When people wonder how life will be once the Covid-19 pandemic is over, they probably focus on their personal situations.
Those will depend on a lot of unknowns: How long it goes on for; what toll it has on the global economy and how it affects people's jobs and families.
Will life boomerang back to its old patterns? Will more people end up working from home rather than an office in future? Will frustrated travellers be able to go on that postponed holiday? Will our favourite cafes be able to reopen? Will it seem strange passing others on the same footpath again rather than crossing the road or skirting the berm for a 2m-wide berth?
While it's natural to focus on the personal, the impacts of the coronavirus beyond our bubbles are likely to be widespread and profound because of the changes it has spurred and questions it has raised.
Here, there's optimism that the authorities can use the lockdown to lower case numbers. The public will likely support a clear, steady plan delivered with competence even with fear of the side-effects.
Overseas, few countries have enhanced their reputations during the crisis. Some wealthy first-world nations have looked anything but. Key leaders have floundered with muddled messaging.
We've seen the basic fragility of the global financial system – now swallowing trillions in stimulus - and the results of governments' questionable spending priorities and short-term policy-making laid bare.
Covid-19 has ruthlessly blasted illusions, particularly in the United States, where the federal Government was initially slow to act, and governors are still demanding more medical equipment from Washington.
Nurses at a New York hospital reportedly wore rubbish bags because of a lack of protective gear. Corporations are donating masks, and states are competing for available supplies. Healthcare workers have likened the situation to being asked to go into battle without armour.
I repeat: nurses at hospital in the richest city in the richest country in the world are wearing TRASH BAGS because they're out of protective gear. This is not what a superpower looks like. https://t.co/JX7SJpayfo
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) March 27, 2020
The nation's hospitals, facing dire shortages of lifesaving ventilators as the coronavirus outbreak continues, are finding help from an unlikely source: animal doctors. https://t.co/b4Ui4V820G
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 26, 2020
