Impact of COVID-19 in our day to day activities of life

Author – Dr Anil Kumar, HOD, Department of ME, BNMIT

Covid-19 has affected day to day life and finally is slowing down the global economy. The Carona virus has changed how we work, how we play, and how we learn. This pandemic has affected thousands of people who are either sick or are being killed due to spread of this disease. Most of the people in India are somehow feeling like a sense of anxiety or stress because of due to COVID-19. It has created several disruptions in public’s life from their work schedules, uncertainty about the future and about their health etc

It has rapidly affected in the major areas like Business, Education system, Transport system, Sports Agriculture etc. and few of them which are explained below.

1.  Impact on Education system: As we know that due to Carona virus the state government across the country temporarily started shutting down schools and colleges. As per the present situation there is an uncertainty when school and colleges will reopen. No doubt there is the crucial time for education sector because entrance test like NEET, CET test, Comed K etc., for several universities and competitive exams are held during this period. Many entrance exams are postponed including Engineering, Medical, Agricultural etc. This situation can be ringing a bell mainly in private sector universities. May be some faculties and employees may face salary cuts and increments can also be postponed.

In India low income and private and government school may not be able to adopt online teaching methods due to lack of facilities. And as a result there will be completely shut down due to no access to e-learning solutions.

Many students from India took admission in abroad like US, Germany, Australia etc. and these many countries are badly affected due to covid-19. Possibility is that students will not take admission there in future and if the situation persists in the long run then there will be a decline in the demand for international higher education also.

Many fresh graduates and final year students are facing a crisis of joblessness due to COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that in the month of April approximately 27 million youth in the age group of 20-30 years have lost their jobs. Engineering, Construction, hospitality, manufacturing and automotive sectors have been affected badly

2. Impact on children: Many children are facing uncertainty about their exams and academic future. They are now actually spending most of their time in doors and cannot go out and meet their friends. They may complain of boredom due to limited access to regular interactions with their friends and peers. They may feel like frustrated. Many teenagers are sleeping quite late at night after spending hours on the internet and social media and then waking up late. Children may love to play at least in the street itself (forget about the playground) but parents could not be allowed them to play because of the fear of carona virus. Parents actually facing the toughest situation to control their children with in the four wall of their house for so many days. Locked at home kids may experience a range of psychological issues such as anxiety, fear, worry, depression, difficulty in sleeping, and loss of appetite, as well as acute stress disorder. Some young adults may develop dependence on substances such as tobacco, alcohol to beat boredom, loneliness and emotional changes.

3. Impact on Transport system:The national lock down to curb the spread of covid-19 appears to have had a highly destructive impact on the public transport in Karnataka. The state’s bus transportation  corporation one of the most well connected systems have posted losses amounting  to hundreds of crores as buses have been kept off the roads and most public transport has ceased throughout the country. Many private public transport owners handed over their permit to the government due to lack of business.  Bangalore based ride hailing service OLA Company was laying off about 1400 employees as the lock down has impacted the company’s revenues. The revenue has come down 95% over the past two to three months

Dr. B.S. Anil Kumar

Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

B.N.M. Institute of Technology