COVID is causing more car crashes
It may take years to see the full extent of COVID’s collateral damage. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Mild cough, cold, headache, the possibility of debilitating, long-term conditions—nothing new to us when it comes to COVID-19, right? As we wind down (or at least believing we are) from over two years of masks, tests, vaccines, and variants, we ought to acknowledge that the pandemic did not happen in a bubble and that the world did not stop turning on its behalf.
Here are four non-COVID events we didn’t think would happen because of COVID, and why we were wrong:
1. Traffic accidents have increased.
We thought that fewer cars on the road and more people working from home would be able to address our universal road safety problem. However, from the US to the Philippines, it has only gotten worse with the pandemic. American drivers are driving faster and more recklessly on freed up roads, resulting in the highest amount of fatalities since 2006. The Philippines is no different, with 243 drivers killed in 2020—the most in five years.
These figures are hard to control when mobility has been centered on cars for the longest time. We could get into how the pandemic worsened public transport, but that would be opening a different can of worms altogether.
2. CT scans are being put on hold.
We thought medical procedures like CT scans, which have nothing to do with initial COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment, would be spared from the pandemic. China’s wave of lockdowns in major manufacturing hubs like Shanghai has caused many clogs in the global supply chain. Now there’s a shortage in the medical dye used to scan patients for cancer, emergency heart conditions, and strokes. Things aren’t looking good in ERs now due to a stream of oncologic, or cancer, cases. The cause? Delayed consultations.
3. Population growth is slowing down.
We thought that more time indoors would, so to speak, produce more babies, but declining fertility rates worldwide say otherwise. Population growth is now at its lowest in more than 100 years. Deaths from COVID-19 factor into this decline, but younger people not wanting kids does too. With exorbitant prices, dreary geopolitics, and climate change on the horizon, who could blame them for not wanting to cast the same, if not greater, burden on future generations?
But while some might be doing it for the sake of the economy or the environment, Vox says overpopulation isn’t what we think: “Fewer babies make for aging countries, which slows down economic growth and holds back innovation. It can be harder to build support for future-focused policy in a country with fewer children.”
4. Other diseases are making a comeback.
We thought that masking up and washing our hands more often would keep us from getting sick, like, ever, but now other viruses like influenza, adenovirus, and monkeypox are reminding us that too much protection is bad for us too. Two years of reduced exposure to other people and the outdoors have robbed us, especially young children, of the antibodies we need to up our immunity against common viruses. It’s also possible that these viruses have been largely ignored in favor of COVID-19 in hospitals and news outlets alike, and therefore able to spread quietly in the background.
With restrictions now easing and people eager to go out and travel, it’s given viruses a new breeding ground. Flu season has extended its stay while adenovirus is potentially causing hepatitis cases among children worldwide. Monkeypox, which has been taking over headlines in recent weeks, is now spreading in new ways.
It may take years to identify and understand the full extent of the pandemic’s ripple effects. As tired as we are of living through these major historical events, we still have to document and navigate every bit of it as carefully and factually as we can for the sake of those who don’t have to.
