On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Immediately afterwards, the whole world was shrouded in a haze because of the arrival of the epidemic.
In the past three years, people no longer travel in groups as in the past, masks and health codes have become necessary for travel, and nucleic acid testing has also become the norm. If you don't have the relevant certificates, let alone travel, even going to work will become difficult to walk.
Fortunately, the anti-epidemic work has progressed very quickly, and three years later, the epidemic has "disappeared" overnight. Immediately afterwards, people's lives began to get back on track, and travel was no longer restricted.
However, what I didn't expect was that with the end of the epidemic, people's lives did not return to the way they were three years ago, but after three years of the epidemic, there were still some big or small impacts...
.01
More and more pharmacies are opened, but the price of drugs is rising instead of falling
Have you found that compared with before the epidemic, more and more pharmacies have been opened in recent years, and five or six pharmacies near a community are the norm, and even more than a dozen pharmacies in some streets are operating at the same time.
It stands to reason that there are more pharmacies, and the price of competing drugs in the same industry should fall, but what I didn't expect is that in the past two years, drug prices have risen instead of falling, and even some drugs have become more and more expensive.
For example, recently, the topic of the large-scale rise in the price of Chinese herbal medicines rushed to the hot search, and a trader in Anguo Pharmaceutical Market said that the price of atractylodes was 17~20 yuan/kg in the past few years, and then it has been rising. In January 2024, it will be 70~80 yuan/kg, in March it will be 160~170 yuan/kg, and in April it will be 180~200 yuan/kg, which has doubled from the high point in 2023 and increased by about 10 times compared with three years ago.
Such an increase has far exceeded that of gold, making many people say "can't afford to be sick"!
Of course, the price of the drug market is not only atractylodes, a clerk in a pharmacy in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City, said that many Chinese herbal medicines in the store have increased in price, in the past, 100 grams of angelica only cost 40 yuan, now 100 grams cost 70 yuan.
Coincidentally, the staff of another pharmacy 500 meters away also said that since the second half of last year, the prices of Chinese medicinal materials such as Poria cocos, Huaishan, lotus seeds, Niu Dali, and five-finger peach have increased.
If the flour has risen, how can the steamed buns not rise?
"It turned out that a pair of four-thing soup was only 8~9 yuan, but now a pair costs 22 yuan, which is more than twice as expensive."
"The original medicine was about 5 yuan, but now it costs 12 yuan, which has more than doubled."
"In the past, a dozen yuan of medicine for a cold could be solved, but recently it cost nearly 200 yuan for a cold, and the price is too high." … These are the personal experiences of netizens.
According to the data, the number of pharmacies nationwide has reached 623,000, which is more than the combined number of stores of many well-known tea brands. At the same time, drug prices are also generally on the rise, making many people feel struggling.
But even so, the vast majority of people are still willing to buy drugs from physical pharmacies, and on the one hand, people pay more attention to preparing medicines in case of emergency. On the other hand, factors such as the obstruction of the drug supply chain and the rise in logistics costs have pushed up drug prices.
This new normal seems unlikely to fundamentally change for some time to come.
.02
Masks that can't be removed
Masks have become a must-have for travel
Before the pandemic, people wearing masks were particularly "prominent" on the streets.
Some people even avoid contact with the person wearing the mask, believing that the person may have a physical problem. But after three years of the pandemic, that perception has completely changed.
Nowadays, in public places with high foot traffic, people wearing masks can be seen everywhere.
The elderly, in particular, have become the "main force" that still insists on wearing masks after the epidemic. Whether it's on the road, in the subway, or in a supermarket, as long as there are a lot of people, basically everyone will carry a mask with them.
Although the new crown epidemic has basically passed, people still have not let go of the habit of wearing masks.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand, after all, masks can not only block the droplet infection of viruses and bacteria, but also block ultraviolet rays to a certain extent, effectively protecting the skin of the individual's face.
.03
More and more people are catching colds
After the epidemic subsided, "yang" was no longer a word that made people talk about tiger color, and at that time, the vast majority of people had to be yang, so that the body spontaneously produced antibodies.
From one yang to four yang, everyone's symptoms of yang are different every time, some have constant diarrhea, some have throats like swallowing blades, some have a loss of appetite, and there are no sense of smell and taste...
Nowadays, the symptoms caused by the epidemic are no longer so harmful, and they can be cured with a reasonable amount of cold medicine.
But the strange thing is that now more and more people are prone to colds, and many people feel that this is the sequelae left by the epidemic, mainly because of its contagiousness.
.04
Live streaming brings goods The era of self-media has risen rapidly
In the past few years of the epidemic, everyone stayed at home and couldn't go out, and every day was nothing more than watching small videos and shopping online! So many people also see "business opportunities"! It's about making videos to make traffic money! Live streaming!
Later, after the end of the epidemic, the live broadcast did not disappear because everyone was not restricted from traveling, but the emergence of the self-media industry, and more and more self-media companies opened up.
In fact, the biggest advantage of this industry is that you don't have to go out to meet customers in the sun and rain, as long as you have a computer and a mobile phone in your hand, you can work anywhere, which is not affected by the region, and is not affected by the weather environment.
And it doesn't take much effort to bring goods and shoot videos live broadcasts, there are videos at home, as long as your videos are exciting enough to have something, maybe it will explode, and after you have a fan base, you can also bring yourself a considerable income!
Therefore, you can see that now whether you are on the street or where, whether you are old or young, you are holding a mobile phone fill light to broadcast live in all corners!
Sing, chat, or be a foodie anchor!
Epilogue.
Although the epidemic "disappeared" somewhat hastily, some of its effects are still there, not so much that the epidemic has disappeared, but that we are now entering the post-epidemic era.
So what else have you noticed?