COVID-19's impacts 3+ years later

Here in Indonesia, COVID-19 was deemed to have arrived, officially, about a month shy of four years ago in March 2020, and it was declared over by the government [here, anyway] 18 months ago in June 2023.

Aside from family, friends, and neighbours that may have passed away, what [thus far] lasting effects has the pandemic had on your everyday life?

"18 months ago in June 2023"

Get some rest, you need it.

@a-unique-nickname said
"18 months ago in June 2023"

Get some rest, you need it.

It should be 6 months, you're right. It's the restrictions that were ended 18 months ago.

@fmf said
Here in Indonesia, COVID-19 was deemed to have arrived, officially, about a month shy of four years ago in March 2020, and it was declared over by the government [here, anyway] 18 months ago in June 2023.

Aside from family, friends, and neighbours that may have passed away, what [thus far] lasting effects has the pandemic had on your everyday life?

Easy instructions on how to get an NHS doctor’s appointment.

1 Telephone surgery which will give pre recorded instructions on when to telephone surgery to book an appointment.
2 Telephone surgery at the specified time (ensure you have enough charge on your phone) and wait until you are number one in the queue.
3 Tell the receptionist all about your medical / emotional problem so that she can decide if she should give you an appointment or refer you to your local pharmacy for help.
4 If you qualify for an appointment, which will be to chat to a doctor on the phone, you may need to wait up to 2 weeks.
5 Keep your fingers crossed that you don’t deteriorate too much in the meantime.

Fast track instructions on how to see a doctor.

1 Turn up at your local A&E dept, preferably via a reliable taxi as an ambulance may take a while, and exaggerate your problems.

2 Take a packed lunch with you too! The wait can take up to 8 hours but at least there are doctors on hand if required immediately.

@drewnogal said
exaggerate your problems.

Doctor, doctor, I think I've broken all three of my legs.

Put some cash aside each month for private emergency dental treatment.

We are far more likely to order food and have it delivered to the house now, and we do so quite often. The first time we ever did this was March 2020. The number of places offering food that can be ordered with your phone has increased 20 fold, at least, 2020-2024.

@drewnogal said
Easy instructions on how to get an NHS doctor’s appointment.

1 Telephone surgery which will give pre recorded instructions on when to telephone surgery to book an appointment.
2 Telephone surgery at the specified time (ensure you have enough charge on your phone) and wait until you are number one in the queue.
3 Tell the receptionist all about your medical / emotional ...[text shortened]... ait up to 2 weeks.
5 Keep your fingers crossed that you don’t deteriorate too much in the meantime.

So nothing has changed since before the pandemic 😄

@fmf said

Aside from family, friends, and neighbours that may have passed away, what [thus far] lasting effects has the pandemic had on your everyday life?

[Aside from the deaths] I sometimes wonder if the pandemic and particularly the lockdowns has had a deeper impact on society than WWII did, although it’s hard to qualify that as I wasn’t alive in the aftermath of the war.

@a-unique-nickname said
So nothing has changed since before the pandemic 😄

Just more of the same in that there are thousands more sick people waiting for far fewer appointments on a much longer waiting list.

Sadly many people expect to develop the same illnesses that befell their parents and siblings which is where a lot of the NHS funding goes. There are alternatives by making some simple lifestyle changes that cost nothing.

@drewnogal said
Just more of the same in that there are thousands more sick people waiting for far fewer appointments on a much longer waiting list.

Sadly many people expect to develop the same illnesses that befell their parents and siblings which is where a lot of the NHS funding goes. There are alternatives by making some simple lifestyle changes that cost nothing.

The NHS problems have little to do with COVID though, it was falling apart before. Here the doctor situation is a little better perhaps, if you manage to get through when everyone calls at 8:30am, you will at least get an appointment that day if it's needed. But usually the receptionist tries to play doctor first.

Hospitals are a mess because of Brexit, like much of the UK... Going from having a pool of EU staff to choose from to everyone needing a visa to work is killing the UK.

@a-unique-nickname said

Going from having a pool of EU staff to choose from to everyone needing a visa to work is killing the UK.

Why is getting a visa a problem?

@divegeester said
Why is getting a visa a problem?

https://www.gov.uk/health-care-worker-visa

@a-unique-nickname said
https://www.gov.uk/health-care-worker-visa

So why is getting a visa a problem?