Q9. How has the covid 19 impacted your life?
(My answer before class)
Covid-19 has not negatively impacted my life as the restrictions to movement and socialization, contact tracing and the mask mandate were the major mandatory solutions introduced to deal with the spread of Covid-19 in both South Korea and my home country which had a daily impact. I found the multiple tests to be discomforting and at times a hassle, especially where the multiple such tests were mandated to be taken sometimes hours apart. I think that I would rank the effectiveness of the solutions in the following order; vaccine, personal tracking technology, and mask-wearing. I think that the vaccine development was an innovation as previous vaccines of this nature were developed over a much longer time frame and with lower effectiveness though like with any technology there was an initial miscommunication which has led to hesitancy among the population. Personal tracking which is akin to and accompanied by quarantine and contact tracing is a long-established practice in disease control while masks proved to be not as effective given the earlier conflicting advice and varied standard and quality. Jamaica’s response to Covid-19 was initially very effective which resulted in some of the lowest mortality rates in the region which essentially consisted of the “lock-down” of the country which is even more impressive given that the main driving force of the economy is tourism and entertainment and this decision expended a lot of political capital. I believe that one major area in which we can do better is the emphasis placed on effective communication even in cases where the consensus changes based on lessons learned.
(My partner's answer)
Covid 19 has impacted me a lot. Since 2019 when the pandemic broke out, we’ve been careful to protect ourselves from contracting Covid, yet being exposed to the risk of getting infected in the long term makes me feel exhausted and cynical. To rank it, my order is “vaccine, mask personal tracking technology”. Our country gave a strict policy toward Covid at the beginning, and it affected our economy because tourism is one of our important industries. Especially the reduced tourist from China affected us a lot. I think what our government can do is to better strike the balance between controlling Covid and maintaining economy’s situation.
(My answer after class)
My opinions have remained largely unchanged after class. I still believe that Jamaica’s response was very effective but having listened to the experience of others has forced me to question why the government’s response was so effective and why the populace’s response was positive and supportive given that this has not been the case in the past. I believe that this is due to the support of the opposition political party, the un-usually high favorability of the ruling government among the populace, a trendy social media campaign, and the support of local groups both informal and formal community-based organizations, criminal organizations, and churches which hold tremendous sway. This unanimous acceptance is atypical as I strongly believe that if any of these groups showed descent then not only would there be an outcry among its supporters or members but also it would spread throughout society. This was particularly stunning in the case of the church as it would be expected that there would be protestations about the restricting of in-person attendance and instead, they widely accepted the government’s suggestions that online sessions would be required. I therefore think that one additional lesson is the importance of seeking the buy-in of such groups into public health or national security measures/ campaigns.