Changes that were sparked by COVID pandemic are worth keeping

Bright spots emerged as we faced dark public health scenario

As miserable as COVID was on many levels, there were a few bright spots that came out of the pandemic.

Take, for example, the rise in curbside shopping. For busy people and busy families, there’s something to be said for placing an order online and picking it up just a short while later.

Think about a family that has three kids who all have after-school activities in three different directions. If you’ve raised a family, you know it can sometimes be challenging to get anything done at all.

Thanks to curbside shopping, however, a parent can go online and place the order for groceries or other necessities. While that parent is shuttling the kids from activity to activity, staff members at the store put the order together. When the parent has a moment, they can then swing by the store and pick up the order, without ever leaving the car – and without spending the time in the store.

It’s a great service, and one that really rose to the surface during the pandemic.

The concept is a shift in thinking. Many of us are accustomed to doing our own shopping. And there is something to be said for picking out the perfect apples and oranges.

But when time is short, curbside pickup is a terrific alternative.

Another concept that grew during the pandemic is outdoor eating. Many restaurants expanded their outdoor spaces to be able to serve customers in a safer environment. But it’s an idea that will likely stick around, especially here in Yuma. After all, we get eight or nine months of amazing weather every year, weather that’s perfect for patio dining.

Restaurants may have expanded to prevent the spread of COVID, but here, it’s a move that makes sense, capitalizing on our weather.

From a public health standpoint, we also saw an increase in people washing their hands and using hand sanitizer, and a boosted awareness of how important those actions are. The initial push was to prevent the spread of COVID, but those actions also do much to keep a wide host of illnesses at bay – and we’re all about it.

COVID launched a new period of innovation, too. Think of the new vaccines that emerged so quickly. Scientists were able to hone in on solutions and treatments in a record time frame – and those innovations could lead to other treatments for other diseases down the road, too.

These are just a few examples of positives from the pandemic, off the top of our heads. What positives did you see during the pandemic that you hope will stick around long after? Let us know. Send in a letter to the editor at letters@yumasun.com.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.