Late in 2019, Wuhan, China reported a new coronavirus, sparking acute respiratory syndrome in human beings – the Covid-19.
When global media picked up the story in early 2020, no one considered just how fast the virus would spread to the rest of the world, crashing economies but also drastically and permanently changing lifestyles.
By the end of January, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared the new coronavirus a global emergency and on March 13, Africa announced its first official Covid-19 case in Kenya.
The second case in East Africa, was in Rwanda on Saturday, March 14. An Indian citizen had arrived Rwanda from Mumbai, India, on March 8, tested positive of Covid-19.
Now, nine months after the outbreak of the pandemic, the global population have changed how they live everyday lives to keep up with procedures set by the authorities to control the spread.
Lipstick took a hit. The global beauty industry comprising skincare, colour cosmetics, haircare, fragrances, and personal care was shocked by the Covid-19 crisis.
Weak sales in the first quarter, and then widespread store closures, globally.
In Nigeria where makeup is a must-have for most modern women, applying expensive lipstick and then wearing a face mask did not initially go down well since the essence of looking good got lost in the process.
In Kenya, the form of greeting that Kenyans have loved and cherished for centuries has now been abandoned. The fact that Covid-19 is contagious means that the world has had to improvise and today, hugging and kisses have been replaced with fist bumps, foot bumps, and anything else that doesn’t require hands touching.
Nine months ago, if you had tweeted to most Nigerian Christians that Church is a great idea but also tuning into a service online will serve the same purpose, you probably would have had your head bashed in, virtually.
When the directive to close down places of worship became public, most worshippers expected change in not so long.
Then a month passed, and another was added, and the uncertainty about the future required Church leaders to also think outside the box and perhaps secure the bags. Services were then taken online and through social media platforms and SMS alerts, worshippers were informed about the time to tune in and how to make donations to e-offering boxes.
While this surprised many, nothing had prepared them for doing their tithing using mobile money services.
One of the first things to suffer the wrath of Covid-19 is the much-loved African wedding ceremonies. It is not a secret that big wedding ceremonies are events that the young and old grew up looking forward to. When the government said that it had suspended wedding ceremonies and gatherings most dreams were crashed on both the wedding parties’ sides and the guests.
The way that we view work has for most of the society been waking up and heading to office, to the shop or wherever it is that your work station is.
Covid-19 changed that. It made employers who were forced to make staff work from home realise, in the process, that it did not affect productivity. It also made some wonder if the large sums spent on rent and facilities just to maintain an office are actually worth it.
In other cases, people’s work was greatly affected and productivity suffered in the process.
Bars will never forget the year 2020 for the losses incurred in the last nine months. Revelers have had to drink from their homes or pay fines in some African countries.
In those countries, to date, the biggest number of people who have been arrested for breaking the guidelines set by the authorities have been people found drinking or who missed the curfew because they were drinking in a pub.
In 2021, whether the price to pay for holding the opinion that a drink at home is not as enjoyable as the one in the bar is worth the trouble, only time will tell.