COVID-19 Reaches Beyond the Illness Itself

For John, BLUF:  Five or ten yers from now, when we look back on the statistics, we may find that the ripples went around the world in areas bigger than COVID care.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Birth rates will drop, people will stay single for longer and women will sexualise themselves more: Scientists predict how society will change in a post-COVID world

Here is the sub-headline:

• A multidisciplinary team of experts reviewed 90 studies to make their forecasts
• The team predict various social impacts — even among those not infected
• Gender inequality could rise due to lockdown, as could social conservatism
• The ongoing pandemic is a 'worldwide social experiment', the researchers said

From The Daily Mail, by Reporter Ian Randall, 23 October 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

Psychological fallout from the pandemic will cause birth rates to drop, people to stay single for longer and women to sexualise themselves more, experts have predicted.

Experts from the US reviewed 90 studies to help them predict how COVID-19 could shift social behaviours and gender norms — even among those not infected.

They expect planned pregnancies to decrease in response to the global health crisis as people defer marriage and kids, leading some nations' populations to shrink.

Drops in birth-rates will have cascading impacts on society and economics, affecting such things as job opportunities and support for elderly populations.

Furthermore, the unequal division of the extra household labour brought by lockdown could see gender inequality rise and foster more social conservatism.

COVID-19 is not just about the Virus.  It is also about how it is impacting social life.

And, it is about what other required medical actions are being ignored, including heart and cancer treatments.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff