A question being asked by many in our society is what is life going to look like after this
pandemic? Could society possibly rethink of implementing the changes put in place during the
pandemic as the new system? A lot of people’s lives have changed due to this virus: kids and
young adults are to take remote classes; adults are experiencing job losses due to the shut down of
the economy and so forth. All these issues add on to the mental health problems that individuals
are experiencing. It seems surreal almost like a movie, but this is what life has become the “New
Normal” and nobody knows precisely what to expect in the following days or months.
Introduction
The pandemic is a new experience that people of this century have been exposed to. It is as
if we live in a world that is foreign to us and we are to discover ways to adjust to this change in
environment. Lots of people are bearing the consequences that this pandemic has brought. Loss of
family members, loss of jobs, financial stability and so forth. All of these things pile up to further
the consequences by increasing anxiety and stress which also lead to further problems. It is
definitely a system people need time to adjust to and possibly accept as the new normal. Hilary
Godwin, dean of the University of Washington’s School of Public Health, expects to still see
people wearing masks in public a year from now. She said “mask-wearing will become more
normal, the way it has been in many Asian countries in recent years. We’ll see a shift toward that.”

If this is the case, then it is most likely that we will also see a shift in the business world to a much
more remote work friendly environment.
Methods
The aim of this lab is to highlight the changes that have affected people’s lives and
understand how this new life most likely will turn out to be the “New Normal”. So how fare are we
from “Normal” one may ask? As stated before, masks most likely are going to be a part of lives for
some time now considering what Godwin said in regard to that. We should expect the United
States to change to a mask-wearing culture. Also, with the increase in digital technologies and
realization that some industries can continue the workflow without people being present in person
we should expect an inclination to more remote work and schooling. We now do not have to
physically be in the same room to accomplish many things. Researchers have shown through
different data that more entities, business, and industries are adopting these new changes and
adjusting to them and how likely they are to remain like that. What about the individuals? Well,
researchers also conducted surveys on how far we are from normal which contained two questions
to understand how really lives have been changed.
Data

The pandemic has significantly changed the lives of people and what they were used to.
We see the differences in the reported data how life was prior to Covid and after Covid.
“According to the results communication in the age of coronavirus is a lot less up-close-andpersonal than it was a year ago. Back in August in 2019, 96% of people had a great in person
conversation. As of last month, that number sank to 21%.” And as we read the results, we so many
more changes in interactions of people in person. Real life is shifting more and more to an unreal
real life.