in the workplaces or meetings with friends contributed to the growing feeling of loneliness. Considering that loneliness is an unpleasant feeling that makes a person experience mood downturns, the uncertainty of the situation with the pandemic and the already affected social life might enhance the negative emotional state. Moreover, the studies demonstrated that the pandemic triggered loneliness in society with approximately 36% of the respondents admitted that they experience loneliness. As a result, the following studies identified that 63% of young people reported the symptoms of anxiety and depression (Walsh). Loneliness affects the mental state of a person and leads to negative thoughts and the feeling of despair. However, there are effective and meaningful methods on how to deal with the feeling of loneliness and improve the mental state while helping other people.
In the majority of cases, the feeling of loneliness is the result of the disconnection from regular life and lack of daily real-life communication. Nevertheless, the initial step in coping with loneliness is the decision to reach out to the friends and people that one cares about. One needs to find opportunities to connect with people on the Internet or in person. The quality of the connections is more significant than the quantity of the social contacts. Thus, it is important to approach social networks with caution to not get a false perception about the happiness of others. However, one of the most crucial aspects of dealing with loneliness is the ability to understand whether a person needs help and support. Reaching out to a person and asking about the feelings could make a positive change for somebody and relieve the loneliness (McCrimmon). Helping others cope with loneliness could be an important solution to achieve a sense of fulfillment and would relieve the loneliness for the ones who do it.
Consequently, the fight against loneliness is one of the most crucial goals of society during the pandemic. People need to recognize that maintaining meaningful connections and trying to stay in touch with each other demonstrate the efforts against loneliness. Meanwhile, it is essential to reach out to other people and ask whether they need something or ask them how they feel. Showing someone the willingness to help could make a positive difference and relieve the feeling of loneliness.
Works Cited
McCrimmon, Katie Kerwin. “Loneliness during the Covid-19 PANDEMIC: Fight It with Kindness.” UCHealth Today, 10 Dec. 2020, www.uchealth.org/today/loneliness-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-fight-it-with-kindness
Walsh, Colleen. “Young Adults Hardest Hit by Loneliness during Pandemic, Study Finds.” Harvard Gazette, 17 Feb. 2021, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/02/young-adults-teens-loneliness-mental-health-coronavirus-covid-pandemic/.
COVID-19 Pandemic Burnout Essay Sample
In terms of mental health, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a number of psychological issues, including, stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. Mainly, these effects may appear due to the lack of social interactions, significant change in the lifestyle of an individual, or the need to stay at home. While these outcomes may be regarded as normal emotional reaction to such a situation of social ambiguity, it needs questioning the main principles of overcoming these issues and eliminating their impact on the human’s life.
Burnout syndrome has become a significant concern in recent years. It affects the overall life satisfaction, job productivity, emotional state of the individual, and other aspects of the human’s social life. Burnout syndrome may be defined as a medical condition of physical and mental fatigue associated with work or care providing activities (Elhadi et al., 2020, p. 2). Most often, it involves cognitive fatigue, the feeling of depersonalization, and a diminished sense of success. Despite the fact that the burnout syndrome may be caused or exacerbated by work (Lastovkova et al., 2018, p. 161), this phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic may be caused by the forced change of work conditions (since many employees began to work from home,) or its loss.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly contributed to the deterioration of the psychological state of many people. According to the study by Mion G., Hamann P. et al., only 25% of respondents claimed they were in their normal state of mind since the epidemic began, more than half said they were weary, and one-third said they were depressed (2021, p. 177). The state of overwhelmness should also be added as the psychological effect of pandemic. As a result, the individuals were facing the issues of their usual mode of work, communication, and close contact with people.
Mostly, the burnout syndrome during the pandemic is evidenced among healthcare workers. This might be due to a number of factors, including a lack of personal protective equipment, a lack of suitable medicines, and the danger of infecting family members. Fear of contraction and anticipation of little support for the pathogen, in addition to the financial challenges that physicians face, put healthcare professionals in a difficult position in many countries. Importantly, many healthcare specialists exhibit the signs of emotional distress as a result of witnessing pandemic-related deaths, which in turn, leads to developing the burnout syndrome. They are under a lot of stress, which is harming their mental health and overall quality of life.
In general, it should be noted that the symptoms of burnout syndrome can be experienced both in the workplace and in any kind of intellectual activity. In this way, the educational institutions need to develop the interventions for improving the quality of life for both students and employees. Some of the policies need to speed care and reduce burdens on the employees during the pandemic, which should continue beyond this crisis.
References
Elhadi, M., Msherghi, A., Elgzairi, M., Alhashimi, A., Bouhuwaish, A., Biala, M., Abuelmeda, S., Khel, S., Khaled, A., Alsoufi, A., Elmabrouk, A., Alshiteewi, F. B., Hamed, T. B., Alhadi, B., Alhaddad, S., Elhadi, A., & Zaid, A. (2020). Burnout syndrome Among Hospital healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic and Civil War: A cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.579563
Lastovkova, A., Carder, M., Rasmussen, H. M., Sjoberg, L., Groene, G. J., Sauni, R., Vevoda, J., Vevodova, S., Lasfargues, G., Svartengren, M., Vargen, M., Colosio, C., & Pelclova, D. (2018). Burnout syndrome as an occupational disease in the European Union: An exploratory study. Industrial Health, 56(2), 160–165. https://doi.org/10.2486/indhealth.2017-0132
Mion, G., Hamann, P., Saleten, M., Plaud, B., & Baillard, C. (2021). Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and burnout severity in french RESIDENTS: A national study. The European Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpsy.2021.03.005
COVID-19 VACCINE EFFICACY: COMPARISON AND ANALYSIS ESSAY SAMPLE
The COVID-19 pandemic affected human life around the globe and forced healthcare scientists to put the majority of their forces on the development of vaccines against this disease. Currently, researchers are working on the development of vaccines to reduce the number of complications among patients and fight against pandemic. It is necessary to understand the difference between the effectiveness and efficacy and how the last-mentioned indicator can be compared in case of choosing one or another COVID-19 vaccine.
A decision about taking one or another vaccine can encourage high interest in the effectiveness of the injection. However, the science community can hardly study the effectiveness currently. The effectiveness is about the results vaccines have in real life, with all its predictable and occasional factors (WHO). To define the effectiveness, the researchers at first should provide a vaccine to a certain population and then consider the results. Such studies are in progress nowadays, and the currently measured indicator for vaccines is their efficacy. In contrast to effectiveness, which is based on real-life results, efficacy is provided by the outcomes of the clinical studies with controlled environment and outside factors. To understand the efficacy, researchers compare the number of people who got a real vaccine with the ones who got a placebo (WHO). In contrast to effectiveness, efficacy must be measured for all vaccines before they could be used in the wider samples than trials controlled by the supervision of scientists. Following the report published by WHO, vaccines should have at least 50% of efficacy to be used in healthcare institutions. Thus, one can understand the difference between effectiveness and efficacy and the importance of the latter one in the context of COVID-19 vaccines.
The efficacy of substances can be measured by using a few different indicators. One of them is relative risk reduction. This indicator is measured by the difference between rates of attack that occur among people who were vaccinated and those who did not . The studies with the use of relative risk reduction (RRR) showed “95% for the Pfizer – BioNTech, 94% for the Moderna – NIH, 91% for the Gamaleya, 67% for the J&J, and 67% for the AstraZeneca – Oxford vaccines” (Olliaro et al. 1). Another indicator that can be used to define substance efficacy is the absolute risk reduction (ARR). It is defined by the number of people who get an illness while being and not being vaccinated. For this indicator, findings show “1·3% for the AstraZeneca – Oxford, 1·2% for the Moderna – NIH, 1·2% for the J&J, 0·93% for the Gamaleya, and 0·84% for the Pfizer – BioNTech vaccines” (Olliaro et al. 1). Thus, depending on the indicators that are used for efficacy measurement, vaccines can change their place in the list, but it is also worth noting that all of their indicators are quite high.
Therefore, the difference between effectiveness and efficacy is that the first one is based on real-life results, and the second is on the results obtained in a controlled clinical trial under scientists’ supervision. One can measure the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines using relative risk reduction, absolute risk reduction, or other indicators. Depending on the indicators, different vaccines can become on the top of the list, but all of them have high levels of efficacy.
Works Cited
Olliaro, Piero et al. “COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy and Effectiveness — The Elephant (Not) in the Room”. The Lancet Microbe, 2021, pp. 1-2. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/s2666-5247(21)00069-0.
WHO. “Vaccine Efficacy, Effectiveness and Protection”. Who.Int, 2021, https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/vaccine-efficacy-effectiveness-and-protection.
UPTAKE OF COVID-19 VACCINE AMONG THE BLACK AMERICANS ESSAY SAMPLE
Vaccination has become one of the most effective tools against the COVID-19 pandemic. Laboratories and medical scientists globally have developed dozens of different vaccines. Some experts believe that vaccination may halt the spread of the virus and reduce the death toll among people infected with the coronavirus. The vaccination is not evenly achieved among all social, ethnic, and racial groups. In the United States, the government faces issues with vaccinating Black Americans; discrepancies in statistics and distrust of the healthcare system remain the main problems of African Americans’ vaccination.
Currently, the share of African Americans who have received at least one dose of the vaccine is lower than their share out of the total population in the United States. Namely, CDC reports among the people who have received at least one dose of the vaccine, two-thirds are White (60%), 10% are Black (compared to 12% that is their share out of the total population), 17% are Hispanic, and 6% are Asian (Ndugga et al., 2021). Other groups account for less than one percent. Nevertheless, a more in-depth analysis of the statistical data provided by Nambi Ndugga et al. (2021) shows that Black people have received smaller vaccination shares than their share of cases, and the total population is more than half of states reporting data. It shows that Black Americans bear an unfairly larger burden of the pandemic and need to be better protected, serving as a more vulnerable social group. The most recent statistics show a more positive trend. The gaps in vaccination seem to narrow as more Black Americans get vaccinated than their share of the total population (15% vs. 12%). It is not possible to identify whether this trend will be long-lasting.
While some experts argue that Back Americans have worse access to vaccination compared to white Americans, many researchers have found that distrust of the medical industry is a leading cause of the vaccination gap. According to Armstrong Williams (2021, para. 2), the distrust “arises largely from experimentations done on slaves, typically without anesthesia, and the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, in which 399 Black men were infected and monitored without treatment from 1932 to 1972”. Nowadays, the anti-vaccination movement has developed dozens of conspiracy theories to prevent people from getting vaccinated. The mentioned events and horrific stories make Black Americans more likely to believe in those conspiracy theories and refuse to get a vaccine. Some African Americans do not use healthcare services at all because of discrimination cases and biases. The distrust is rooted in their culture and remains the main obstacle to a successful vaccination of this social group.
In conclusion, the vaccination process faces challenges because some social groups are not fairly treated. Though African Americans bear the largest burden of the pandemic, they account for a lesser percentage of vaccinated people. Fear of being subject to experiments, unfair and unethical medical practices, and discrimination make Black Americans less likely to be voluntarily vaccinated.
References
Ndugga, N., Hill, L., & Artiga, S. (2021, September 9). Latest Data on COVID-19 Vaccinations by Race/Ethnicity. KFF. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-data-on-covid-19-vaccinations-race-ethnicity/.
Williams, A. (2021, August 27). Why aren’t Black Americans getting vaccinated? The Hill. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/569483-why-arent-black-americans-getting-vaccinated.
IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY ESSAY SAMPLE
The coronavirus pandemic has become a real challenge for many areas of human life. The world community was not ready for such changes, so the economy faced a crisis. The pandemic has led to a constant surge in global stocks, employment difficulties, recessions in most economies, a decline in the restaurant, hotel, and tourism industries, an increase in online sales, but a drop in regular sales.
Global stocks are in constant flux, and developed economies are in recession amid the protracted pandemic. Key indices affecting stock markets fell sharply, including the Dow Jones, Nikkei, and the FTSE. Some indicators have dropped so much, returning the economy to the state of the crisis in 2008 (Jones et al., 2021). Vaccine development has positively impacted equity markets, especially in the US and Asia, pushing the indices out of the negative territory. Simultaneously, the economies of large countries suffered significantly, especially against the background of the decline of the hotel, restaurant, and tourism industries, which were the primary sources of income. Overall, the IMF estimates the global economic downturn to be more than 4% for 2020 (Jones et al., 2021). The unique exception was the Chinese economy, which showed growth in contrast to other countries. Thus, the countries’ economies are in recession, and world stocks have gone into more significant dynamics, and stock indices have also experienced a fall.
The hotel and restaurant sector and the tourism industry suffered the most due to the closure of borders, cancellation of flights, and the introduction of restrictions on visits to public places. The hospitality industry has seen a significant drop in the number of accommodation bookings. These changes led to the closure of businesses due to bankruptcy, mass layoffs (Jones et al., 2021). Besides, the pandemic has resulted in significant losses for airlines. Layoffs also occurred in other areas of employment, which led to an increase in unemployment and people seeking government assistance. A large number of people found themselves below the poverty line. The World Bank estimates that up to 150 million people will face extreme poverty in 2021 (“COVID-19 to add as many as 150 Million extreme poor by 2021,” 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in poverty, increased unemployment, and a crisis in tourism and hospitality.
Significant changes took place in the sales area, which triggered an increase in online sales, but businesses faced logistical difficulties. As shopping malls and other retail sites are closing, people are more likely to buy goods online ( Jones et al., 2021). In addition, rising unemployment has negatively impacted purchasing power, forcing people to cut back on spending; accordingly, purchasing behavior has changed significantly. People now prefer to shop online, which requires courier services and logistics companies to expand. Simultaneously, the closure of borders, additional conditions for transportation has complicated all processes in the supply chains. Many businesses began to look for new ways to solve the supply problem and move offline to online.
In conclusion, the coronavirus pandemic has become an unexpected burden for the entire global community. Many people lost their jobs, businesses went bankrupt, although logistics and online sales rose. The economies of many countries are in crisis, and stock indices are in constant motion. The hospitality and tourism industry has been hit hardest by strict lockdowns and border closures by all countries.
References
Jones, L., Palumbo , D., & Brown, D. (2021, January 24). Coronavirus: How the pandemic has changed the world economy. BBC News. Retrieved September 12, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51706225.
COVID-19 to add as many as 150 Million extreme poor by 2021. World Bank. (2020, October 7). Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/10/07/covid-19-to-add-as-many-as-150-million-extreme-poor-by-2021.
HOW HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC REFORMED HR MANAGEMENT IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY? ESSAY SAMPLE
No other industry has suffered from the pandemic as much as hospitality has. Many hotels have closed completely; others had to cut their personnel to survive. To manage the crisis, HR practitioners in the hospitality industry had to adapt. HR managers have invented new ways to reduce layoffs, make employees more multi-functional, and protect workers’ mental health.
The number one HR challenge that the hospitality industry faced because of the pandemic has been the need to lay off employees, which forced many hotels to adopt new palliative strategies. Since hotels were closed for the better half of the pandemic, few of them could afford to keep paying employees their salaries. The unemployment rate among hospitality workers was at about forty percent last year (Lytle par. 1). Hence, hotels across the world have invented new approaches to avoid even more mass layoffs. They include cutting working hours and, more unconventionally, voluntary pay reductions for senior personnel aimed at supporting lower-level employees (Zhong et al. 11). The new strategies may remain helpful for dealing with any future crises. HR departments in the hospitality industry will be quicker to react and show more efficient crisis management.
Another innovative approach that HR practitioners have come up with to survive is cross-training, and it may actually become the new normal even after the pandemic is over. Cross-training refers to the practice of teaching service employees basic skills of other positions (beyond those required for the position they currently occupy). For example, a hotel front-desk employee can also be trained to acquire at least some competencies of an entry-level worker in the law or accounting department. This way, if hotels are forced to cut their personnel again, they can avoid losing valuable staff and pay the remaining employees more for doing beyond what they were initially hired to do (Lytle par. 9). Cross-training can be helpful not only in crisis but also during the off-season as a cost-saving strategy. Most hotels are less busy in the winter months, which means that employees often have much free time during their working hours and can take on new responsibilities.
Finally, the pandemic drew HR practitioners’ attention to the importance of employee wellbeing; hopefully, they will still focus on it after the pandemic ends. The need to protect employees’ mental health because of pandemic-related stress is not unique to the hospitality industry. Over the past eighteen months, workers across various sectors have experienced heightened anxiety due to the fear for their health, job, and the future of the world in general. However, as employees of the industry the pandemic hit the hardest, hotel workers were particularly affected. To uphold personnel’s productivity and promote emotional wellbeing, HR managers in hospitality have adopted more employee-centered HR practices, such as increased flexibility, online leisure activities that promote career self-management, and free counseling, among others (Zhong et al. 11). Given how essential mental health is for workers’ productivity, job satisfaction, and turnover, focusing on employee wellbeing should outlive the pandemic.
To conclude, the new practices that HR managers in hotels have embraced because of the pandemic include crisis management techniques that help reduce layoffs, cross-training, and more employee-centered HR practices. They have proven effective during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, these strategies will likely become commonplace in the hospitality industry.
Works Cited
Lytle, Tamara. “Top HR Challenges in the Hospitality Industry.” SHRM, 1 Dec. 2020, www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/winter2020/pages/top-hr-challenges-in-the-hospitality-industry.aspx.
Zhong, Yifan, et al. “Risk Management: Exploring Emerging Human Resource Issues during the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Risk and Financial Management, vol. 14, no. 228, 2021, doi:10.3390/jrfm14050228.
IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON NURSING PRACTICE AND HEALTHCARE ESSAY SAMPLE
COVID-19 has a significant impact on the healthcare and nursing profession, changing the types of care provided, methods of delivery, workload, patients’ attitudes to their health, and socioeconomic issues linked to receiving care. While some modifications are already addressed, others are only emerging, which makes them more problematic to track. COVID-19 has caused a greater demand for healthcare workers, diversification of treatment and diagnosis methods, has deepened healthcare inequality, and has led to delayed treatment of other diseases, which can cause long-term complications of patients’ conditions.
The immediate impact of COVID-19 on nursing practice is seen in the significant increase in overload and the transition from the traditional models of treatment and diagnosis. The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating to a large number of individuals, creating an unequal workload for nurses and other medical professionals. Work overload has become a major threat to the nursing staff during this period, linked to the lack of resources and delays in responding to the patients’ requests (Garcia & Calvo, 2020). At the same time, nursing practice has become characterized by a dramatic increase in the use of telehealth and distant treatment methods, which have improved the pace and quality of provided care when the limitations of the patients’ location and the workload created obstacles to the physical presence of nurses. The attitudes towards telehealth have dramatically changed, influenced by the investment in digital health and better regulations associated with it.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated and deepened the health disparities in the communities. According to Mishra et al. (2021), the healthcare provision related to coronavirus reveals discrimination against vulnerable groups. This disparity is based on the long-term patterns of inequality in the access to healthcare among diverse communities, making it difficult for multiple minority groups to be treated on time. Similarly, the long-term consequences of the disparities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic extend to the growing gap between the people who receive high-quality healthcare and those who do not have access to adequate medical services. Today’s healthcare professionals face an increasing need to address these inequalities to ensure the protection of their patients.
Long-term health complications are the growing issue for the healthcare and nursing practice caused by the cancellation of appointments and the decrease of attention to other health issues. During the first months of the pandemic, many people canceled their appointments because of the fear of contracting a disease. Alternatively, many of them had their appointments canceled due to the lack of hospital beds or the unavailability of medical professionals. The delayed care will cause severe consequences to individuals, especially the ones with chronic diseases and conditions with high chances of complications. Although healthcare professionals have become less overloaded with coronavirus-related cases, the effects of deferred care will cause a new wave of challenges in the near future.
The healthcare industry and nursing practice have faced a set of difficulties and alterations, including workload increase, growth of medical disparities, and long-term adverse health outcomes associated with delayed care. While the nurses have addressed and adapted to the changing environment, many issues are not yet fully managed. It is vital to provide care to larger populations and encourage patients to continue their treatment and not ignore other health problems.
References
Garcia, G. M., & Calvo, J. C. (2020). The threat of COVID-19 and its influence on nursing staff burnout. Journal of Nursing Management, 77(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14642
Mishra, V., Seyedzenouzi, G., Almohtadi, A., Chowdhury, T., Khashkhusha, A., Axiaq, A., Wong, W., & Harky, A. (2021). Health inequalities during COVID-19 and their effects on morbidity and mortality. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 13, 19–26. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S270175
SOCIAL IMPACT OF COVID-19 ESSAY SAMPLE
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic became an unprecedented challenge in modern history, lacking immediate and straightforward resolution. It has already disrupted the economy, politics, and communities across the globe. This event also has had far-reaching social implications. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic sometimes decreased cohesion but increased isolation and inequality within society.
One of the victims of this pandemic was social cohesion. Extreme dangers posed by COVID-19 often inspired solidarity and collective action but occasionally created new complications. Many communities and societies faced disagreements and increased polarization over different views on the pandemic and appropriate methods for managing it. Indeed, not all individuals recognized the pandemic as a threat that required serious response and sacrifice. For instance, many British neighborhoods faced tensions over adherence to social distancing rules (Borkowska and Laurence 619). A study by Borkowska and Laurence (625) also revealed a decline in various metrics of social cohesion in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many residents’ belief in their similarity to neighbors and readiness to help them declined. Although not all trends in the study are negative, these findings demonstrate that COVID-19 tested the unity of many communities; it might remain a divisive force in the near future.
Another social impact of COVID-19 is isolation. The mass introduction of lockdowns forced billions of people to change their lifestyles overnight. Many everyday activities and social interactions (such as shopping or visiting friends) faced severe restrictions. Such drastic measures were essential to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the first month of the pandemic when no viable alternatives were available (Hwang et al. 1217). However, this policy also exposed millions of people to prolonged isolation and restriction of social contacts. As a result, loneliness and its impacts (such as depression) became much more prevalent. Isolation and loneliness can result in various conditions and complications, including a higher risk of sudden coronary death and mental health issues, and reduced quality of life. In other words, COVID-19 is likely to confront communities with complex burdens of physical and mental health problems in the long run.
Lastly, COVID-19 made societies much more unequal. Although inequality existed in all societies prior to the pandemic, some individuals and groups proved more vulnerable to this calamity than others. For instance, individuals working in the hospitality industry were much more likely to either lose their jobs or face very precarious terms of employment. As a general trend, disadvantaged individuals with low incomes had to deal with the higher financial and other costs of the pandemic. Namely, persons with low incomes often had to continue working despite the high risk of infection, fearing loss of jobs and sources of income (Ahmed et al. 240). Wealthier households seldom encountered such problems, having larger savings and more opportunities to work remotely. Hence, the pandemic will probably continue exacerbating the old social divisions, producing even greater inequality in terms of incomes, health, and quality of life.
In conclusion, COVID-19 profoundly reshaped society, undermining its cohesion and increasing levels of isolation and inequality, as well as their adverse effects. While social distancing and other measures helped curb the virus, they disproportionately affected more vulnerable groups and became a source of tension. Most likely, communities will need years to adapt to these changes and overcome their impacts.
Works Cited
Ahmed, Faheem, et al. “Why Inequality Could Spread COVID-19.” The Lancet Public Health, vol. 5, no. 5, 2020, 240.
Borkowska, Magda, and James Laurence. “Coming Together or Coming Apart? Changes in Social Cohesion during the Covid-19 Pandemic in England.” European Societies, vol. 23, no. 1, 2021, pp. 618-636.
Hwang, Tzung-Jeng, et al. “Loneliness and Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” International Psychogeriatrics, vol. 32, no. 10, 2020, pp. 1217-1220.
BUSINESS AND WORK IN A POST-PANDEMIC FUTURE ESSAY SAMPLE
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered most everyday practices, including how people do business. The virus redefined the employee-employer relationship since remote work has changed both sides’ primary needs and demands. Employers now practice comprehensive worker support and increased trust while the employees receive more autonomy but need more creativity and innovation than before the crisis.
The scholars created their first predictions soon after the COVID-19 outbreak, relying on the first known experiences and psychological theories. They concluded that a more inclusive and innovative workplace required reinvention instead of rearrangement. The most productive strategies presuppose reviewing how employers relate to the workers’ family relationships, time-management needs, and security from the viruses (de Lucas Ancillo et al., 2020, p. 2310). These recommendations are general but critical since they direct the managers towards the individuality-focused approach and massive changes to achieve it. Such measures are not easy to implement during a massive crisis when a single mistake can destroy months’ work. Balancing strict discipline and an understanding approach has always proven challenging, but the pandemic strained the leaders further. Nevertheless, practical business experts and corporation CEOs’ testimonies demonstrate that the scientists have created a constructive strategy.
Notably, the individuality-focused approach is not synonymous with a lack of regulations or laissez-faire leadership style. Instead, this technique focuses on reinventing the communication with employees, affecting their attitudes and engagement. Specifically, Harvard Business School expert Michael Beer asserts that employers will reshape organizational relationships into cultures relying on commitment and trust (Gerdeman, 2020, par. 3). This process is underway, since workers and their managers struggle to retain interpersonal connections via Zoom or Skype. Many people resort to joking and casual conversations while the bosses become more interested in how their subordinates feel working at home and what could help them feel better. Perhaps, many staff members miss the “coffee machine talks” and other offline activities, but most companies are adopting flexible schedules and the possibility to work from home for their everyday convenience.
Nevertheless, the managers are not the only people who must adapt, changing their behaviors on multiple levels. The workers also need to apply more effort to express their ideas online and increase their performance despite working from their homes’ comfort. Thus, stimulating and rewarding them is among the most recent management goals emerging from the pandemic. Specifically, employee benefits constitute the most recently discussed work aspect providing the resources to achieve this aim. Essentially, the virus has shifted the priorities because now everyday life and needs like child care define work, while the pre-pandemic model demanded employees’ adjustments (Allen, 2021, par. 8). Simply put, COVID-19 prompted the business leaders to rethink the “rewarding job” concept to include an individualized approach and support in life beyond the office tasks. This tendency will undoubtedly persist since it increases individual performance and commitment, yielding innovative outcomes.
In conclusion, COVID-19 taught employers to prioritize their workers’ needs while demanding a creativity upgrade from the employees. The virus has imposed flexibility and adaptivity, but it also prompted business leaders to support their subordinates without sacrificing discipline. Paradoxically, the companies that have included individual needs into tangible rewards have received increased productivity that might have been unachievable without a pandemic.
References
Allen, T. (2021). The pandemic is changing employee benefits. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 12 September 2021, from https://hbr.org/2021/04/the-pandemic-is-changing-employee-benefits.
de Lucas Ancillo, A., del Val Núñez, M., & Gavrila, S. (2020). Workplace change within the COVID-19 context: a grounded theory approach. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 34(1), 2297-2316. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677x.2020.1862689
Gerdeman, D. (2020). How the coronavirus is already rewriting the future of business. Harvard Business School. Retrieved 12 September 2021, from https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/how-the-coronavirus-is-already-rewriting-the-future-of-business.
STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE LEARNING DURING COVID-19 ESSAY SAMPLE
Due to the international influence of the pandemic and the required crisis response, educational institutions have to find new solutions for teaching students. Each student has a different personality, background, and habits, affecting their perceptions of distance learning. Some perceive distance education as a temporary solution, while others like the benefits and want to continue digital learning in the future; thus, students’ experience of online education can be split into two categories: positive and negative.
To start with, some students like the flexibility of distance learning. The primary characteristic is the lack of transportation to the campus. Students can listen to the lectures from their bedrooms while wearing pajamas. The availability of lectures at an extended period of time improves learning potential (Dhawan, 2020). Students can watch classes from various comfortable locations and at a suitable time. Some can revisit the lectures while others can decrease the lates and the number of absences. The flexibility assists students with combining their work, home, and educational responsibilities.
Undoubtedly, distanсe education changes the traditional learning techniques, which can bring new experiences to students. It involves the usage of new digital applications to improve the involvement during online learning. Students can find new educational tools supportive during stressful conditions. Also, universities increase the number of groups engaged in online learning, establishing inclusive groups of different ages, gender, social groups, and special needs (Milevica, 2020). Students expand their knowledge and learn new information not only from their instructors but also from a diverse student population. A related reason to the expanded groups includes the guest lectures delivered by famous speakers.
On the other hand, distance education does not have the qualities of face-to-face interaction. For example, the changes in the teaching manner affect the lecture performance. Some instructors are active and have popular campus lessons due to the availability of visual examples, gestures, discussion, and walking in the classroom. Distant education limits such possibilities, and students with experience of energetic campus lessons are discontent with such a difference. Likewise, online learning influences the socialization with peers and the feedback from the teacher (Adnan & Anwar, 2020). The delay in the replies is not comparable to the effectiveness of face-to-face communication.
It is essential to note that not everyone has experience working with technology or has reliable access to such devices. While some students live alone, others share a flat with their families or friends. As a result, they may not have an unoccupied and calm space to listen to the lecture without interruption. Class members may adapt to digital tools longer than others and feel pressure from continuous usage and discomfort. With time, it may create digital communication fatigue (Mctaggart & McLaughlin, 2020). Such conditions create varying opportunities for students, not always recognizable by the teachers.
To conclude, the online learning environment during COVID-19 can have advantages and disadvantages for students. The learners may enjoy the benefits of flexibility to organize a comfortable schedule and save time due to the ability to learn anywhere; they may also learn new digital tools, get acquainted with new lecturers and students who cannot attend the physical classes. However, distant learning can be tiresome and remote in terms of commutation and socialization. It also depends on individual conditions and backgrounds, as well as digital skills.
References
Adnan, M., & Anwar, K. (2020). Online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Students’ perspectives . Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2(1), 45–51. http://www.doi.org/10.33902/JPSP.2020261309
Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520934018
McTaggart, V., & McLaughlin, C. (2020). Remote working the new reality. Organisational Change and Development in a Globalised Economy, 1-15.
Milevica, I. (2020). Rhetorics and challenges of distant education. Challenges of Science, 131–136. https://doi.org/10.31643/2020.018
SOLUTIONS FOR PREVENTING THE NEXT PANDEMIC ESSAY SAMPLE
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant influence on almost every aspect of people’s lives around the world. Although the vaccination campaign can prevent the virus from spreading, this case is not unique, and other pandemics are possible in the future. Availability of vaccination, comprehensive public policy on its necessity, and improvement of people’s health awareness can effectively prevent the pandemic.
The most obvious and straightforward solution for preventing the next pandemic is vaccination, as the current application of this practice provides ample proof of its effectiveness. The ability of publicly available vaccines to prevent the COVID-19 symptoms has been proved during clinical trials, and its application in a real-life setting has also yielded positive results. According to Thomspon et al. (498), the fully vaccinated population of health care workers demonstrated the COVID-19 0.04 disease per 1000 person-days, while the unvaccinated population had 1.38 disease per 1000 person-days. Both mRNA vaccines available for broad application (Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna) effectively prevent the COVID-19 development in the population regardless of current symptoms status and previous presence of the symptoms associated with the COVID-19 disease. The practice of vaccination deserves broader application to prevent infectious diseases that can occur in the human population along with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Still, public policy on communication with patients and promoting vaccination is another factor that defines the efficiency of the vaccination campaign and rates of the population immunization. An example of the current pandemic shows that the factual availability of the vaccine is essential, as well as the availability of reliable information from credible sources. Mass immunization set several ethical questions, like privacy issues, limits of state powers, and public health reporting and data sharing (Subbian et al. 185). The mandatory vaccination questions the freedom of will and right of the person to decide on their health, while the completely voluntary vaccination may affect the public immunity and increase health risks for surrounding people. Public and professional communities attempt to find a uniform solution for these issues, forming the conventional policy needed for public communication.
The last method for prevention of the next pandemic is the increase of health literacy among the population, as the current pandemic showed that a significant number of people did not have information or competencies for lowering the infection risk. For instance, Paakkari and Okan (249) report that approximately half of the European adults possess skills sufficient for infectious diseases prevention. As the communicable nature of the COVID-19 contributed to its spread and the start of the global pandemic, an increase in health literacy could have prevented it or at least reduced the infection rates. Still, processing the experience obtained should lead to the development of awareness about communicable diseases and ways of their spread among non-specialists. Consequently, improving health literacy can slow the infection spread and give healthcare professionals a wider timeframe for its management.
Finally, three essential factors for the next pandemic prevention are vaccination against communicable diseases, formulating public policy for health awareness development, and improving health literacy. The current pandemic reveals that even effective vaccines require previous promotion and informing its recipients about possible consequences. Creating a solid public opinion and positive attitude to vaccination could decrease the chances for the next pandemic to happen.
Works Cited
Paakkari, Leena, and Orkan Okan. “COVID-19: Health Literacy Is an Underestimated Problem.” The Lancet Public Health, vol. 5, no. 5, 2020, doi:10.1016/s2468-2667(20)30086-4.
Subbian, Vignesh, et al. “Ethics and Informatics in the Age of COVID-19: Challenges and Recommendations for Public Health Organization and Public Policy.” Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, vol. 28, no. 1, 2020, pp. 184–189., doi:10.1093/jamia/ocaa188.
Thompson, Mark G., et al. “Interim Estimates of VACCINE Effectiveness OF BNT162b2 and MRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Health Care Personnel, First Responders, and Other Essential and Frontline Workers — Eight U.S. Locations, December 2020–March 2021.” MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 70, no. 13, 2021, pp. 495–500., doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7013e3.
