For more than two years now, Covid-19 has been an integral part of French life. A virus that has completely changed our habits. But should we resolve to say goodbye to “the life before”, forever?
As in the 19th century with the cholera pandemic which changed the way we consume and treat water, the coronavirus has already caused many public health changes in France. Wearing a mask, hand washing, distancing, ventilated rooms… we have adopted new health and social habits. But will they last over time, changing our way of life forever?
“We can live with the virus”
“We can live with Covid-19, we do it every day with other viruses”, recalls epidemiologist Cyrille Delpierre, interviewed by The Dispatch. According to the Toulouse epidemiologist, the natural evolution of things would be for “Covid-19 to become less and less virulent while being contagious, a possibly seasonal virus with which we will have to manage to live like with the model of flu”.
However, after two years of pandemic, some French people are wondering about a possible return “to life before”: “Those who evoke the nostalgia of a life without coronavirus, what are they talking about? Traveling, going to a restaurant, walking around without a mask, all of this is already possible”, protests the epidemiologist.
Regarding the health recommendations that will persist in the years to come, “it is likely to continue to see [à la télévision] prevention spots on the importance of ventilation in particular. But with the coronavirus, the application of barrier gestures is really an individual matter”, estimates the expert. Thus, if you wish, you can always wear a mask and keep your distance from the people you frequent if you consider that it is necessary
On the other hand, “we will certainly experience new infections in the next fifty years, we do not know where or when, but it will occur. Like AIDS or the H1N1 flu, the appearance of new viruses is not new”, explains the specialist. A consequence, according to him, “of several factors which favor the transmission of viruses such as the overconcentration of the population in cities or the presence of human beings in ecosystems which they did not frequent before”.
The trivialization of the 10 p.m. email
Another consequence of living with the virus: the disruption of social relations. And work is the ideal example: even if most employees have returned to the office, teleworking has left its mark, especially in the employee-employer relationship. “The difficulty in communicating about psychosocial risks and harassment at work is growing,” warns Hadrien Clouet.
Some employees report growing difficulties in expressing themselves or a lack of listening during videoconference meetings. “I have had several echoes of unions who say that when they negotiate their demands with their management, they sometimes face a camera and a cut microphone… It makes you wonder if the employer is still behind his computer,” laments the sociologist. A behavior that risks having a lasting impact on the quality of life at work. “People are less and less daring to talk about their intimate feelings at work,” says the specialist.
At the same time, you may be exchanging text messages or emails with your boss much later than before the pandemic? It is a normal phenomenon caused by the modification of schedules. “Remote work has had an impact on private life, it has led families to reorganize. Working time has increased and schedules have become out of sync “, notes Hadrien Clouet. For example, a parent who has arranged his afternoon to take his children to their music lessons will have to make up for his hours when they are in bed. But beware, this could lead to an increase in overwork in the future. “It has become commonplace to be piloted by your managers by telephone or to receive an email at 10 p.m. on a Friday evening, but it is increasingly difficult to set limits”, worries the sociologist.
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