Mobilities hardly come to mind when we think of COVID-19. However, means, methods, and mechanisms of transportation have as drastically changed as any other sector due to this pandemic, such as health, economy, etc. I do not think it will be an exaggeration to say that transportation played a significant role in the spread of Coronavirus all over the world. It was due to global mass transportation that let this disease travel the world at such a rapid pace that even the countries like the US which has got state-of-the-art medical technologies could not do anything.
At the local level, I believe that public transportation suffered more than did private transportation. People who owned cars could travel while keeping themselves distanced from others with much more ease than those who had to travel via buses, taxis, or uber. Talking about UT, students who used to rely on Cap Metro solely as their ride either had to switch to all online classes or take risks traveling by bus where one would come to contact with many people no matter how s/he maintains distance. Similarly, people are also afraid to carpool or take uber because of close proximity with the drivers and also because of uncertain sanitization in the cabs. Life has really been difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I think there should be more studies on how those bus drivers or uber drivers are affected too. Some must have been compelled to work while some must have been out of jobs due to fear of contact with the virus. I both cases, they have become victims of a big social problem related to mobilities.
Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism
Countries such as Nepal that relied heavily on the tourism sector as a means of their national income have suffered a huge loss economically. A particular case comes to mind. Nepal had initially planned this year 2020 especially focusing on the tourism sector. The national campaign of Visit Nepal 2020 just had begun when this pandemic started. This campaign was going to be done for reparations in the tourism sector: specifically to revert the image of the post-earthquake imageries into the original image of the aesthetic natural beauty and scenic landscapes of Nepal, snow-capped mountain range, trekking, hiking, bungee-jumping, the music scenes of Kathmandu and Pokhara, and the surge of restaurants and recreational and entertainment centers in the cities across Nepal that are of the international standard.
However, the pandemic was a blow to all these attempts. Talking about the impact on the micro-level, people who own hotels and/or restaurants, travel agents, workers in the tourism sector, people in the tourism industry ranging from the five-star hotels in Kathmandu to the owner of small tea-shop in some distant corner of the Himalayas all suffered from this pandemic because of the fact that their very means of livelihood was taken away (sort of!).
Impact on Education
Schools, colleges, and universities have switched their classes online. Although online classes are what the university did to make the lemonade out of the lemons as our UT President said, it applies only to the students in the institutions like ours. Again, to re-iterate the example of Nepal, many people I know are taking online classes. I have heard from my relatives that there are those students too in class who come from a disadvantaged background. Those children do not have access to education because of the simple fact that they do not have computers at home from where they can access the lectures. Going to libraries is not a possibility for them too because of the lockdown. It is imperative to understand how the same event impacts people belonging to different strata in society differently.
About my personal experience, I know that "Nahunu Mama Bhanda Kano Mama Jati" (it is better to have a one-eyed uncle than to not have any at all!) I know it sounds very silly when translated into English but it is similar to what the lemon-lemonade idiom refers to. These online classes this semester have, of course, been a boon to me personally, as my precious time did not go to waste by having to sit at home doing nothing. I did so many productive things I am proud of. I learned so many new things. BUT I still feel that I could have gained so much more only if everything was normal. My potential in academics, in developing my personality by improving my communication skills for example, or my in-person presentation skills, those types of things I indeed missed out on due to this pandemic. I am so worried that these things will have an adverse effect on my further studies and career. I hope not!
