Five years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has witnessed over 20 million deaths, with profound societal implications. Initially designated a public health emergency in January 2020, the pandemic lead to significant disruptions globally. The author recalls their early disbelief regarding the potential severity and scale of the crisis, highlighting personal conversations that foreshadowed the massive toll the virus would take. The forthcoming essay aims to explore how this unprecedented mortality event has transformed our world, both visibly and in subtle ways.
The World Health Organization designated Covid-19 a public health emergency at the end of January 2020, marking the beginning of an unprecedented global crisis.
Years of mass mortality, inescapable infection and deep disruption affected even the relatively safe, leading to a transformative period in human history.
In March 2020, I found myself debating with a friend about potential death tolls, which highlighted the underestimation of the pandemic's impact.
The pandemic's onset felt unimaginable, entering a world where a health emergency like this seemed relegated to the past, yet it became our reality.
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