Disclaimer: Before moving to the article, I am in no way happy that this is happening. I am aware that the situation affects many people in many negative ways – they’re losing their stable income, health, and very possibly their loved ones to the virus. This pandemic (and everything that puts people’s lives in danger) is horrible and we should do everything we can to make it stop as fast as possible.
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times. The world has found itself complacent and there are more weak men than there are strong and maybe this will make people think more instead of listening to other opinions on TV.
With millions of cars off the road as people self-quarantine, factories closed in China and all over the world, significantly less airplane travel, and just generally humans emitting less pollution… the skies are so clear! The air feels crisper and colder because there’s less smog trapping the heat in. I can smell the rain again (I didn’t realize I was missing that..!)
Here is some significant difference the corona virus has made throughout the world, which can be considered as a positive factor of the epidemics.
- Pollution levels in China, you can easily detect the difference.
- The decrease in NO2 pollution in Italy.
Feb:
March:
This is the data presented by the European Space Agency (ESA) that shows the same tendency
- Some changes were even visible with the naked eye: like the canals in Venice became crystal clear due to reduced traffic during the quarantine.
As we have seen, pollution in the world has reduced a lot but It has also helped in China to implement some new rules and regulations regarding the foods and hygiene.
China has issued a ban on all wildlife trade and consumption. The wildlife farming industry in China is valued at $74 billion, now it’s all shut down. Although there are still a lot of the unclear points about the ban and how it’s going to be applied nation-wide, at least this is a good sigh. Countless people have expressed the support of the ban on Chinese social media. So this is good news for the animals. On TV here, I have seen many ads that promote wildlife protection recently. Such as the one below: Jay Chou asks not to eat pangolins.
Shenzhen, a big city in South China, promotes to ban dog and cat meat. Consumption of dog and cat meat is most common in China’s Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and parts of north-east China. Shenzhen’s officials say the ban is to meet ‘the consensus of all human civilization.’ This is really good news for many people who love animals, including me. If the law is approved Shenzhen is going to be the first city in China to ban eating of dogs and cats and it can set an example for other cities in China.
It could really change the dining habits of many Chinese. Because of the virus. many restaurants in China offer extra chopsticks and spoons to customers. So people can eat individually.
BEFORE:
NOW:
Besides the dinning habit, more people are aware of manners, like sneezing into the elbows. One of my colleagues used to cough a lot, and she never covered her mouth, :S. but after the outbreak, she finally realized the importance to cover the mouth while coughing. So people do learn something from the outbreak. So maybe after the pandemic, there are more people with manners.
Another positive impact we have noticed is that more people show respect to medical workers. They are considered heroes. Before the outbreak, the news about illegal acts targeting medical staff and institutions in China are not rare.
