WHY EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE COVID-19 MORE SERIOUSLY

Although many lockdowns are loosening, and people around Canada are getting back to normal life, COVID-19 is still a problem as cases continue to rise around the world. It might not seem as serious to many people, but the reality is that COVID-19 is only becoming a greater and greater problem that will only take more and more time to resolve. Every day, the world sees a record amount of COVID cases, and the number of cases grows exponentially. Up to date, there are nearly 27 million cases of COVID-19 and nearly 1 million deaths. One of the biggest reasons people do not take COVID-19 seriously is the fact that many young people survive COVID and that half of the people who contract the virus recover. Many young people are starting to become less scared of contracting the virus and take fewer precautions. They gather for parties without wearing masks or physically distancing. The result is that many more young people are contracting the virus. But just because people can survive COVID, does not mean people should take COVID less seriously and have a false sense that COVID-19 is not scary. This is because it not only has severe effects on the health of many people but can negatively affect other vital sectors like the economy and educations.

One of the less-known reasons why everyone should take COVID 19 seriously is that it is still a relatively unknown virus. What this means is that we don’t know for sure if it can have any serious long term health effects on people’s health. People should always take all the precautions possible because there is a possibility that COVID-19 could permanently damage the lungs, heart, and brain. There are a growing number of people who are experiencing painful lingering symptoms of COVID-19 like chest pain, difficulty breathing, fatigue, brain fog, a racing heart, and gastrointestinal problems. The most concerning thing about these persisting symptoms is that they are incurable, can be permanent, and are very debilitating. Many of these people never feel good enough to go back to work and fear they may be permanently disabled. People have to take COVID-19 more seriously because there is a possibility that they can experience these frightening long term affects.

We should also take COVID-19 more seriously because it can have terrible effects on the economy. As we have already seen, many businesses will close because of the effects of the pandemic like lockdowns and border closures. This is a huge problem because many people can lose their jobs and will struggle financially. Though there is financial aid, this help is only temporary and if we do not take COVID seriously and keep the economy closed, countries like Canada, who offer billions of dollars to businesses and the unemployed can fall into great debt and will no longer be able to help those in need. This will have devastating effects and can lead to a recession, which everyone knows, takes a long time to recover. It is also possible that the quality of essential services like transportation, education and healthcare will take a blow due to the cut in funding to balance the budgets. Younger people, the people most likely to not care about COVID be most concerned as they are likely going to have to be the generation that will have to pay for the debt they helped accumulate. Everyone should take COVID-19 seriously and try their best to stop spreading it so that we can end lockdowns, open businesses and borders, and get the economy running before it is too late.

Another important reason we should take COVID 19 seriously and try to stop it is so that students can go back to school. Luckily, this fall, Canada will be in good enough shape to open schools to any student who wants to attend in person. The rest will attend online. Both options have their drawbacks as in-person schooling can have greater chances of spreading the virus and the quality of online school is not as effective as in-person school. We can always improve the quality of online schooling but there are limitations to online learning. No matter how much we can improve online school, research shows that talking to another in person usually helps comprehension better than communicating online. The environment of a classroom is also more helpful for learning than at home, which is solitary. Without a good education, students will have negative long term effects that can creep into their future education or even as far as their future careers. To avoid that, or to lessen the effects, everyone should take COVID seriously.

We need to begin taking COVID-19 seriously because it can harm every aspect of our lives. We need to take all the precautions possible like wearing a mask, physically distancing, and avoiding gatherings more seriously so that we can stop the spread. Only when everyone, especially the young people, knows about the serious consequences of letting COVID-19 continue to spread and keep economies and eduction compromised, will they take more initiative to help stop COVID 19 and bring everything back to normal.