Do you think the coronavirus will change the way people work, shop and socialize in the future?

Yeah, it’s sad Americans have to do this. I pity them. Fortunately I live in the civilized first world where people can leave their jobs without worrying about whether they will be able to get medical care. 

I wouldn’t call that necessarily civilized, I would call it, that’s one system in a country that works, I live in a that has the most patents and most innovative, so there are I think better ways in my country to make it easier for those that don’t have the access and that can help those that cannot to a degree without massive government intrusion. Who knows when the next pandemic wave will come? Things will change, we will adapt, but a full government takeover we absolutely don’t need.

It must be stressful to live in a country where your freedoms are limited by your own ability to find employment and/or need health care.

Not really.

I count myself blessed that my parents gave me the tools to establish myself in a country where people have this freedom

Mine as well.

Things will never be the same, especially international travel.

No one knows what the situation will be next month, in six months, or in a year or two, it's all guesswork right now based on no facts and no trends.

This is why you save money each month.

Yeah, it’s sad Americans have to do this. I pity them. Fortunately I live in the civilized first world where people can leave their jobs without worrying about whether they will be able to get medical care.

It must be stressful to live in a country where your freedoms are limited by your own ability to find employment and/or need health care. I count myself blessed that my parents gave me the tools to establish myself in a country where people have this freedom.

Just don't lose your job during a pandemic, or you'll lose your health care.

This is why you save money each month.

Land if the free, where you're free to realize you can't leave your job because they own you through the heath care.

Not really, people that plan for such a possibility always come ahead than people living paycheck to paycheck and living as if nothing bad will ever happen, that is a thing that can be easily avoided regardless of where you live or what happens.

That’s assuming the insurance your employer provides is adequate to cover whatever illness you have and doesn’t have huge deductibles.

Again, this is why you always should prepare and never rely on big government to help you. Knowing this and properly preparing can help us avoid a lot of Tragic hardships.

Just don't lose your job during a pandemic, or you'll lose your health care.

That’s assuming the insurance your employer provides is adequate to cover whatever illness you have and doesn’t have huge deductibles.

I and the majority of Americans enjoy private healthcare provider

Just don't lose your job during a pandemic, or you'll lose your health care.

Land if the free, where you're free to realize you can't leave your job because they own you through the heath care.

Will be glad to see the handshake go away. I broke mine many years ago and I cringe when someone with massive lobster hands wants to prove his manhood.

Spot on. People should keep their dirty hands to themselves.

Agreed, especially health monetized n the US. It’s a crap choice between getting treatment and a medical bankruptcy or staying ill.

I and the majority of Americans enjoy private healthcare provider, but now going forward certain safety mechanisms should be put in place help those that don’t have access to healthcare especially during a pandemic like this and at the same time a lot of poor people need to be be more educated about this virus and how to best avoid catching it. Our entire way of life and social living will change, whether it’s for the better or worse remains to be seen....

The SECOND Wave will start when there is no lockdown anymore. Its not based on season with this illness.

That’s exactly right. It refers to a second wave of exposure and infection resulting from the introduction of a new population, i.e. those who have been locked down.

Covid19 was here, is here and will be here for some time.

I hope it will expose the shortcomings of capitalism and make us a more caring society.

Agreed, especially health monetized n the US. It’s a crap choice between getting treatment and a medical bankruptcy or staying ill.

There is also the aspect of the supply chain being centered in the countries that provide the cheapest means of production so corporations can maximize profits. We see the hazard in this with the shortage of PPE and ventilators because corporations moved production to China and out of their home countries in pursuit of profits.

It seems these two issues with capitalism would be painfully obvious to most.

I hope it will expose the shortcomings of capitalism and make us a more caring society.

Well capitalism has nothing to do with it, it’s common sense to be good to your fellow man and to care about people in society that’s how basic people are taught and if you don’t abide by those basic principles then nothing is going to bring society together doesn’t matter what financial system you use.

I think we'll see masks being more common than they were before, and a LITTLE more social distancing (considering it is still next to none here during the pandemic anyway, that's not saying much), plastic shields at registers may be the norm, less physical contact among not-so-close acquaintances, and perhaps more online shopping and other internet-based activities, including telework and education. But the enkais will be back to normal yesterday, and people will still push you out the of way to get in front of you at supermarkets, etc. The small things that change, though, will take root and become customary, though.

I hope people will continue to wash their hands properly. That was something that always bugged me before the pandemic. A squirt of soap and 20 seconds under the tap is not a big ask.

One omission. How will people shop and socialize in the future? I believe it is about the same way they have in the past once the pandemic is over. It will be a while before the face masks disappear and people start shaking hands again but it will happen. No one will hoard toilet paper.

I remember our states of mind after the 1994 Great Hanshin Earthquake. We were in the post-earthquake mode--and, yes, we wore face masks to process us against asbestos. But this went after. With each passing year my students' recollection of earthquake became less and less. The last time I talked to someone about the Daishinsai was with a taxi driver a few years ago. He remembered it well. When I said it was not nostalgic he agreed. I see something like this following the current pandemic, but not quite. Earthquakes are over in a moment, or moments. Pandemic linger.

What people are you talking about? And where do you expect this pandemic to lead?

Here is the very terrible truth: A pandemic kills off a lot of working class people; the people who are left gain considerable economic power. This because they have gone from expendables to precious commodities. This gives them considerably more economic power. This is what happened after the great plagues of Europe in the 14th through 17th centuries.

Will it happen after the current pandemic is over? It depends on the people and where. I see the pandemic in Japan further propelling already current pre-pandemic trends, most importantly the trend toward fewer children. The pandemic has put considerable strains on family life in lockdown. This would be one further incentive not to have children. Besides that, you must expect a significant number of working age people (c. 18 to 65-70) to die from the pandemic. "Significant" is a tentative term; suffice it to say that it will give workers considerably more economic than before. More notably, you'll see workers refusing undesirable jobs (hard, dirty, dangerous, ill-paid) and also the military, which while well-paid is potentially dangerous, as well-as being constraining.

That' Japan. In the U.S. is see the rise of a sustained revolt against the savage inequities of that country.

People are inherently lazy and will quickly revert back to old habits if not constantly kept in check.

Toasted: I hope it will expose the shortcomings of capitalism and make us a more caring society.

What an odd comment. You do realize viruses have existed for as long as there have been people to contract them. Doesn’t matter what kind of economic system there is or has been.

Germany is reopening stores & restaurants today. They are well on the way back to normal.

Germany 81 deaths per million. Japan 4 per million.

We are challenged to adapt to the new reality we all live in.

Opportunity to discover the necessary creative means to interact globally within this new environment.

We are changing and being changed by it.

History has proven human beings are amazingly adaptable.

@Luis. Just saw the article you referenced. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing

Yeah, a bit of threshing going on.

Though some people and societies too, needed it, I think that for a generation or so social relations among people become more complex - online and proximal both.

One thing I am tired of hearing is the expression "new normal." I prefer "back to normal." As I said above, expecting people to do social distancing after the pandemic has passed is not practical. Can you imagine going into your favorite sushi bar or yakitoriya and having an empty seat on either side of you? Or taking your date to the movies and having to seat with one seat between you? The government guidelines even suggested that people not talk to each other on trains.

Shaking hands is a hard habit to break in Western countries. If someone offers you their hand, what are you going to say? "Sorry, I don't shake hands for hygiene reasons." What happens of you meet and greet a friend with a hug? Does that custom disappear? I doubt it.

And airlines are not going to sell fewer tickets so passengers have an empty seat beside them.

I'm all for these measures now and for the next few months until the pandemic is contained but I just don't see them becoming the "new normal."

years from now, the COVID-19 will be remembered just like SARS, MERSCOV and other pandemics, but people won't really take into heart the lessons and precautions learned from these events. Humanity tends to forget the lessons of history which is why they sometimes painfully repeat with a vengeance. What we will remember though is the aftermath and the disruption it caused.

@smartacus I think you summed it up perfectly. I just hope there’s people out there, I don’t honestly believe that this will permanently change our societies around the world. I mean yeah this will last for at least a little while after the vaccine comes out, and is widely distributed, but not too long after that. I mean you can only stay like this for so long, as I said before somewhere else.

Unlikely that lifestyles and behaviors. Habits, the Friday Saturday Izakaya/restaurant get-together s,  I certainly took for granted, will ever return to a pre-coronavirus work life culture.

Frankly It is a thoroughly depressing experience.

The public response will mirror what happened after the Spanish Flu. Sick day's were introduced and anyone with cold or flu as well as other ailments, were expected to stay home until well again to protect other workers.

This worked but over the decades it failed due to lax enforcement. People used sick days for personal reasons and came to work when sick, spreading flu and cold around the workplace.

For the next decade or so I would suggest the rules will be strictly enforced but over time as people forget it will eventually return to how it was before this pandemic.

The manner is which the third question is worded poses a problem in answering this poll.

Maybe for a little while but

What is a "while"? Bear in mind that we still have no established treatment and estimates on vaccines are from 18 months to years in the future. How people throughout the world are affected in the way they "work, shop and socialize in the future" depends entirely on the spread or control of the pandemic and to what extent the political leaders of vaious nations are willing to prioritize their economies over the death tolls.

things will then go back to the way they were.

By "things" do we mean "everything"? If so, no. But if we mean "some" things, then most likely yes. It would be necessary to rebuild our economies. Many companies have resorted to laying people off. Whenever that happens they also rid themselves of excess or unecessary expenses long with evrything else, so if and when they are able to rebuld, they won't repeat what they had before. More companies will find that teleworking saves money, and will create a higher value for workers who are able to work constructively by teleworking. Restaurants who were forced to let people go may have a hard time getting people back. So yes, things will mostly go back but in stages and over time.

In Japan nothing will change.

Only if you choose it to change it for you. By August most people will be back at work, kids will be playing in the parks, going to school, and foir the vast majority things will be back to normal. The rest will still be hiding in their blankies waiting for the sky to fall.

@sf2k

we can’t expect a second wave in October. The way japan is managing this, we’ll still be in the first

For all talking of a "Second wave" as if it was something inevitable, a little bit of science for you:

https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-epidemic-waves/

I hope it will make people more aware that despite some high profile cases, it's the people who work in retail, deliveries, stores etc who are most at risk.

I hope it will expose the shortcomings of capitalism and make us a more caring society.

I hope it will bring the world together in the name of co-operation, mutual trust and harmony.

Well, you've got to have a dream, haven't you?

Will be glad to see the handshake go away. I broke mine many years ago and I cringe when someone with massive lobster hands wants to prove his manhood.

And extremely happy to see hugging go away. Being asthmatic, the perfumes and soaps some people wear are just too strong and linger on my clothes for like hours, and if it is a big gathering and all the smells mixing, I feel a need for an immediate decontamination chamber and shower.

Maybe for a little while but . . .

people in general don't like to spend the days of their lives worrying about something they have little or no control over.

I guess people will relax, but wariness and conscious spacing will remain.

@smartacus, shaking hands and hugging are natural to some cultures, not others. And physical spacing varies by culture. Some cultures feel more comfortable talking with your faces up close up to each other.

I think after a few months things will go back to as they were. Teleworking is not for everyone. I don't like it at all and much prefer being in the office, interacting with colleagues and clients. I'll still do some shopping online as I did before but I won't go to stores any less. And as for socializing, social distancing is not natural. Of course, everyone will resume going to big gatherings such as concerts, sporting events, conferences, festivals, church events, movies, etc. And we'll shake hands and hug each other.

The SECOND Wave will start when there is no lockdown anymore. Its not based on season with this illness.

If you are taking about Japan Working environment will never change.

Welcome to reality .covid will become just another flu related virus. And by time passing time humans will become used to it.

with the second wave expected in October of course it changes things. Welcome to the real world