Reasons to be optimistic that the pandemic will be over sooner than you think

Since the beginning of this year, COVID-19 has been all we can think about. From as soon as we heard whispers about a new virus spreading from China, the world went into panic. All of a sudden, the coronavirus pandemic had disrupted our lives in a way that we have never seen before in our lifetimes.

All of this disruption might have been incredibly distressing, and there are numerous ways that this pandemic could have had a knock-on effect to our mental health. However, there have been some heroes to arise from this disaster. Thanks to our dedicated healthcare providers, scientists, researchers and all other stars, here are a few reasons to be optimistic that the pandemic might be over sooner than we think.

Access to testing

Testing is now more accessible than ever. Though there have been strains on the Government testing, and so this service is only for people with symptoms, companies like Myhealthchecked are supporting these services by offering private family friendly COVID testing with a 48hour turnaround.

Accessible testing means that it is easier for people who may be more exposed to the virus can be regularly tested, lowering the likelihood of ‘superspreader’ events. This is already being adopted by the TV and Film industry with shows such as I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Strictly Come Dancing requiring multiple and regular negative COVID-19 tests before anyone can physically be on set.

Vaccine

The UK is well on its way to providing a vaccine through the NHS. Currently the NHS is offering the COVID-19 vaccine in selected hospitals in the order of who is most at risk, called priority groups. These are listed as:

1. Care home residents and their carers
2. Aged 80+, and frontline health and social care workers
3. Aged 75+
4. Aged 70+, and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable
5. Aged 65+
6. Anyone aged 16-64 who has underlying health conditions which make them ‘at risk’
7. Aged 60+
8. Aged 55+
9. Aged 50+

Individuals who are eligible to be vaccinated will be notified by the NHS when the suitable phase of vaccinations is ready to be rolled out in their area. It is estimated that these 9 categories make up roughly 99% of preventable mortality from COVID-19. In other words, by vaccinating these people we could lower the mortality rate of COVID-19 drastically.

Masks

This has been a controversial topic in the western world to say the least, though in other places it is commonplace to wear a mask even if you’ve just got a cold. Wearing masks in public can help you to not spread the virus if you are a carrier or asymptomatic and it helps prevent you from catching it. If you walk past someone and they are wearing a mask too, it is harder for the virus to be spread than if one of you, or neither of you for that matter, was not wearing a mask.

Overall, if we all work together to protect one another, by getting regularly tested and wearing masks until the vaccine is fully distributed, the COVID-19 pandemic will hopefully end sooner rather than later.