write a essay on lockdown

Essay on Lockdown

‘Lockdown’ refers to the suspension of the usual privileges of citizens, regarding their movement and socializing. It is imposed by a competent authority to prevent any untoward incident. In India, a lockdown was imposed for many months by the government to contain the spread of novel coronavirus disease. Find here some well-described essays to know in detail about the lockdown.

Short and Long Essay on Lockdown in English

Following short and long essays on Lockdown in different word limits are given here that is useful for students of classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and class 12 in English in 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 500 words. Also find short Lockdown essay 10 lines.

Lockdown Essay 10 Lines (100 – 150 Words)

1) Lockdown refers to the prevention of citizens from moving and socializing as usual.

2) Lockdown is imposed by the government in case of any emergency.

3) India has undergone a lockdown to control the widespread of the Corona virus.

4) The government of India imposed the first lockdown on 25 March 2020, Wednesday.

5) India observed continuous 150 days complete shutdown in the lockdown.

6) Except for the emergency services, everything was closed and restricted.

7) The lockdown was continued for a few months in four parts.

8) The lockdown helped in controlling the widespread coronavirus and massive deaths.

9) Lives and works of many people were affected by the lockdown.

10) Lockdown was not fruitful for the economy as India suffered negative GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Essay 1 (250 Words)

Introduction

Lockdown is an emergency protocol implemented by the government of India with an objective to contain the spread of a novel coronavirus epidemic. The government implemented a 21 days countrywide lockdown at the beginning which was continued for many months in 4 parts in the entire nation and further the state governments implemented it as per their states need. India was under lockdown for more than 150 days continuously.

Lockdown – The Only Remedy against Novel Coronavirus

Novel coronavirus disease is highly contagious and it spreads fast from person to person. No other disease before has been known to spread such a fast rate as the novel coronavirus. There is no option other than to treat the affected symptomatically; however, the final recovery depends largely on an individual’s stamina and immunity. From the perspective of this scenario, the lockdown seems to be the only practical and effective solution to prevent the spread of the disease.

Although we cannot imagine such scenario for more time our government courage to take such a bold step. It was implemented to keep safe from this deadly virus. Lockdown badly effected our economy and today it is in its fracture mode.

Success of Lockdown

Although we felt safe when the government took such a major but some experts remark lockdown as an unplanned action and it has directly affected the entire nation. Apart from India many other countries also adopted lockdown but they are strong enough to cope up with the economic damage caused due to lockdown.

It would not be wrong to say that the lockdown reduced the flow of this virus, but at the same time cases started to increase rapidly after it was unlocked in India. India became the second-highest infected country. So, in this term, we cannot say that lockdown was truly successful.

Even today schools, colleges, parks, public spaces, cinemas in India are closed. The lockdown can be still seen but the cases are decreasing comparatively. The vaccine has been developed and soon people will get rid of this deadly virus till than keep wearing your mask, wash your hand frequently, use sanitizer and follow social distancing.

Essay 2 (400 Words)

‘Lockdown’ as the name implies is a complete lockdown imposed on the usual movement of the general population of a place. A lockdown can be localized or applied over a wide area, depending on the purpose.

Lockdown in India

• First lockdown : It was 25th March 2020 when it was implemented for the first time, till the 14th of April. When the entire nation was completely shut except for some necessary grocery shops and health facilities.
• Second Lockdown : The second lockdown was announced from 15th April to 4th May with the same set of rules and regulations.
• Third Lockdown : It was implemented from the 4th of May to the 17th of May but in this phase of lockdown some special trains were run to help the daily wages workers. Some people stuck abroad were also bought back. This operation was named ‘Operation Samudrsetu’.
• Fourth Lockdown : It was implemented up to 31st of May and further different states extended as per the condition of their state. Districts were divided into three zones as per the COVID cases in the area. Red zone for most infected areas, Orange for few cases in the area whereas Green for areas with no infection.

Impacts of Lockdown

• On Novel Coronavirus Disease

This is the most significant and most desirable impact of the lockdown. The novel coronavirus is highly contagious, spreading fast from person to person. Lockdown makes social distancing effective; prohibiting human to human contact at the highest level possible. This social distancing helps a lot in containing the spread of the disease.

But at the same time, we cannot imagine continuing lockdown for a long time, because it has directly affected us in many ways.

• On The Economy

A countrywide lockdown isn’t good for the economy and is a setback for the economic growth and development of the nation. With transport suspended, railways and road transport agencies suffer losses to the tunes of crores. Small businesses and daily wage laborers are the most affected. Our GDP is going in negative decimals which is -9.6% this year and it is really a matter of fear because it will directly cause inflation.

• On Pollution Level

This is a significant positive impact of the lockdown. With all types of transport being suspended and also the people being forbidden from roaming unnecessarily, the air quality index improves drastically. The change was felt within a day or two of the lockdown.

• On Emergency Services

Lockdown was good for the emergency services and the personnel in a way that didn’t put additional stress on them. With no traffic and rush like usual days, their job becomes extremely easy and convenient.

Lockdown was very necessary for containing the coronavirus epidemic and preventing it from spreading to the community level. Despite its negative impacts; lockdown was very important. Even today although we have developed the vaccine there are many public places still closed. It is quite good in many ways.

Essay 3 (500 – 600 Words)

Lockdown is an emergency protocol imposed by the government that prohibits people from leaving their homes and venturing into public areas. In the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic spread, several governments across the globe have imposed lockdown in their respective jurisdiction, to prevent the disease from spreading further. The government of India also imposed a countrywide lockdown from midnight of 25th March and followed up to 4 months in every state and further different states followed as per the COVID cases in their states.

Why Is The Lockdown Necessary?

Ever since the coronavirus disease was first reported in China in November 2019 it affected millions of people globally. The disease is highly contagious and spreads at an unprecedented rate as never witnessed before.

The motive of a lockdown is to implement social distancing, preventing people from socializing and unnecessary gathering, so that to prevent the spread of disease from one person to another.

Effects of Lockdown

Lockdown wasn’t easy and was quite harsh experience for daily wage laborers, small businesses, and marginalized sections. These people were devoid of their livelihood and with less saving, find the lockdown financially crippling. That been said; lockdown is still necessary to save lives.

People with permanent employment, usually have the opportunity of working from home and are least affected by the lockdown. Suspension of all modes of transport for the common public caused inconvenience during this period.

Local administration relaxed the lockdown for a couple of hours every day to let people buy the necessary groceries and do other works. However, despite the relaxation people were not allowed to gather in large numbers, roam unnecessarily, and Necessary government offices and emergency services like municipalities, hospitals, police, etc. worked as usual.

Solidarity in Lockdown

Though the lockdown in India is harsh on marginalized sections of the society; people from different walks of life and several organizations have come forward for help. As soon as the lockdown was imposed, many prominent film producers, actors, and business houses have paid thousands of crore of rupees as donation to the Prime Minister Relief Fund. This money was used to be spending on food and providing monetary help to the poor during the lockdown.

Government officers distributed food packages, making sure that no person is left without food in the lockdown phase.

People of India have also displayed a great amount of respect for their emergency services personnel and medical professionals by clapping and celebrating within the premises of their own houses.

Apart from this lockdown today India is second in the list of most affected countries in the world. Lockdown saved us from community spread in India. The vaccine has been developed and soon it will be on the market. Still, some public places, schools, theatres are still closed and it is necessary until and unless all of us get the vaccine.

Lockdown is necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease. It is imperative that we should be strict with the guidelines of lockdown for our own health and safety. The lockdown has been resumed but still, there are some public places under lockdown. Follow the guidelines and cooperate to stay safe and also keep others safe in this epidemic.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions on Lockdown

Ans . Lockdown is the policy that restricts the movement of people and states them to stay in one place.

Ans . The national emergency lockdown in India was implemented for the first time on the 25th of March, 2020.

Ans . The movement of people was restricted in the Covid-19 lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 infection.

Ans . Rajasthan was the first state in India to implement lockdown during Covid-19 phase 1.

Ans . Red zones are the areas that are highly infected.

Ans . The first lockdown was implemented by China in Wuhan on 23rd January 2020.

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Essay on Lockdown in English for Students and Children

This long essay on lockdown in English is suitable for students of classes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, 11, 12, and also for competitive exam aspirants. All important information related to how to write an amazing essay about Lockdown.

• 1.1 Definition
• 1.2 Introduction
• 1.3 Online Education During Lockdown
• 1.4 Advantages of Lockdown
• 1.5 Disadvantage of Lockdown
• 1.6 Lockdown 2021
• 1.7 Conclusion

Long Essay on Lockdown in English 800 Words

Lockdown essay in English – Lockdown is a term that exploded collectively around the world in the year 2020. With the widespread attack of an invisible virus, known as the Novel Coronavirus , the entire world was devastated by the Pandemic of this virus. It occurs during a wide variety of emergencies and it disrupts normal life.

Many words became popular after the arrival of Coronavirus, the term “lockdown” being one of them. A lockdown is a period of time when people have to stay home and are only allowed to travel in an emergency. During this period everything is closed except for some essential services like hospitals, grocery stores, medical stores, etc.

Introduction

Coronavirus has been considered the most contagious virus ever in the history of mankind. Its effects have become catastrophic within a short time. To prevent the spread of this Coronavirus in the country, our government has taken some drastic steps.

One of the most important measures implemented is a lockdown, where all businesses have been closed, all people have been confined to their homes and almost all professional, personal, and economic activities have come to a standstill.

The lockdown was announced and enforced on the 25 th of March, 2020. It has been extended, in phases, to continue till mid-June. The government has issued advisories to all citizens to practice social distancing and stay at home. The purpose of the lockdown is to prevent community transmission of this deadly virus so that the chain of transmission can be broken.

Each and every person faced many difficulties during this period but for the daily wagers, it was much more difficult. Work from home, online education , and online business were some of the options during this period, and the Indian government also helped the people a lot.

Online Education During Lockdown

For the first time, schools in India have moved to online classes. It is a struggle for the teacher as well as the students. School students, children, and their parents felt the impact to close schools and educational institutions.

The lockdown situation prompted people to learn and use digital technology and as a result, increased digital literacy.

The teaching material is easily shared among the students and the doubt questions are solved on Telegram, WhatsApp, E-mail, and various social media. Students need to learn digital skills for their own sake and improve the quality of education as well as changes in syllabus, textbooks, teacher training, and examination systems, but at the very least, the quality of online education must also improve needed.

Advantages of Lockdown

Due to the lockdown, on the one hand, while people have been forced to remain imprisoned in the house, on the other hand, many big benefits are also being seen. Some important benefits of essay on lockdown:-

• The rapidly spreading Coronavirus has been controlled by applying Lockdown.
• Due to the lockdown, the movement of vehicles has been reduced very much, factories have been closed, and the air of the cities has started to clear due to the rein in such activities.
• The impact of the lockdown is also being seen on global warming. In early April, scientists showed a hole of 1,000,000 square kilometers in the ozone layer above the North Pole. According to NASA, it has started filling these holes now.
• Earth’s vibration has been reduced by 30 to 50 percent due to less traffic, machines, and noise pollution.
• Due to Coronavirus, there has been a change in the cleanliness habits of the people. People are being more vigilant. Due to the lockdown, more time is also available for cleaning the house.
• People are learning to live with limited resources and insist on being self-sufficient (or Aatmnirbhar ) in the future so that they can produce themselves.
• During this lockdown period, we have got a lot of time for self-development and self-awareness.
• Most people in Lockdown are cooking at home and eating the same. Health will also be good due to good food.

Disadvantage of Lockdown

Some important disadvantages of the essay on Lockdown:-

• Many migrant laborers got trapped in different cities and they could not return to their homes due to which they had to face many difficulties.
• Many industries like agriculture, education, and entertainment are suffering. It has negatively impacted the world economy.
• Unemployment has increased rapidly due to the lockdown. Because of this many people have lost their jobs.
• All schools and colleges were closed due to the lockdown, due to which the students were not able to study well.

Lockdown 2021

The lockdown was imposed due to Coronavirus in March 2020 last year. The same situation is being seen again. Again in April 2021, Coronavirus is spreading rapidly due to which lockdown is being imposed in all the states one by one.

In view of this spreading Coronavirus, the CBSE board canceled the class 10 examination and postponed the class 12 examination.

Lockdown is something that affects people from all backgrounds and especially the daily wagers. Some of the main problems during a lockdown are employment, poverty, and starvation.

Overall, we should keep in mind that lockdowns are only imposed for our welfare, so it is always our duty to follow the rules of lockdown.

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My Name is Mukesh Kumar. I am a Teacher, Blogger, Educational Content Writer, and Founder of CBSE Digital Education.

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Read these 12 moving essays about life during coronavirus

Artists, novelists, critics, and essayists are writing the first draft of history.

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The world is grappling with an invisible, deadly enemy, trying to understand how to live with the threat posed by a virus . For some writers, the only way forward is to put pen to paper, trying to conceptualize and document what it feels like to continue living as countries are under lockdown and regular life seems to have ground to a halt.

So as the coronavirus pandemic has stretched around the world, it’s sparked a crop of diary entries and essays that describe how life has changed. Novelists, critics, artists, and journalists have put words to the feelings many are experiencing. The result is a first draft of how we’ll someday remember this time, filled with uncertainty and pain and fear as well as small moments of hope and humanity.

At the New York Review of Books, Ali Bhutto writes that in Karachi, Pakistan, the government-imposed curfew due to the virus is “eerily reminiscent of past military clampdowns”:

Beneath the quiet calm lies a sense that society has been unhinged and that the usual rules no longer apply. Small groups of pedestrians look on from the shadows, like an audience watching a spectacle slowly unfolding. People pause on street corners and in the shade of trees, under the watchful gaze of the paramilitary forces and the police.

His essay concludes with the sobering note that “in the minds of many, Covid-19 is just another life-threatening hazard in a city that stumbles from one crisis to another.”

Writing from Chattanooga, novelist Jamie Quatro documents the mixed ways her neighbors have been responding to the threat, and the frustration of conflicting direction, or no direction at all, from local, state, and federal leaders:

Whiplash, trying to keep up with who’s ordering what. We’re already experiencing enough chaos without this back-and-forth. Why didn’t the federal government issue a nationwide shelter-in-place at the get-go, the way other countries did? What happens when one state’s shelter-in-place ends, while others continue? Do states still under quarantine close their borders? We are still one nation, not fifty individual countries. Right?

Award-winning photojournalist Alessio Mamo, quarantined with his partner Marta in Sicily after she tested positive for the virus, accompanies his photographs in the Guardian of their confinement with a reflection on being confined :

The doctors asked me to take a second test, but again I tested negative. Perhaps I’m immune? The days dragged on in my apartment, in black and white, like my photos. Sometimes we tried to smile, imagining that I was asymptomatic, because I was the virus. Our smiles seemed to bring good news. My mother left hospital, but I won’t be able to see her for weeks. Marta started breathing well again, and so did I. I would have liked to photograph my country in the midst of this emergency, the battles that the doctors wage on the frontline, the hospitals pushed to their limits, Italy on its knees fighting an invisible enemy. That enemy, a day in March, knocked on my door instead.

In the New York Times Magazine, deputy editor Jessica Lustig writes with devastating clarity about her family’s life in Brooklyn while her husband battled the virus, weeks before most people began taking the threat seriously:

At the door of the clinic, we stand looking out at two older women chatting outside the doorway, oblivious. Do I wave them away? Call out that they should get far away, go home, wash their hands, stay inside? Instead we just stand there, awkwardly, until they move on. Only then do we step outside to begin the long three-block walk home. I point out the early magnolia, the forsythia. T says he is cold. The untrimmed hairs on his neck, under his beard, are white. The few people walking past us on the sidewalk don’t know that we are visitors from the future. A vision, a premonition, a walking visitation. This will be them: Either T, in the mask, or — if they’re lucky — me, tending to him.

Essayist Leslie Jamison writes in the New York Review of Books about being shut away alone in her New York City apartment with her 2-year-old daughter since she became sick:

The virus. Its sinewy, intimate name. What does it feel like in my body today? Shivering under blankets. A hot itch behind the eyes. Three sweatshirts in the middle of the day. My daughter trying to pull another blanket over my body with her tiny arms. An ache in the muscles that somehow makes it hard to lie still. This loss of taste has become a kind of sensory quarantine. It’s as if the quarantine keeps inching closer and closer to my insides. First I lost the touch of other bodies; then I lost the air; now I’ve lost the taste of bananas. Nothing about any of these losses is particularly unique. I’ve made a schedule so I won’t go insane with the toddler. Five days ago, I wrote Walk/Adventure! on it, next to a cut-out illustration of a tiger—as if we’d see tigers on our walks. It was good to keep possibility alive.

At Literary Hub, novelist Heidi Pitlor writes about the elastic nature of time during her family’s quarantine in Massachusetts:

During a shutdown, the things that mark our days—commuting to work, sending our kids to school, having a drink with friends—vanish and time takes on a flat, seamless quality. Without some self-imposed structure, it’s easy to feel a little untethered. A friend recently posted on Facebook: “For those who have lost track, today is Blursday the fortyteenth of Maprilay.” ... Giving shape to time is especially important now, when the future is so shapeless. We do not know whether the virus will continue to rage for weeks or months or, lord help us, on and off for years. We do not know when we will feel safe again. And so many of us, minus those who are gifted at compartmentalization or denial, remain largely captive to fear. We may stay this way if we do not create at least the illusion of movement in our lives, our long days spent with ourselves or partners or families.

Novelist Lauren Groff writes at the New York Review of Books about trying to escape the prison of her fears while sequestered at home in Gainesville, Florida:

Some people have imaginations sparked only by what they can see; I blame this blinkered empiricism for the parks overwhelmed with people, the bars, until a few nights ago, thickly thronged. My imagination is the opposite. I fear everything invisible to me. From the enclosure of my house, I am afraid of the suffering that isn’t present before me, the people running out of money and food or drowning in the fluid in their lungs, the deaths of health-care workers now growing ill while performing their duties. I fear the federal government, which the right wing has so—intentionally—weakened that not only is it insufficient to help its people, it is actively standing in help’s way. I fear we won’t sufficiently punish the right. I fear leaving the house and spreading the disease. I fear what this time of fear is doing to my children, their imaginations, and their souls.

At ArtForum , Berlin-based critic and writer Kristian Vistrup Madsen reflects on martinis, melancholia, and Finnish artist Jaakko Pallasvuo’s 2018 graphic novel Retreat , in which three young people exile themselves in the woods:

In melancholia, the shape of what is ending, and its temporality, is sprawling and incomprehensible. The ambivalence makes it hard to bear. The world of Retreat is rendered in lush pink and purple watercolors, which dissolve into wild and messy abstractions. In apocalypse, the divisions established in genesis bleed back out. My own Corona-retreat is similarly soft, color-field like, each day a blurred succession of quarantinis, YouTube–yoga, and televized press conferences. As restrictions mount, so does abstraction. For now, I’m still rooting for love to save the world.

At the Paris Review , Matt Levin writes about reading Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves during quarantine:

A retreat, a quarantine, a sickness—they simultaneously distort and clarify, curtail and expand. It is an ideal state in which to read literature with a reputation for difficulty and inaccessibility, those hermetic books shorn of the handholds of conventional plot or characterization or description. A novel like Virginia Woolf’s The Waves is perfect for the state of interiority induced by quarantine—a story of three men and three women, meeting after the death of a mutual friend, told entirely in the overlapping internal monologues of the six, interspersed only with sections of pure, achingly beautiful descriptions of the natural world, a day’s procession and recession of light and waves. The novel is, in my mind’s eye, a perfectly spherical object. It is translucent and shimmering and infinitely fragile, prone to shatter at the slightest disturbance. It is not a book that can be read in snatches on the subway—it demands total absorption. Though it revels in a stark emotional nakedness, the book remains aloof, remote in its own deep self-absorption.

In an essay for the Financial Times, novelist Arundhati Roy writes with anger about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anemic response to the threat, but also offers a glimmer of hope for the future:

Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.

From Boston, Nora Caplan-Bricker writes in The Point about the strange contraction of space under quarantine, in which a friend in Beirut is as close as the one around the corner in the same city:

It’s a nice illusion—nice to feel like we’re in it together, even if my real world has shrunk to one person, my husband, who sits with his laptop in the other room. It’s nice in the same way as reading those essays that reframe social distancing as solidarity. “We must begin to see the negative space as clearly as the positive, to know what we don’t do is also brilliant and full of love,” the poet Anne Boyer wrote on March 10th, the day that Massachusetts declared a state of emergency. If you squint, you could almost make sense of this quarantine as an effort to flatten, along with the curve, the distinctions we make between our bonds with others. Right now, I care for my neighbor in the same way I demonstrate love for my mother: in all instances, I stay away. And in moments this month, I have loved strangers with an intensity that is new to me. On March 14th, the Saturday night after the end of life as we knew it, I went out with my dog and found the street silent: no lines for restaurants, no children on bicycles, no couples strolling with little cups of ice cream. It had taken the combined will of thousands of people to deliver such a sudden and complete emptiness. I felt so grateful, and so bereft.

And on his own website, musician and artist David Byrne writes about rediscovering the value of working for collective good , saying that “what is happening now is an opportunity to learn how to change our behavior”:

In emergencies, citizens can suddenly cooperate and collaborate. Change can happen. We’re going to need to work together as the effects of climate change ramp up. In order for capitalism to survive in any form, we will have to be a little more socialist. Here is an opportunity for us to see things differently — to see that we really are all connected — and adjust our behavior accordingly. Are we willing to do this? Is this moment an opportunity to see how truly interdependent we all are? To live in a world that is different and better than the one we live in now? We might be too far down the road to test every asymptomatic person, but a change in our mindsets, in how we view our neighbors, could lay the groundwork for the collective action we’ll need to deal with other global crises. The time to see how connected we all are is now.

The portrait these writers paint of a world under quarantine is multifaceted. Our worlds have contracted to the confines of our homes, and yet in some ways we’re more connected than ever to one another. We feel fear and boredom, anger and gratitude, frustration and strange peace. Uncertainty drives us to find metaphors and images that will let us wrap our minds around what is happening.

Yet there’s no single “what” that is happening. Everyone is contending with the pandemic and its effects from different places and in different ways. Reading others’ experiences — even the most frightening ones — can help alleviate the loneliness and dread, a little, and remind us that what we’re going through is both unique and shared by all.

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COVID-19 Lockdown: My Experience

When the lockdown started, I was ecstatic. My final year of school had finished early, exams were cancelled, the sun was shining. I was happy, and confident I would be OK. After all, how hard could staying at home possibly be? After a while, the reality of the situation started to sink in.

The novelty of being at home wore off and I started to struggle. I suffered from regular panic attacks, frozen on the floor in my room, unable to move or speak. I had nightmares most nights, and struggled to sleep. It was as if I was stuck, trapped in my house and in my own head. I didn't know how to cope.

However, over time, I found ways to deal with the pressure. I realised that lockdown gave me more time to the things I loved, hobbies that had been previously swamped by schoolwork. I started baking, drawing and writing again, and felt free for the first time in months. I had forgotten how good it felt to be creative. I started spending more time with my family. I hadn't realised how much I had missed them.

Almost a month later, I feel so much better. I understand how difficult this must be, but it's important to remember that none of us is alone. No matter how scared, or trapped, or alone you feel, things can only get better.  Take time to revisit the things you love, and remember that all of this will eventually pass. All we can do right now is stay at home, look after ourselves and our loved ones, and look forward to a better future.

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How to Write About Coronavirus in a College Essay

Students can share how they navigated life during the coronavirus pandemic in a full-length essay or an optional supplement.

Writing About COVID-19 in College Essays

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Experts say students should be honest and not limit themselves to merely their experiences with the pandemic.

The global impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, means colleges and prospective students alike are in for an admissions cycle like no other. Both face unprecedented challenges and questions as they grapple with their respective futures amid the ongoing fallout of the pandemic.

Colleges must examine applicants without the aid of standardized test scores for many – a factor that prompted many schools to go test-optional for now . Even grades, a significant component of a college application, may be hard to interpret with some high schools adopting pass-fail classes last spring due to the pandemic. Major college admissions factors are suddenly skewed.

"I can't help but think other (admissions) factors are going to matter more," says Ethan Sawyer, founder of the College Essay Guy, a website that offers free and paid essay-writing resources.

College essays and letters of recommendation , Sawyer says, are likely to carry more weight than ever in this admissions cycle. And many essays will likely focus on how the pandemic shaped students' lives throughout an often tumultuous 2020.

But before writing a college essay focused on the coronavirus, students should explore whether it's the best topic for them.

Writing About COVID-19 for a College Application

Much of daily life has been colored by the coronavirus. Virtual learning is the norm at many colleges and high schools, many extracurriculars have vanished and social lives have stalled for students complying with measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"For some young people, the pandemic took away what they envisioned as their senior year," says Robert Alexander, dean of admissions, financial aid and enrollment management at the University of Rochester in New York. "Maybe that's a spot on a varsity athletic team or the lead role in the fall play. And it's OK for them to mourn what should have been and what they feel like they lost, but more important is how are they making the most of the opportunities they do have?"

That question, Alexander says, is what colleges want answered if students choose to address COVID-19 in their college essay.

But the question of whether a student should write about the coronavirus is tricky. The answer depends largely on the student.

"In general, I don't think students should write about COVID-19 in their main personal statement for their application," Robin Miller, master college admissions counselor at IvyWise, a college counseling company, wrote in an email.

"Certainly, there may be exceptions to this based on a student's individual experience, but since the personal essay is the main place in the application where the student can really allow their voice to be heard and share insight into who they are as an individual, there are likely many other topics they can choose to write about that are more distinctive and unique than COVID-19," Miller says.

Opinions among admissions experts vary on whether to write about the likely popular topic of the pandemic.

"If your essay communicates something positive, unique, and compelling about you in an interesting and eloquent way, go for it," Carolyn Pippen, principal college admissions counselor at IvyWise, wrote in an email. She adds that students shouldn't be dissuaded from writing about a topic merely because it's common, noting that "topics are bound to repeat, no matter how hard we try to avoid it."

Above all, she urges honesty.

"If your experience within the context of the pandemic has been truly unique, then write about that experience, and the standing out will take care of itself," Pippen says. "If your experience has been generally the same as most other students in your context, then trying to find a unique angle can easily cross the line into exploiting a tragedy, or at least appearing as though you have."

But focusing entirely on the pandemic can limit a student to a single story and narrow who they are in an application, Sawyer says. "There are so many wonderful possibilities for what you can say about yourself outside of your experience within the pandemic."

He notes that passions, strengths, career interests and personal identity are among the multitude of essay topic options available to applicants and encourages them to probe their values to help determine the topic that matters most to them – and write about it.

That doesn't mean the pandemic experience has to be ignored if applicants feel the need to write about it.

Writing About Coronavirus in Main and Supplemental Essays

Students can choose to write a full-length college essay on the coronavirus or summarize their experience in a shorter form.

To help students explain how the pandemic affected them, The Common App has added an optional section to address this topic. Applicants have 250 words to describe their pandemic experience and the personal and academic impact of COVID-19.

"That's not a trick question, and there's no right or wrong answer," Alexander says. Colleges want to know, he adds, how students navigated the pandemic, how they prioritized their time, what responsibilities they took on and what they learned along the way.

If students can distill all of the above information into 250 words, there's likely no need to write about it in a full-length college essay, experts say. And applicants whose lives were not heavily altered by the pandemic may even choose to skip the optional COVID-19 question.

"This space is best used to discuss hardship and/or significant challenges that the student and/or the student's family experienced as a result of COVID-19 and how they have responded to those difficulties," Miller notes. Using the section to acknowledge a lack of impact, she adds, "could be perceived as trite and lacking insight, despite the good intentions of the applicant."

To guard against this lack of awareness, Sawyer encourages students to tap someone they trust to review their writing , whether it's the 250-word Common App response or the full-length essay.

Experts tend to agree that the short-form approach to this as an essay topic works better, but there are exceptions. And if a student does have a coronavirus story that he or she feels must be told, Alexander encourages the writer to be authentic in the essay.

"My advice for an essay about COVID-19 is the same as my advice about an essay for any topic – and that is, don't write what you think we want to read or hear," Alexander says. "Write what really changed you and that story that now is yours and yours alone to tell."

Sawyer urges students to ask themselves, "What's the sentence that only I can write?" He also encourages students to remember that the pandemic is only a chapter of their lives and not the whole book.

Miller, who cautions against writing a full-length essay on the coronavirus, says that if students choose to do so they should have a conversation with their high school counselor about whether that's the right move. And if students choose to proceed with COVID-19 as a topic, she says they need to be clear, detailed and insightful about what they learned and how they adapted along the way.

"Approaching the essay in this manner will provide important balance while demonstrating personal growth and vulnerability," Miller says.

Pippen encourages students to remember that they are in an unprecedented time for college admissions.

"It is important to keep in mind with all of these (admission) factors that no colleges have ever had to consider them this way in the selection process, if at all," Pippen says. "They have had very little time to calibrate their evaluations of different application components within their offices, let alone across institutions. This means that colleges will all be handling the admissions process a little bit differently, and their approaches may even evolve over the course of the admissions cycle."

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Life During Lockdown Essay in English for Students – 10 Lines, 100 & 1000 Words

• Entrance Exams
• November 6, 2023

Life During Lockdown Essay in English – The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has disrupted our lives in ways we could have never imagined. Lockdowns, social distancing, and the sudden shift to remote learning have become the new normal for students around the world. Lockdowns were imposed in many parts of the world to curb the spread of the virus.

This essay explores the experiences of students during these challenging times and how their lives were affected by lockdowns. This article delves into the experiences, challenges, and resilience displayed by students during this trying time.

Also See – Mahatma Gandhi Essay in English in 500, 100 Words

About Lachit Borphukan in 10 Lines

Here, we have provided a brief overview of Life During Lockdown Essay – experience & Challenges in 10 lines.

• Life during lockdown has been a unique and challenging experience for students worldwide.
• Lockdowns forced a sudden shift to online education, with students facing technical issues and a need to adapt.
• Social isolation and restrictions on gatherings led to feelings of loneliness and separation from friends.
• Mental health concerns, such as stress and anxiety, became more prevalent among students.
• Some students discovered new hobbies and interests, from art and music to cooking and writing.
• Family time became more valuable as lockdowns brought loved ones closer together.
• Reflection and personal growth became a focus for some students during the lockdown.
• Online connections and virtual events offered ways to combat isolation and stay connected with peers.
• The lockdown experience highlighted the resilience and adaptability of students in the face of adversity.
• As we move beyond the pandemic, these experiences will be remembered as a time of transformation and change.

Write About Life During Lockdown Essay in 500 Words

Life During Lockdown: Adapting to a New Normal

Introduction

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 sent shockwaves through the world, disrupting almost every facet of daily life. One of the most significant changes brought about by the pandemic was the imposition of lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus. In this essay, we will explore the multifaceted experiences and challenges faced by individuals during these unprecedented times.

Online Education: A Digital Transformation

One of the most profound changes during lockdown was the abrupt shift from traditional classroom education to online learning. This transition had a profound impact on students of all ages. For students, it meant attending classes through a computer screen, submitting assignments electronically, and communicating with teachers and peers in virtual spaces. Online education offered flexibility but also presented various challenges, including technical issues, difficulties in maintaining focus in a home environment, and a lack of personal interaction with teachers and classmates.

Social Isolation: A Loneliness Epidemic

Lockdowns, with their strict restrictions on social gatherings and activities, resulted in a pervasive sense of social isolation. Students found themselves missing out on birthdays, parties, and extracurricular events. The inability to interact with friends in person took a toll on their mental health, leading to feelings of loneliness and separation from their social circles. Many students struggled to adapt to this new reality, where personal connections were limited to the digital realm.

Mental Health: Coping with Stress and Anxiety

The pandemic placed significant stress on students. Uncertainty, academic pressures, and the abrupt shift to online learning exacerbated pre-existing mental health issues and created new ones. Students grappled with stress and anxiety, trying to find effective coping mechanisms. Some turned to mindfulness and meditation to manage their mental well-being, while others maintained physical activity and exercise routines to alleviate stress. For many, seeking professional help became a crucial step in managing their mental health during lockdown.

Discovering New Interests: Hobbies as a Lifeline

Amid the challenges of lockdown, some students discovered a silver lining – the opportunity to explore new hobbies and interests. With extracurricular activities canceled and reduced homework, students found themselves with more free time on their hands. Some turned to creative outlets, such as art, music, writing, cooking, or other forms of self-expression. These new interests not only helped pass the time but also provided a sense of accomplishment and personal growth.

Quality Family Time: Strengthening Bonds

As lockdowns confined families to their homes, they had the chance to spend more quality time together. Parents and siblings became a source of support and companionship. Family dinners, movie nights, and long conversations became a cherished part of life during lockdown, fostering stronger connections and bonds among family members.

Reflection and Personal Growth: A Time for Transformation

For some students, lockdown provided an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth. The slowed pace of life allowed them to set new goals, acquire new skills, and build resilience in the face of adversity. Many used this period of introspection to gain insights into their values, priorities, and aspirations.

Life during lockdown has been a journey filled with challenges and opportunities. The sudden shift to online education, the struggles of social isolation, and the impact on mental health have been significant. However, amidst these challenges, students have discovered new interests, strengthened family bonds, and embarked on personal journeys of growth and self-discovery. As the world moves forward beyond the pandemic, these experiences will serve as a testament to the adaptability and resilience of students in the face of unprecedented challenges. The lessons learned during this period will undoubtedly shape their lives and future endeavors.

Essay on Student Life in Lockdown

A Day in the Life of a Student in Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic, which swept the globe in 2020, has ushered in an era of unprecedented change. Lockdowns, social distancing, and remote learning have become the new reality for students worldwide. This article offers an in-depth exploration of a day in the life of a student during lockdown, comparing their current situation to pre-lockdown life and delving into the motivations that keep them going in these challenging times.

Pre-lockdown Life: A Time of Routine and Freedom

Morning Routine

Before the pandemic, students typically followed a well-defined morning routine. They would rise early, preparing themselves for the day ahead. Mornings often began with the pleasant aroma of breakfast and conversations with family members. Students would then embark on their daily commute to their respective educational institutions, be it school, college, or university. During this journey, they would interact with friends and classmates, share stories, and engage in light banter. The world was bustling with life, and students were an integral part of this vibrant ecosystem.

In-person Classes

In pre-lockdown life, students enjoyed the privilege of in-person learning. They would engage with their teachers face-to-face, have open discussions with peers, and participate in various extracurricular activities. The classrooms were alive with energy and enthusiasm as students actively participated in discussions, group projects, and hands-on learning experiences. Lunch breaks were a time for bonding with friends, and laughter filled the air as they shared meals and stories.

Afternoon and Evening

The afternoon and evening hours in pre-lockdown life were equally eventful. Students attended additional classes, worked on assignments, or participated in clubs and sports. The prospect of meeting friends after the day’s activities acted as a constant source of motivation. When the school day or college classes ended, students returned home in the late afternoon, bringing with them the excitement and experiences of the day. The evenings were a time for relaxation, socializing with friends, pursuing hobbies, and completing homework. Life had a sense of routine and normalcy.

Current Lockdown Life: A New Normal

In the wake of the pandemic, students have had to adapt to an entirely new routine. The early morning alarm still rings, but the circumstances have changed. Students now wake up at a different time, with more flexibility in their schedules. The day starts with a virtual breakfast, either with family members or alone, as the morning hustle and bustle of getting ready for a commute has been replaced by a more relaxed atmosphere. The absence of the daily commute is a significant change that many have come to appreciate.

Virtual Classes

Current lockdown life is defined by the transition to virtual education. Students have shifted from physical classrooms to virtual ones, attending lectures via video calls and web conferencing platforms. While this change offers flexibility in terms of location, it also presents various challenges. Staring at screens for prolonged periods can lead to screen fatigue, and maintaining focus within the distractions of a home environment can be difficult. The traditional classroom’s lively atmosphere and face-to-face interactions with teachers and peers have been replaced by a digital realm. While technology enables learning to continue, the loss of in-person interactions is palpable.

The afternoons and evenings for students in lockdown are a mix of academic responsibilities, self-study, and managing assignments. The energy and camaraderie of the physical campus are sorely missed. Students grapple with the absence of friends and the vibrancy of campus life. Evenings are largely spent indoors, with limited physical interaction with friends. This change has prompted students to turn to digital entertainment, such as movies, video games, and social media, to fill the void left by social interactions. The absence of physical engagement and extracurricular activities has left a vacuum in their daily lives.

Motivation in Lockdown: Finding Purpose

Dealing with Isolation

A significant challenge in the life of students during lockdown is dealing with isolation. The lack of social interaction, which was once an integral part of their daily routine, has left many feeling isolated and lonely. Students often turn to video calls and online chats to stay connected with friends and peers, seeking ways to bridge the gap created by physical distance. While virtual interactions are a lifeline, they can never fully replace the energy and spontaneity of in-person encounters.

Staying Motivated

Motivation during lockdown is an ongoing struggle. The lack of a physical classroom environment, the isolation from peers, and the blurred lines between home and school make it challenging for students to stay motivated. Self-discipline and time management become essential skills for maintaining productivity. Students often establish their own routines and set personal goals to ensure they stay on track academically. They use tools like to-do lists and time management apps to help them stay organized and focused on their studies.

To overcome the absence of physical extracurricular activities, students have turned to virtual alternatives. Online clubs, webinars, and workshops have become a source of motivation and engagement. These virtual activities provide students with a sense of community and an opportunity to pursue their interests and passions.

Coping with Uncertainty

The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic’s duration and its long-term effects on education and the job market has created anxiety and stress among students. Coping with this uncertainty is a significant aspect of their daily lives. Many students find inspiration in the resilience of the global community, witnessing how people come together in times of crisis. They draw strength from stories of individuals who have overcome adversity and have found innovative ways to adapt to the new normal.

For emotional support, students often turn to friends and family, engaging in open conversations about their fears and concerns. Many students have also sought professional counseling to help them navigate the emotional challenges posed by the pandemic.

A day in the life of a student during lockdown offers a stark contrast to the pre-lockdown routine. While pre-lockdown life was characterized by a structured daily schedule, in-person interactions, and a vibrant atmosphere, current lockdown life is marked by virtual classes, isolation, and a struggle for motivation. However, students have displayed remarkable adaptability and resilience in the face of these challenges. They have found ways to cope with isolation, stay motivated, and deal with the uncertainty brought about by the pandemic.

As the world continues to navigate the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic, the experiences of students during lockdown serve as a testament to their ability to adapt to challenging circumstances. Their determination and resilience are shaping their lives and will undoubtedly influence their future endeavors. While the journey has been filled with challenges, it has also offered opportunities for personal growth and a deeper understanding of the importance of community, adaptability, and perseverance in the face of adversity.

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Lockdown diaries: the everyday voices of the coronavirus pandemic

Senior Lecturer in Social Science, Swansea University

Disclosure statement

Michael Ward does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Swansea University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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A diary is by its very nature an intensely personal thing. It’s a place to record our most intimate thoughts and worries about the world around us. In other words, it is a glimpse at our state of mind.

Now, the coronavirus pandemic, and the impact of the lockdown, have left many people isolated and scared about what the future might bring. As a sociologist, I was keen to hear how people were experiencing this totally new way of life. So in early March I began the CoronaDiaries – a sociological study which aimed to highlight the real voices and the everyday experiences of the pandemic by collecting the accounts of people up and down the UK, before, during and after the crisis.

From the frontline health worker concerned about PPE and exposure to COVID-19, to the furloughed engineer worried about his mental health, these are the voices of the pandemic. Entries take a variety of forms, such as handwritten or word-processed diaries, blogs, social media posts, photos, videos, memes and other submissions like songs, poems, shopping lists, dream logs and artwork. So far, the study has recruited 164 participants, from 12 countries, aged between 11 and 87. These people come from a range of backgrounds.

This article is part of Conversation Insights The Insights team generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.

When I began this project in March, I did not expect the study to prove so popular. I have been studying and working as a sociologist for nearly 20 years and most of my research so far has looked at how young men experience education, gender roles and social inequality.

Like many of us, I was wondering how I could be of use at this time, do my bit in the crisis and make the most of my skills. As the weeks have gone by and more and more people have signed up, I’ve realised this project isn’t just a research study to understand how society is being made and remade – it is also providing hope and acting as a cathartic coping tool for people. While some of the documents have made me cry, especially those from already vulnerable people, others have made me laugh and have been a joy to read. I feel as though I am on a journey with the participants as we move through the crisis.

Reading the entries, what becomes clear as the lockdown is eased is that this pandemic has been – and will continue to be – experienced in very different ways across society. For some, the crisis has been an opportunity, but for others, who are already in a disadvantaged position, it is a very frightening experience.

March – first days

The frontline health worker

Emma is in her late 30s, and a frontline health worker in a rural location in Wales. Like many key workers, Emma is also juggling family life and caring responsibilities. In a diary entry written in mid-march, Emma foresaw issues with PPE in the NHS.

On my shifts over the previous weekend, it became apparent how unprepared we are. I was working on a ‘clean’ ward and four of the patients were found to potentially be infected. There were no clinical indications they were potentially infected on admission and had been nursed without PPE for two days. We may have all been exposed, as these patients are suspected to have COVID-19. We have been given bare bones PPE. It was quite sobering when a rapid response was called and the doctors refused to enter the cubicle without FFP3 masks , blue gown and visor.

Emma said the equipment “magically turned up” after the doctors took this stand but said the sight of them all in surgical gowns, helmets and visors “did verge on the ridiculous”. She added:

I did find it amusing – we’re looking at the doctors wanting their protection and they are looking at the consultant wanting his! It did feel like a farce. Fortunately, the patient was made stable and went to surgery for another issue. But the whole episode was worrying, particularly the crappy surgical mask and aprons we are provided. It’s also galling that they have told staff there is no PPE when clearly there is. Can’t help but think a lack of information is creating fear amongst staff. It’s also weird they aren’t testing staff unless they’re symptomatic. This is crazy when they are so dependent on bank and agency workers who move around.

The worried mum

Beth, 35, is a mother of two young children who lives in a busy city. In the early days of the crisis, she hid her fears from her children. Here is a snapshot from her written diary:

I didn’t sleep well last night, didn’t help I watched the news before going to sleep. Then looked at my phone and full of corona news … Today was the big announcement from Boris (Friday, March 20) ‘to stay in’! Even though he had been saying this all week, the tone and manner of the broadcast was so scary and serious. I felt scared for my family and it just made me fearful of what is to come. I rang my mum straight away … [she] could hear my fear. After a good chat … my mum … remind[ed] me ‘we are all well at this moment’ and to focus on that. My daughter cried later that evening. I said, ‘what are you scared of’ to which she replied, ‘I’m not sure mummy, I don’t know what I am scared of.’ Which made me realise that I need to be brave and make sure that both kids are reassured. Later that evening, I felt tearful and just feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation. How stupid too, because we are all safe.

Read more: How to help with school at home: don't talk like a teacher

The student

Audrey, 21, goes to a university in Birmingham and is in the final months of her degree. The rupture of “normal” student life became clear when the full scale of the lockdown came into force, causing her housemates to leave their shared house.

I’d just lost all three of my housemates, who’d returned to Barbados, Spain and France – literally one day after each other. My landlord really kindly agreed that my sister could stay with me – and she won’t even charge any rent. I almost cried when I got that message. I was having a facetime with my friend, where we paused to watch Boris Johnson’s speech (March 23). It was so scary because we were effectively in lockdown. I had told my sister that I thought it was about to happen earlier in the day, she didn’t believe me – and then unfortunately it came true! I told her to jump on the train from Manchester.

Audrey went on to write how some of her fellow students set up a food bank in one of the student accommodations near her and that she is determined help where she can. But despite her altruistic efforts, the lockdown was still taking its toll.

I feel deflated from everything. I chatted to a friend over Messenger and she suggested I paint something. I painted this rainbow and felt so much better at the end. I added in my favourite quote that gets [me] through any hard times and stuck it on the window.

April – settling in

The cleaner

Eva is a self-employed cleaner, in her mid 50s, who lives in South Wales with her husband, John, who works in a factory making hand sanitiser. As the lockdown entered its second month, she reflected on her relationship with the woman who worked for her and how differently the pandemic was effecting them both.

Today I am cleaning the community centre, which since the lockdown, is running as a food bank three days a week … I bleach everything, door handles, floors, everything. Most staff work from home at the moment so we are going in the morning until all this is over. I’m glad I’m still in business for Beverly, who works with me, as much as anything. I’m her only income, but if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. We have a cigarette break outside and I remind Beverly to stay apart. ‘What, beans for brekkie, was it?’ I laugh. Beverly really doesn’t care about COVID – like many others I meet, who believe if they get it, they get it.

For once I’m glad I’m a worrier, plus I’m not ready to die yet. We are out of there early as no staff equals less mess. I break it to Beverly that I can’t give her a lift home for now. Last week I made her sit in the back [of the car] which felt faintly ridiculous, but John advised even that’s too close. Beverly shrugs and says that’s fine. Her son died unexpectedly two years ago and now she accepts hardship with ease. I feel bad as her life really is crap and now she has to walk two miles home.

The teacher

Sophia is a teacher in her 40s and based in the south of England. She is trying to home school her children during the lockdown and being a parent and a teacher is proving challenging.

We began the day slightly differently with an online PE lesson from someone called Joe Wicks, or The Body Coach. He’s been really popular during the lockdown and a few of my friends recommended the 30-minute workout session he does every day at 9am, so I thought we’d give it a go! Unfortunately, my two have the concentration spans of goldfish so it didn’t go according to plan! My son ended up lying upside down, with his legs on a chair and his head on the floor and my daughter said he moved too fast, before promptly falling on her behind! The only problem with changing the routine was that we were then 30 minutes late for home school and my son does not cope well with change. He needs quite a rigid structure, with clearly defined timings and any changes can be detrimental. The speed of the school lockdown was particularly challenging: school gives his day structure and taking it away so abruptly was very difficult for him.

The civil servant

Sarah is a civil servant in her mid-60s working in a pivotal role for HM Revenue and Customs. She used her diary to document the rapid changes which have taken place in her organisation since the lockdown and how working from home was becoming “normal” from March 23.

My department is changing so quickly – we have introduced a new i-form to promote more ‘web chat’. This is proving popular with the public. We are trialling taking incoming telephone calls at home. We are all now working from home when we can, no more car sharing, unless it’s with someone you live with – we must keep two metres apart. I am beginning to accept that this is a crisis, once in a generation, completely alien to us. Will life in the future be remembered as ‘before and after’ COVID-19? For the first time in many years I feel so proud to work where I do…I understand, possibly for the first time, why we are ‘key workers’. We have a letter as proof to show the police if we are ever stopped whilst travelling into work and NCP carparks are free for us to use if we come into work! No better validation than that!

The furloughed engineer

Lucas, a man in his late 30s from Northern Ireland, is finding the pandemic difficult on multiple levels. It’s a trigger for his mental health, but also it is a reminder of past troubles.

Nightmare. Anxiety, fear, dread, no way to burn off the angst, worry upon worry, like how the inside of my head can be at times. Then there’s the ones that are really in the middle of it, nurses dying because there was no proper PPE at the right time, people losing parents, friends, and IMHO worst of all, kids.

Lucas writes about how he stopped watching the news because in an attempt to “avoid anxiety”. He adds:

I grew up in Northern Ireland during ‘the troubles’ and it was totally normal for me to watch the news every night at tea time [6pm] and hear of various paramilitary groups killing people. That was 100% normal to me. Looking back watching the news in those times did me no good. Sure, I know some facts about it all, but do I feel any better for it … Same as now, I’m going to try to ride this out with my hands over my ears and my head in the sand at times.

Read more: Coronavirus: a growing number of people are avoiding news

The academic

Jack, 72, is a retired academic who used his diary to comment on societal problems. One of which is the narrative of what the “new normal” is and how society is being remade.

April 29 saw the return of Boris, who was to ‘take control of the problem’. An almost religious return for someone who came back from being nearly dead on Easter Sunday! It seems we are being told to be ready for the new normal which again raises the issue of what post-lockdown will be like. On the web I don’t see sociologists rushing in to think about this new normal! A Google search suggests that the new normal is being constructed largely by those in business and is largely focused on the new normal being a more exaggerated (and better?) version of the old normal – more globalisation, more focus on customers and so on. There is little ‘thinking outside the box’.

Read more: What will the world be like after coronavirus? Four possible futures

May – Looking forward

The bell-ringer

Daniel, a man in his mid-20s, had just started a new relationship in February with a woman he met while bell-ringing at a church in the Midlands. However, both he and his girlfriend live apart and have not seen each other since the lockdown began. Over the past few months, Daniel has found this a challenge, but has documented how their relationship has been maintained virtually and through the help of keeping a diary.

Suzy and I have got to know each other a lot quicker and a lot better than what we may have done otherwise, and whilst we do miss each other immensely, it’ll make the good times so much better when we do see each other next. Whenever and however we get out of this, I am determined that I will have made the most of these extraordinary circumstances.

This is just a glimpse of the stories that have been gathered by the CoronaDiaries project, but already patterns are emerging. While this crisis is undoubtedly impacting on people across the globe, what is clear from these accounts is that there are multiple crises across everyday life – for the young, the old, for mothers and for fathers and for those from different class, gender and ethnic backgrounds. These entries are able to highlight the multiple different lives behind the dreaded numbers we hear announced each day.

My diarists have been recording how they feel vulnerable and uncertain about their future – but there is also hope that things will not be like this forever.

The evidence which is being gathered here can play an important part in addressing the social, political and economic changes created by the COVID-19 pandemic. This type of analysis will foster global awareness of crucial issues that can help support specific public health responses to better control future outbreaks and to better prepare people for future problems. The study will run until September and all accounts will then be available to view in a free digital online archive.

All the names used in this piece have been changed at the request of the study participants.

For you: more from our Insights series :

Lockdown lessons from the history of solitude

What will the world be like after coronavirus? Four possible futures

The end of the world: a history of how a silent cosmos led humans to fear the worst

To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. Subscribe to our newsletter .

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Is the lockdown important to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic? Effects on psychology, environment and economy-perspective

COVID-19's daily increasing cases and deaths have led to worldwide lockdown, quarantine and some restrictions. This study aims to analyze the effect of lockdown days on the spread of coronavirus in countries. COVID-19 cases and lockdown days data were collected for 49 countries that implemented the lockdown between certain dates (without interruption). The correlation tests were used for data analysis based on unconstrained (normal) and constrained (Tukey-lambda). The lockdown days was significantly correlated with COVID-19 pandemic based on unconstrained (r = −0.9126, F-ratio = 6.1654; t-ratio = 2.40; prob > .0203 with 49 observations) and based on Tukey-lambda (r = 0.7402, λ = 0.14). The lockdown, one of the social isolation restrictions, has been observed to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic, and showed that the spread of the virus can be significantly reduced by this preventive restriction in this study. This study offers initial evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic can be suppressed by a lockdown. The application of lockdown by governments is also thought to be effective on psychology, environment and economy besides having impact on Covid-19.

• • The study examines the impact of lockdown (curfew) on the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
• • The correlation tests are used for data analysis.
• • This study offers initial evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic can be suppressed by a lockdown.
• • This study assesses the effects of lockdown on psychological, environmental and economy.

1. Introduction

A disease similar to pneumonia cases began to emerge in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in December 2019 [ 1 , 2 ]. The studies revealed that the cases that emerged were a new type of coronavirus that was not previously described. This form of the virus was called Coronavirus 2019, or COVID-19, since it appeared in 2019 [ 3 ]. The source of this virus is thought to be the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China. It was understood in time that the virus, which is transmitted from animal to human, can spread from human to human.

Although the molecular mechanism of COVID-19 transmission pathway from human to human is still not resolved, the principle of transmission of respiratory diseases is similar in general [ 4 ]. Respiratory diseases are spread by droplet scattering. In this type of spreading, a sick person is exposed to this microbe to people around him by coughing or sneezing. In other words, environmental factors play an important role in the transmission of this virus [ 5 ].

The COVID-19 outbreak is spreading very fast every day and more than 4 million people have been actively infected by this virus so COVID-19 restrictions are applied in almost all areas of life [ 6 ]. The most basic measure to reduce the spread of coronavirus or to prevent infection is to follow hygiene rules [ 7 ]. The most important of these is washing hands. For this reason, the spread of this virus is slower in societies that have the habit of washing hands and pay attention to the general hygiene rules [ 8 ]. There is a high level of participation in the "stay at home" call by official institutions. Scientists warn that the COVID-19 virus can reach any age group quickly [ 1 , 9 ].

Approximately 214 countries reported the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases [ 10 ]. Countries have taken very strict restrictions such as vacation for schools, working from home, quarantine for regions with high number of cases, and most importantly, lockdown to slow down the COVID 19 outbreak. The lockdown days differ by countries. Countries have set the days when the lockdown started and ended according to the COVID-19 effect on their public. Some countries have extended the lockdown by many days due to COVID-19 continues its influence intensely on the public. Chakraborty and Maity have emphasized that the lockdown has both environmental and economic impact on countries. The lockdown has created the ground for renewal of the environment, especially with the closure of factories and the reduction of both private and public transportation vehicles used. COVID-19 increased the air quality in many parts of the world with the lockdown imposed during the pandemic process [ 9 ]. Due to the lockdown, economic activities have stopped reducing carbon emissions [ 11 ].

To prevent this pandemic, governments have started to apply bans under many social restrictions. Lockdown is at the forefront of these restrictions. The aim of this study is to analyze statistically that the lockdown plays an important role in preventing COVID-19 and to show its psychological effect on people. This study used COVID-19 data from 49 countries to analyze the impact of the lockdown to slow down the COVID-19 outbreak. Countries that do not constantly enforce the lockdown are not included in this study. The correlation tests were used for data analysis based on unconstrained (normal) and constrained (Tukey-lambda).

This study includes five sections. The first section deals with the literature review of studies related to COVID-19 pandemic. The second part gives detailed information about the methodology of the study. The results obtained from the method mentioned in the methodology section are discussed in the third section. An overview of the psychological, environmental, and economic impacts of the lockdown imposed in countries due to COVID-19 is discussed in the fourth section. In the last section, conclusion about the study has been provided.

2. Methodology

COVID-19 case data of the countries considered were collected from www.worldometer.com [ 6 ]. A total number of 3726797 million confirmed active COVID-19 cases have been documented worldwide as of May 5, 2020. The number of approved active COVID-19 cases in countries considered for this study was recorded as 1440776 as of May 5, 2020. COVID-19 cases and lockdown days data were collected for 49 countries that implemented the lockdown between certain dates (without interruption). The lockdown days of the countries were obtained from the websites of the official institutions of each country.

The correlation test was used to analyze the associations between lockdown days factor and total cases of COVID-19 by countries. The correlation of the lockdown on the number of COVID-19 cases was calculated as unconstrained (normal) and unconstrained (Tukey-lambda distribution) in two ways. The distribution of Tukey-Lambda has the shape parameter λ. The Tukey-Lambda distribution is created with a position parameter, μ and a scale parameter, σ. This is because the general form of probability functions is expressed in terms of standard normal distribution. Values less than this mean (0.14) a heavy-tailed distribution (−1 is close to a Approx. Cauchy). That is, as the optimal value of λ increases from 0.14 to −1, progressively heavy tails are implied. Similarly, as the optimal value of λ becomes greater than 0.14, shorter tails are implied. The Tukey-lambda distribution is expressed mathematically in Eq. (1) .

Fig. 1 shows the total number of COVID-19 cases by 49 countries. Most of the countries considered are located in the European region including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain. Although COVID appeared in 19 China, the European region has become the epicenter of the virus, and more cases have emerged in Europe than in China. The highest case of COVID-19 from selected countries occurred in Spain, 250561 COVID-19 cases on May 5, 2020. Italy announced its first approved COVID-19 case on January 31, 2020.The country with the lowest COVID-19 case is Paraguay, 461 COVID-19 cases on May 5, 2020.

Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases by countries.

Fig. 2 shows the days of lockdown imposed by 49 countries. Some of these countries continue the lockdown. However, the last day of lockdown in these countries was accepted as 5 May 2020 for this study. The Ireland, which has been curfewed for 68 days, has the longest lockdown period. A total of 21983 COVID-19 cases were approved as of May 5, 2020 in Ireland. Spain, the country with the highest number of cases, has been imposed lockdown for 53 days (see Fig. 3 ).

COVID-19 pandemic lockdown days by countries.

Transformed COVID-19 data.

Although China became the center in the first days of the epidemic, Italy passed China with the emerging cases. Even though Italy suffered a severe injury in this pandemic, Italy have managed to control the number of COVID-19 cases with the lockdown for a long time. On the other hand, although there is a downward trend in new cases confirmed in France and Spain, the number of cases confirmed in Spain has exceeded the number of cases confirmed in Italy.

Descriptive analyses were implemented for all the data. The statistical test was two-sided, and a value p < 0.05 was measured for model and parameter statistically significant based on the fit regression model. The data used for the study were analyzed using JMP Pro software (version 15.0), Numbers and Minitab 18.0 statistical computer program.

3. Results and discussions

Descriptive analyses were presented for all the data used in this study in Table 1 . The results of the descriptive analyses were prompted as 95% confidence intervals for upper and lower mean in lockdown days and total cases of COVID-19. The statistical test was two-sided, and a value p  < 0.05 was measured for model and parameter statistically significant.

Descriptive statistics data on Lockdown days and COVID-29 cases.

The data set used is not suitable for normal distribution according to Anderson-Darling (the value of AD was 9.376 and p-value of Anderson-Darling test was 0.0003) and Shapiro-Wilk (the value of W was 0.728 and p-value of Shapiro-Wilk test was 0.010) normality tests. Statistical processes were performed by transforming COVID-19 data. The transformed COVID-19 data using full Box-Cox transformation method ( for all λ : T ( y )   = ( y λ − 1 )   / λ , where the value of T(y) is the transformation of the observation data y ; the value of  λ shows the power to which all observation data to be increased) is limited between 4.4263 and 6.7749 to adapt to the normal distribution (see Fig. 1 .).

A correlation analysis was made between the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. The correlation value varies between −1 and +1. The correlation value of a factor indicates that it has a negative relationship as it approaches −1, and a positive relationship as it approaches +1. The lockdown has been found to have a very strong correlation on approved COVID-19 cases. The unconstrained correlation value was calculated as −0.9126. Fig. 4 shows the Tukey-Lambda correlation curve for normality test.

Tukey-lambda normality plot.

The Tukey-Lambda distribution forms a distribution family that can approach the normal distribution. The maximum correlation of lockdown and COVID 19 case numbers occurred for the λ value of 0.14 (r = 0.7402), and COVID-19 data was modeled according to a normal distribution (see Table 2 ).

Tukey lambda-correlation.

The period of lockdown applied by 49 countries on average have taken 35.38 days. A lockdown was imposed for a minimum of 3 days while a lockdown was imposed for a maximum of 68 days by countries. During this period, an average of 29403 people in these countries were actively infected with COVID-19 virus. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was recorded as a minimum of 431 and a maximum of 250561. Predictive statistics of COVID-19 data and lockdown of the mentioned countries are given in Table 3 . A minimum of 30 observations are required to create an effective statistical analysis. In this study, 49 data were used to calculate the lockdown in the aforementioned countries in the spread of COVID-19 pandemic with 95% relative confidence intervals (t-ratio = −0.83; F ratio = 5.7639; prob = 0.0413; adjusted R 2  = 0.7212). It has been observed that the developed model was found important according to the statistical analyses. The lockdown parameter is significant at  p  < .05, so the data is very close to zero at 95.0% confidence level (t-ratio = 2.40; F ratio = 6.1614; prob = 0.0203).

Validation of statistical analysis.

The healthcare system capacities of countries have serious concerns about meeting the needs of infected COVID-19 patients. Therefore, countries have to take the strictest measures necessary to slow down or even stop this pandemic. Otherwise, this situation triggers the intensive care units to be at their maximum level in these countries. Although the number of infected patients is very high in Spain and Italy, the number of cases decreased significantly in recent days. This situation is also found in other countries. As a result of the strict measures taken, governments plan to return normal life gradually in the countries mentioned. As a result, an absolute decrease in the number of cases will occur if there is no possibility of virus mutation.

4. Effects of lockdown

4.1. psychological effects.

It is observed that there is a confusion with the rapid spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in the world and the emergence of serious consequences. For this reason, it is certain that the new data for COVID-19 mental health effects will be obtained more clearly with the big data to be obtained. According to the first findings obtained in the studies, Lockdown has been shown to be related to human psychology. It was determined that stress (8.0%) and depression (16.0–28.0%) were psychological reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings have some limitations. These psychological symptoms emerged from only a few of the affected countries and may not reflect the experiences of people living in other parts of the world. As a result, it is clear that having confirmed cases and mortality rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on mental health problems.

4.2. Environmental effects

The effect of the lockdown on the environment due to Covid-19 has been addressed in many studies. It is observed that the environment has started to renew itself due to all kinds of industry, vehicle movement and social activities of people continue at a low level for a long time. In particular, a positive effect of lockdown restrictions on air and water quality has been observed. Yunus et al. have quantitatively determined that the quality of the water of Venbanad Lake has increased approximately 15.6% in India with the remote sensing imaging method [ 12 ]. Kerimray et al. have analyzed the effect of the 27-day lockdown in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan on the concentrations of air pollutants, and emphasized the increase of air quality in Almaty [ 13 ]. Another study has showed that the quality of air due to the lockdown in Delhi has a positive effect [ 14 ]. Dantas et al. have calculated the CO emission level as approximately 30.3–48.5% due to the lockdown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [ 15 ]. For this study, we emphasized that the effect of lockdown on covid-19 was statistically significant. Examples of the environmental impacts of the indirect lockdown due to Covid-19 were provided.

4.3. Economic effects

The COVID-19 outbreak, which is now turning into a pandemic, is a global health crisis. However, the measures taken by countries against this epidemic bring along an unprecedented economic disaster [ 16 ]. The global pandemic, namely COVID-19, has been dealt with in many studies on the socio-economic effects of the world economy [ 17 ]. In almost 90% of the world, social isolation is applied in some way, people do not go out on the streets, workplaces are closed, flights are banned, people are dismissed. In terms of the extent of destruction in the economy during the pandemic and the speed of the expected recovery after the pandemic; at what level and when the outbreak will be brought under control, how long the current social distance/isolation-oriented measures will be loosened and when it will begin to normalize in the expansionary economic measures already taken.

5. The limitations of the study

There are some limitations of this study to measure the effect of Lockdown on COVID-19 cases. The COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing so statistical analysis should continue. There are conflicting statements regarding lockdown by countries on COVID-19. In countries where the COVID-19 case is intensely occurring, either no lockdown is imposed or is applied intermittently. In addition, it is claimed that, besides the positive aspects of the lockdown, people who comply with this restriction cause a weakened immune system. The main reason for this is that there is too much food consumption and limited mobility. The effect of the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on human health may be the subject of future work.

6. Conclusion

COVID-19's daily increasing cases and deaths have led to worldwide lockdown, quarantine and some restrictions. This study aims to analyze the effect of lockdown days on the spread of coronavirus in 49 countries. This study offers initial evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic can be suppressed by a lockdown. In addition, other parameters such as demographic of population, density of populations, the parameters of weather, economy, infrastructure of healthcare systems may be considered in the studies considering that it may be effective on COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the application of lockdown by governments is also thought to be effective on psychology, environment and economy with it being effective on COVID-19.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Sources of funding

Author contribution.

Abdulkadir Atalan : study design, data collections, data analysis, software, writing- original draft, writing-review & editing.

Trial registry number

1.Name of the registry:

2.Unique Identifying number or registration ID:

3.Hyperlink to your specific registration (must be publicly accessible and will be checked):

Dr. Abdulkadir Atalan.

Provenance and peer review

Not commissioned, externally peer-reviewed.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Abdulkadir Atalan: Data curation, Formal analysis, Software, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The Lockdown Impact on the Public Essay

The outbreak of Covid-19 posed a question of the global lockdown, restricting society from living its everyday lives. Naturally, no one in England and Wales was allowed to go outside unless it was the reason to go to the hospital or purchase groceries. Furthermore, people could not work at their workplaces anymore, but only from home. Many companies went bankrupt due to this issue, and numerous people were fired and left in a horrible financial situation. By and whole, the lockdown had a severe impact on the people of the UK, leaving the public struggling to earn funds.

To begin with, as people were fired from their jobs, they had to seek other opportunities to earn money, which was highly challenging due to the unfavorable economic situation for businesses. The economic crisis that was faced by the business negatively impacted both employers and employees in a financial way. According to Office for National Statistics (2021), 1.771 million people have lost their jobs since 2019, the beginning of the lockdown. In other words, the percentage of people who lost their jobs is now at 4.8%, meaning that “about one in 20 people who want a job can’t find one” (King, 2020, para. 5). At the end of last year, the unemployment rate stood at 5.5%, so it is evident that people are having fewer difficulties seeking income sources his year than the previous one (King, 2020). Fortunately, the percentage is expected to drop as the economy is gradually recovering, providing the residents of England and Wales with more job opportunities (Government UK, 2021). That is why most people were struggling to survive the lockdown since it impacted not only their mental health but their financial circumstances.

As a result, the aforementioned crisis led to the occurring instabilities in the labor market, which undoubtedly negatively impacted the economic system of the UK. Be more particular, 390 thousand registered businesses and 520 thousand of unregistered organizations stopped their operations or did not survive the financial crisis and went bankrupt (Lambert & Van Reenen, 2021). In contrast, the companies trying to survive the unstable economic situation in the UK decided to increase their prices (Lambert & Van Reenen, 2021). Consequently, many people could not afford to purchase the necessities because of their financial circumstances.

Moreover, since people were not allowed to leave their places and, hence, stayed at home for a much longer time, the amount of money that should have been paid for the communal services increased sustainably. Fortunately, the government of the UK helped low-income families by pausing debt payments and making sure that housing services were provided to the residents during their self-isolation (Ingrams, 2020). Overall, people’s situations were relatively comfortable until the restrictions were lifted and they were required to pay for their bills at once.

To sum up, the economic crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic was influential as many people in the UK lost their jobs and could not provide for themselves and their families. In addition, it was a real challenge to find a new source of income, considering that most businesses struggled to sustain their position on the market and not go bankrupt. It seems significant to mention that the communal services and the prices for necessary products were soaring on a daily basis so that fewer people could afford to cover their bills due to their unfavorable financial circumstances.

The Reference List

Government UK (2021). Jobs and benefits: the COVID-19 challenge . [online] GOV.UK. Web.

Ingrams, S. (2020). Help with energy bills announced by the UK government . Web.

King, B. (2020). Seven charts on the coronavirus jobs market. BBC News . Web.

Lambert, P. and Van Reenen, J. (2021). A wave of COVID-related bankruptcies is coming to the UK. What can we do about it? [online] LSE Business Review. Web.

Office for National Statistics (2019). LFS: Unemployed: UK: All: Aged 16+: 000s: SA: Annual = 4 quarter average – Office for National Statistics . Ons.gov.uk. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022, December 20). The Lockdown Impact on the Public. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-lockdown-impact-on-the-public/

"The Lockdown Impact on the Public." IvyPanda , 20 Dec. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-lockdown-impact-on-the-public/.

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IvyPanda . "The Lockdown Impact on the Public." December 20, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-lockdown-impact-on-the-public/.

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Working through the boredom: Essays from lockdown

Somehow, we’ve made it over halfway through term and yet it feels like basically no time has passed. It’s been over two months since the vast majority of us were in Oxford, but without any real kind of change or milestones, life has started to feel worryingly like Groundhog Day.

In the midst of this, I’ve found myself working notably more than usual. This is certainly not a universal reaction to the ongoing crisis; I know that a lot of people around me are really struggling to work at all. I can understand why, I’ve never wanted to do work less – and yet, I’ve never really needed it more.

Work-life balance has effectively been thrown out of the window because there’s just not a whole lot of life going on outside of work. There’s only so many Zoom pub quizzes and socially distanced walks you can do before it too becomes part of the overwhelming sameness of lockdown. I’ve found myself clinging onto work like a raft that can protect me from my greatest fear at the moment: boredom. When I don’t have things to be doing for my degree, I find myself desperately hunting for summer internships (the end of term is looming worryingly near and with it a vast sea of nothingness), or writing articles (like this one!). The thought of having to sit alone with no kind of distraction from the ongoing situation frankly terrifies me.

I’ve found myself clinging onto work like a raft that can protect me from my greatest fear at the moment: boredom.

At the same time, work has become significantly more difficult. A side effect of inhabiting the same spaces constantly is that there’s very little new stimulation – there’s only so many walks you can go on before you’ve covered the majority of your surroundings. For me, this has led to a feeling of having a fog over my brain, one that can’t be shaken by just walking to a different library. I’ve never really experienced an essay crisis, and yet now they are an almost regular occurrence.

The usual rhythms of term have been entirely disrupted. Usually, there are significant peaks and troughs in stress, like before an essay deadline, or after you’ve finished a reading list. Now, even though the same work still exists, there’s no real release once it’s been submitted, because it’s not exactly as though you can go on a club night with your friends and celebrate. Instead, you’re left just sort of staring at your laptop screen, and maybe the fun treat of yet another Netflix episode. Everything is significantly more dialled down, so instead of an all nighter in a library followed by a wonderful day in the sun, there’s a constant sense of stress that is never fully alleviated. While 5th week blues definitely still exists, it doesn’t really feel all that much different than the sensation that the rest of this term has carried with it.

In some ways, this situation is a great insight into what life would be like if everything was more heavily digitalised. Our social lives are now almost exclusively online, as well as our leisure and learning time. Besides the fun side effect of eye strain (surprisingly painful?), I’ve noticed that it’s become a lot more difficult to justify time spent away from screens when there’s so little to do away from screens. For years, the overwhelming rhetoric in the media has been one of condemning our generation’s technology usage, and yet here we are, in a world where this is not only normal but also the only safe way of continuing onwards.

I’ve noticed that it’s become a lot more difficult to justify time spent away from screens when there’s so little to do away from screens.

Life online doesn’t seem to have quite the same texture to it as the real world. I study a humanities subject, and a lot of my contact hours are made up of discussion-based learning, but it just doesn’t seem to function in the same way in an online setting. The physical space of the classroom becomes flattened, so that if two people talk at the same time it becomes difficult to discern what either is saying. This has led to such a high level of turn-taking in conversation that debate loses its engaging quality, and I come away from classes feeling intellectually quite blank.

The same happens when you try to recreate group settings, like in Zoom calls with your friends. In ordinary life, it is normal for there to be several ongoing discussions at once. When everyone’s talking at the same volume, you’re forced into a scenario where the entire group is often listening to one person at a time, which makes everything you say just feel like it has a bit more pressure on it.

That my biggest problems right now are boredom and loneliness is an exceptionally privileged position to be in. There are people in unbearable living situations, or people that have become ill, or lost family and friends. Being bored is really quite a lucky state of being. Still, I look forward to a time beyond this, when everything feels a little less flat, and I’m back in Oxford again.

Photo by Jason Mowry on Unsplash

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The Coronavirus Crisis

Personal essay: coronavirus lockdown is a 'living hell'.

A Resident Of Wuhan

Editor's note: The author of this essay asked for anonymity for fear of reprisals by authorities for speaking critically of the Chinese government.

The government lockdown orders in Wuhan, China, have emptied the city's streets. Stringer for NPR hide caption

The government lockdown orders in Wuhan, China, have emptied the city's streets.

As residents of Wuhan, China, my family and I are living in hell.

The city has been locked down for more than a month. Every night before falling asleep I have been confronted by an unreal feeling and many questions:

Read This Essay In Chinese

To read this essay in Chinese, click here.

I know that coronavirus is the reason for the lockdown — but did life in Wuhan have to become a living hell?

Why were we notified about the city lockdown at 2 a.m. on the second to last morning before the Lunar New Year?

Why have I not been given any instructions from a government officer about how to cope when an entire city is on lockdown?

I'm nearly 30 years old. My family members and I have devoted ourselves to our jobs to build a better life — and we have largely succeeded. There's only a little more to do before we reach the level of middle class.

But along the way, things did not go exactly as I'd hoped. I have been working hard in school since I was small. My dream was to become a journalist, and I passed the test to enter the best school for journalism in China.

After school, I learned that government supervision of the media meant that telling the truth was not an option. So I gave up my dream and turned to another career.

I kept telling myself that my hard work would reward me in my personal life. And to protect myself, I decided to shut up, to be silent about politics — even when I saw people treated unfairly by the government. I thought that if I followed that path, I would be secure, I would be one of the fortunate ones.

Now I realize that this is an illusion. A secure life is not an option with a political system that does not give us freedom to speak out and that does not communicate with us truthfully.

At the moment when the city was first locked down, I hoped with all my heart that China's political system, known for concentrating resources to get big jobs done, could save the Wuhanese. But infected patients were treated in the hospital in Wuhan as early as the beginning of December, and for unknown reasons, the government held off informing the public and taking effective action.

So they missed the best window of prevention due to this cover-up.

That knowledge has made me fall into desperation. The order to lock down the city appeared from nowhere on Jan. 23 at 2 a.m., without any sign or explanation to residents — even though everyone knew what was up.

People rushed to shop at 24-hour convenience stores at 3 a.m. to gather necessary food and other items. We tried every method to escape from Wuhan, but the cage was already locked.

On new year's eve, Jan. 24, I watched the glorious performances from a gala aired on CCTV, Chinese television. But our celebratory meal was sparse, pieced together from the few ingredients I'd been able to buy in that last-minute shopping trip.

Then on the second day of the new year, another order arrived out of the blue, notifying us that the Wuhanese shall not drive. But this order only survived for less than six hours — perhaps because the authorities realized that, with public transportation shut down, cars would be needed to drive medical staffers to work and back home. So community officers called upon residents of Wuhan to provide rides for many of these workers — and to get permits to do this driving. Under the pressure of massive criticism, the government had to revoke this order for residents to provide rides.

Other orders were issued that reflected the chaos. Residents were asked to donate rice and oil to feed the medical staffers at Wuhan's top hospital since there was not enough food to guarantee meals for them. But we are the taxpayers. Shouldn't the government be able to provide?

From former schoolmates who now work in the medical profession, I learned that medical workers were not given medical supplies and were exposed to a risk of death. Many people wonder: Why didn't they go on strike? It is because they were informed that if they went on strike, their licenses to practice medicine would be revoked and their family members' jobs would be affected.

Before this coronavirus, I always thought it was OK to sacrifice some level of democracy and freedom for better living conditions. But now I have changed my attitude. Without democracy and freedom, the truth of the outbreak in Wuhan would never be known.

What has happened in Wuhan is as if your house caught on fire and all your neighbors knew but forbade you from jumping out of the window. Only until the fire is out of control, and the entire town ablaze, do they slowly begin taking responsibility while highlighting their own heroic efforts.

Not everyone has the same privileges and rights. Because I knew how to get outside of the Great Firewall that blocks the Internet, I was able to obtain masks.

The younger generations, born after 1995 and in the 2000s, have good impressions about the Chinese system, putting the nation before all because they have been living in an era of prosperity and have yet to experience adversity.

The things that happened during this outbreak have greatly surprised those kids. For example, a young man scolded others on Weibo in the early days of the outbreak. He accused them of spreading rumors and argued that if we don't trust the government, there is nothing we can trust. Later, he said, when a member of his family was infected with the coronavirus but was unable to get treatment in the overcrowded hospital, he cursed and called for help.

When Li Wenliang, one of the doctors who first reported a mysterious SARS-like illness, died of the disease himself, a student commented on the Internet: "It was just the virus that killed him, so we should focus on the epidemics." But then the student's dormitory was appropriated for quarantine patients — and he was shocked and dismayed.

This is the lesson these young people are learning. When someone says we can accomplish something but we must pay a price, do not rush to applaud.

One day you may become the price that is paid.

There is a saying in Chinese that has taken on new meaning in this coronavirus era: "When the stick hits my own head, I finally understand the pain — and why some others once cried out of pain."

Perhaps it is true that only China can build a hospital in 10 days, only China can mobilize so many people to devote themselves to the anti-epidemic agenda, only China can lock down a city with millions of people at lightning speed.

But people are not thinking critically. They do not understand that if we had human rights, democracy and freedom, we would have learned about what happened in Wuhan one month earlier. And the first whistleblower would not have died for nothing.

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Things we learned to appreciate more during covid-19 lockdown, curfews helped tomislav’s family appreciate the value of living in an intergenerational household and spending quality time together.

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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is of a scale most people alive today have never seen. Lockdowns and curfews to contain the spread of the virus impacted the way children learn, the way their families earn a living, and how safe they feel in their homes and communities. Despite the ongoing threat, countries around the world are starting to lift restrictions. As we question whether we will ever go back to what we once knew to be “normal”, its worth taken a step back to see how we can build on what we have learned to build back a better world for children.

As a journalist, UNICEF photographer Tomislav Georgiev was one of the rare professionals with a permit to go out during the curfews and capture images of the deserted streets of the capital. But he discovered that in times like this, the most valuable images can be found closer to home. He turned his lenses from the outside world to capture photos of his own family with a loving eye. In a household where four generations live together, Tomislav captured scenes of play, family celebrations, sharing, exploring and learning new skills.

“I realized that no matter how much time we think we have; at the end of the day, what I came to appreciate was that we simply don’t spend enough quality time with our families,” says Tomislav.

Days in lockdown were an opportunity for children to reinvent ways of play and learning,  exploring their immediate environment and making the most of what they had available. Building resilience in children is one way we help them to cope in difficult moments.

Curfews were also a time to help children learn responsibility and their role in contributing in   our own way to find a solution to collective problems. “The silent understanding of my children was simply astonishing. We stay home, no questions asked, no demands to go and play with friends. Their lives have completely changed, yet they seem to grasp the importance of their contribution better than most adults,” says Tomislav.

During curfews many learned about the importance of being creative with the scarce resources and limited physical space they had at home. Also, many came to appreciate that small acts of kindness and gratitude to other family members helps to boost emotional wellbeing.

Some even learned new skills but what matters most is learning to appreciate the emotional connections made between different generations.  Its these connections that help us to develop the emotional resilience’s we need to get through stressful times.

“It is true – this crisis has taken its toll on humanity. However, it also provided an opportunity for generations to unite and perhaps begun to shape our younger generations to think differently about their own individual roles and how we as individuals can all contribute in our own way to find a solution to collective problems,” says Tomislav.

UNICEF remains committed to its mission to provide essential support, protection and information as well as hope of a brighter day for every child. UNICEF stands united with one clear promise to the world: we will get through this together, for every child .

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Paragraph on How I Spent the Lockdown Period

Global pandemic COVID-19 quarantine our lives at home. After the announcement of Lockdown, we got much time to spend time with our family. The lockdown period was not much gloomy and disappointing as I thought it would be. I developed so many new hobbies during this lockdown. Here I have discussed some of my lockdown activities.

Short and Long Paragraphs on What I did during Lockdown

Paragraph 1 – 100 words.

As the Lockdown period started, the news channels were flooded with global and national news of the infected ones. I watched the News every day to keep myself updated and connected to the world. It was very important to keep my dear ones updated and aware of the deadly virus infection.

The news about the essential service workers and their devotion towards our country in a time of crisis was giving a ray of hope. Being at home and surrounded by all family members was one of the best times I have ever spent. During the lockdown, I developed a habit of Yoga in the morning. I fed stray dogs and cows. As the roads were silent only a few animals like dogs, cows were seen roaming, I developed a habit of feeding them on a daily basis.

Paragraph 2 – 120 Words

The global pandemic Coronavirus was showing its worst phase across the globe, and there was an announcement of Lockdown in India. It was announced to control this deadly virus. All of us were at home and did various activities to spend our time in this lockdown.

I never get time to clean my bookshelf and some of my other belongings. I painted my bookshelf as per my room color and managed my books neatly. Now everything looks matching and I always wanted this kind of room. I also learned some gardening tricks from my grandfather and enjoyed my evening in planting trees and nurturing them. It was time to stay at home without any ground activity but I use to play badminton in my garden. I also had my online classes and in the remaining time, I use to dance, play, and spend time with my grandparents. I really enjoyed their company.

Paragraph 3 – 150 Words

Lockdown taught me so many things. One of the major things I learned from lockdown, that being at home is not as boring as I thought it could be. During this lockdown, I developed a good taste of reading. I went straight to my book stack and picked one of the Non- fiction novels by Robin Sharma. The content was very good and relatable to the contemporary world. I installed so many Yoga Videos and Online Television platforms for watching movies and series.

Apart from my personal stuff I also use to spend an hour in a nearby NGO. they use to cook for the poor and tried all their best to provide groceries and fulfilled all of their requirement. I helped them by working on online portals and provided information about needy people. Actually, I use to post it on my social media, and people used to send me the address of the poor people around them and we use to visit that place and helped people.

We helped Rickshaw pullers, street vendors, beggars, and other marginalized people around us. It was really a good experience to be its part of. Really it feels amazing while helping others and I have thought of continuing this work even after lockdown and now I will help others with my pocket money.

Paragraph 4 – 200 Words

During Lockdown, I developed a habit of rising early and spending some time with nature. Early morning yoga practice was one of the best ways to keep myself fit during this corona period. I also tried my hand at cooking, it was not a new experience for me but trying every day new recipes from YouTube and other social sites was also one of the hobbies I developed during this lockdown.

I also rearranged my home in a new way. Home decor is the best leisure activity one could include. I watched so many home decor videos and tried to give a new look to my traditionally built house. I also got engaged in gardening and watering plants. During the lockdown, I cleaned the garden area and rearranged all pots in the array. Now they really look systemized and amazing together.

I really missed my school days and friends during this lockdown. I played online Ludo with my friends and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. Thanks to technology that rather than being apart we were able to have our online classes, we played and also had video chats.

Lockdown was special in many ways because it taught me the importance of school, friends, and freedom. Really, we are blessed to have whatever we want otherwise life is not so easy for everyone especially for the poor and daily wage workers. I felt sorry for them because I was financially not so capable of helping each and every one. Still, I and my family managed food and grocery for some of them.

Paragraph 5 – 250 Words

When you have to stay at home for more than a month, you have to find some engaging activities. Here I have discussed some of the activities that I did during the lockdown period:

Spending Quality Time with Family : Due to our busy schedule, we never stayed together for so long. It was a long time since all the family members together had our dinner or lunch at our dining table. It was the best part of this lockdown; all the members were under a roof and supporting each other during this global pandemic.

Fitness Activities : I decided to focus on my health and I downloaded so many workout videos and regularly followed them. I found many helpful apps that you can also find on the play store. These apps helped me a lot and also use to alarm the entire day to drink water.

Photography : I have a keen interest in photography, and I polished this skill during lockdown; I downloaded some of the editing apps and clicked many photos, and edited them. I also learned new capturing and editing technics on YouTube.

Certificate Courses and Webinar : I attended some of the Online Webinars and a certificate computer course. These courses helped to reduce the habit of unnecessary scrolling of social sites and I learned some new technics like Mail merge, Powerpoint, etc. and they are amazing.

Cooking : It is the best way to reduce boredom. So, I spent most of the time in cooking and I tried new recipes. I learned some smart tricks that I never knew before and really my mother is a genius because she knows many tricks.

Reading and Writing : Reading fiction and non-fiction stories and novels were also part of my routine during the lockdown. Sometimes I also tried my hands at poetry.

Feeding Animals : I regularly kept some food and water in my garden for stray animals, birds, squirrels, etc. They use to party there and it was very satisfying to see these animals so happy.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

Ans. In India, the biggest show watched was the Ramayana.

Ans. We can watch shows, read books and learn new things in a lockdown.

Ans. In Lockdown, we can keep ourselves fit by exercising and meditating daily.

Ans. Money Heist and Asur were the most loved Web Series watched during the lockdown.

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Lockdown Essay

Lockdown Essay In English - 1600 in words

This is a kind of emergency, which is a step taken keeping in mind the health of the people. Along with India, many other countries of the world adopted a lockdown to prevent an epidemic called corona, and with the help of this, social distance was tried to be made so that corona could be defeated. Let us know in detail.

Short and Long Essay on Lockdown in English

Essay – 1 (300 words).

introduction

Lockdown is such an emergency situation when you cannot go out of the house. It is also not necessary that you are at home, that is, wherever you are, after its implementation, you cannot go out anywhere. And when this lockdown happens on a large scale, it takes the form of curfew.

The Prime Minister of Bharata, Shri Narendra Modi, announced a 21-day lockdown on the 24th in the month of March. This was a historic step taken by Modi ji and he did so to save the country from the pandemic called Corona. This lockdown was later implemented in several phases.

effect of lockdown

The effects of the lockdown were very deep, as it staggered the economy of the whole world. When we go to work, only then the country progresses and when all the factories of the country will be closed, everyone will sit at home, then the development of the country also stops and this causes huge damage to the economy.

India's GDP, growth rate fell drastically due to the lockdown and it is not good for anyone. We are falling many times faster than other countries. The current GDP of India is -9.6%, which may be even lower in the coming times. The direct effect of this can be gauged from the increase in the prices of petrol.

Small labourers, women, daily wage workers, have been most affected by this lockdown. People lost their jobs because even big companies had to suffer a lot due to the closure.

The country is passing through a very pathetic situation and many more effects can be seen for many months to come. The corona vaccine may have arrived, but until the vaccination is done, prevention is very important. Wear a mask and maintain a distance of two yards.

Essay – 2 (400 words)

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Lockdown means shutdown, whether it is India or China, in such a situation when the whole country is closed, it is called lockdown. Such a situation was seen for the first time in India, when the whole country was under lockdown. There were people but there was silence on the streets, there was no crowd in the nook and people did not come to tea shops to gossip. If there was anything, the sirens of police vehicles tearing through the silence and silence. Such was the situation of India in lockdown. This was a kind of emergency situation, which had a direct impact on the country's economy.

Why was the lockdown done ?

Lockdown was adopted in India as well as in many countries of the world. This is so that the people of the country can be saved from the terrible epidemic called Corona. Alam was such that people are dying all around and its infection is also spreading very fast. Not only in India, people all over the world were upset.

Countries like Italy and Spain whose medical condition is considered the best in the world, when such countries raised their hands, then the condition of India can be estimated. The Indian government announced a lockdown so that the situation there did not come to India.

In the event of lockdown, all types of transport (air, water and land) were closed, all shops, factories, companies, etc. were all closed. The lockdown was carried out in several phases.

different phases of lockdown

The lockdown in India was implemented in a total of four phases and some relaxations were given in each phase.

• First phase of lockdown : The first phase of lockdown was of a total of 21 days. Which started from March 25 and went on till April 14. This was called a complete lockdown in which all types of shops were closed except the ration-water shops. All means of transport and going to public places were completely prohibited. People were given strict instructions to stay from their respective homes and there was heavy police guard everywhere.   
• Second phase of lockdown: The second phase lasted from April 15 to May 3, which was a total of 19 days and the rest of the rules were the same.
• Third phase of lockdown: The third phase was effective from May 4 to May 17. In this phase, the more infected and least infected places were identified and divided into red zone and green zone and some relaxation was given in less infected areas.

In the third phase, a special train was also run for migrant laborers and Indians stranded abroad were also brought back, which was named Operation Samudra Setu.

• Fourth phase of lockdown : The lockdown was continued by various states as per the requirement in their respective areas and it remained in effect till June 30 in Uttar Pradesh. But in this lockdown, orders were given to open some other facilities like markets, government offices, etc. But with many terms and conditions.

positive effects of lockdown

• On one hand it proved helpful in overcoming Corona.
• The environment also got some time to clean itself.
• Due to paucity of time in many families, the distance came to an end.
• More and more people started understanding online marketing and promoting digitization.

Both positive and negative effects of lockdown have been seen, but the aim is to fight and defeat Corona. Many countries have found a solution for this. Now we should think about the economy of the country and look for new opportunities so that we can quickly compensate for it. But at the same time we should also keep eating good food, wash our hands with soap from time to time, do not forget to wear mask and must follow a distance of two yards.

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Essay – 3 (500 words)

We call the lockdown in the country due to some reason. During this period no person can roam on the road, no shops or schools are open. If there is anyone on the streets, it is the police and they keep warning people to stay inside. This is done only when absolutely necessary, when the country is in trouble. Such a situation was seen in India in 2020. It was implemented in India in 4 phases and after that the state governments, taking the lead, continued or canceled it according to the situation of their states.

Why was the lockdown done in India

Corona is the name of a deadly virus, which has rapidly engulfed the whole world. It started in China which gradually spread all over the world. Italy, Spain, US, Brazil, etc. are some such powerful countries which cannot escape from it. And these countries adopted lockdown as a defense.

Realizing the value of people's lives in India too, the government took such big steps. Prevention from Corona is the best way to avoid it. Keeping a distance of 5-6 feet among themselves, wearing a mask, washing hands from time to time with soap for at least 20 seconds is the only treatment. The best ways to keep yourself safe from this are by doing things like maintaining social distance, not leaving the house when not necessary.  

The lockdown is over now and vaccines have been discovered in many ways, but it may take a long time to reach every countryman. In such a situation, it is necessary to adopt preventive measures so that the situation of lockdown does not come again.   

Advantages and disadvantages of lockdown

• The lockdown helped to prevent the spread of corona to a great extent.
• Due to the lockdown, nature got time to clean itself and our air became clean, there was less pollution due to the absence of vehicles on the roads.
• Criminal activity decreased.
• Keeping in mind the entertainment of the people, Sarkar re-telecasted mythological serials like Ramayana and Mahabharata on Doordarshan and this happened only because of the lockdown. so that people can stay at home.
• Spent time with people with his family and had some great moments.

If we talk about the same loss then -

• The country's economy came to a complete standstill due to which there was a complete decline in GDP and our current GDP is -9.6%, which is the lowest ever.
• As soon as the lockdown was lifted, the cases of corona started increasing very rapidly and India came in the top second place in the list of corona infected countries.
• The daily wage laborers suffered a lot due to the lockdown, they had to lose their jobs on the one hand and on the other hand there was a situation of starvation for them.
• Even the big companies were forced to lay off only the daily wage laborers due to the recession in the market, due to which many people had to lose their jobs.
• Despite the lockdown, 9,979,447 have been infected in India so far, out of which 144,829 people have died.
• Although the children received online education during the lockdown, it was not so meaningful, that is, the education of the children was greatly affected.

If the problem is big then its prevention should also be extensive and lockdown is an example of this. Completely shutting down a country on such a large scale was neither easy nor a sport. History is witness that Indian Railways had never stopped before, but such steps were taken so that the situation should not become dire. With the arrival of the vaccine, there is an atmosphere of enthusiasm among the people and now the lockdown has become a frightening story.

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Lockdown Essay In English

Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

Students are often asked to write an essay on Online Classes During Lockdown in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

Introduction.

Online classes during lockdown have become a new normal. Schools shut down, but learning never stopped, thanks to technology.

Online classes provide flexibility and convenience. Students can learn from the safety of their homes, reducing the risk of virus spread.

However, it’s not all rosy. Some students face issues with internet access and distractions at home.

Despite challenges, online classes have ensured uninterrupted learning. They are a testament to human adaptability in crisis times.

250 Words Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a dramatic shift in the educational landscape, with online classes becoming the new norm. This abrupt transition has brought both challenges and opportunities for students and educators alike.

Benefits of Online Learning

Online classes have enabled uninterrupted learning during lockdown. With the ability to access course materials anytime and anywhere, students have the flexibility to learn at their own pace. This self-paced learning can enhance understanding and retention. Furthermore, online platforms facilitate the use of multimedia content, making learning interactive and engaging.

Challenges and Solutions

However, online learning is not without its challenges. Issues such as lack of access to technology, internet connectivity, and a suitable learning environment can hinder students’ progress. To mitigate these, institutions can provide technological support, while governments can invest in improving internet infrastructure.

Moreover, the lack of face-to-face interaction can lead to feelings of isolation. To counter this, educators can foster a sense of community through discussion forums, group projects, and regular video conferencing.

In conclusion, while online classes during lockdown have presented a unique set of challenges, they have also opened up new avenues for learning. As we navigate this new normal, it is crucial to address the challenges and leverage the opportunities to ensure quality education for all. The pandemic has underscored the importance of adaptability and resilience, qualities that will serve students well in their future endeavors.

500 Words Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically reshaped the education sector worldwide. As lockdowns and social distancing measures were implemented, traditional classroom-based education was abruptly disrupted. In response, online classes emerged as a lifeline, ensuring the continuity of learning during lockdown.

The Transition to Online Learning

The shift from physical classrooms to digital platforms was sudden and unprecedented. Schools, colleges, and universities were compelled to adopt online teaching methods, utilizing various digital platforms like Zoom, Google Classroom, and Microsoft Teams. This transition was not without its challenges. It required a significant adaptation from both educators and students, who had to become familiar with new technologies and methodologies.

The Advantages of Online Classes

Despite the challenges, online classes have presented several advantages. First, they have allowed learning to continue in the face of a global crisis. Second, they have provided a flexible learning environment, where students can learn at their own pace and according to their own schedules. Third, online classes have broadened access to education, allowing students from remote or disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in learning activities that would otherwise be inaccessible.

The Challenges of Online Learning

However, online learning has also exposed several issues. The digital divide has become more apparent, with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds struggling to access the necessary technology and stable internet connections. Additionally, online learning requires a high level of self-discipline and motivation, which can be challenging for many students. There is also the issue of reduced social interaction, which can impact students’ mental health and sense of community.

The Role of Instructors in Online Learning

Instructors have had to adapt their teaching methodologies for the online environment. This has involved learning how to use new technologies, creating engaging online content, and developing strategies to monitor and assess student progress remotely. The role of the instructor has expanded to include not only teaching but also providing emotional support and encouragement to students navigating this new learning landscape.

The Future of Online Learning

The experience of online classes during lockdown has highlighted the potential of digital learning. It has shown that education can be made more accessible, flexible, and adaptable through the use of technology. However, it has also underscored the need for strategies to address the challenges that online learning presents. As we move forward, the lessons learned during this period can inform the development of more effective and inclusive online learning systems.

In conclusion, online classes during lockdown have been a crucial response to an unprecedented global crisis. They have ensured the continuity of education while also revealing both the potential and the challenges of online learning. As we emerge from the pandemic, these insights can guide us in creating a more resilient and inclusive educational system for the future.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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2 Minute Speech On Things I Learned In Lockdown In English

Good morning to everyone in this room. I would like to thank the principal, the teachers, and my dear friends for allowing me to speak to you today about the things I learned in lockdown. A lockdown is an emergency protocol that prohibits individuals from leaving a particular place.

The covid-19 lockdown completely transformed our way of life. We couldn’t travel because of the restrictions, so we had to stay inside. The news of the Covid-19 illness spreading was quite terrifying. Several people were instilled with fear and sadness as a result of this.

The lockdown was first quite dull for me, but I gradually began to appreciate it. It’s because I began doing the things I wanted to do in my free time.

The most essential lessons from the lockdown seem to be that it’s important to act quickly and that those suffering from serious illness were unable to receive effective care and cure during the period. The timing was also a concern for Covid patients since many of them did not report their symptoms on time, causing the infection to worsen. Ultimately, courage and preventative measures were devised to combat the virus, providing us with the confidence to fight and win.

The pandemic crisis taught us the value of healthy living, financial management, environmental protection, family understanding, improved planning and management, optimal time utilization, and a new method of learning and education.

The pandemic and lockdown period gave us valuable life lessons like survival of the fittest and the capacity to learn from adversity. Thank you. 

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Intellectual Gyani

10 Things I Learned During Lockdown Essay for Student

posted on January 17, 2022

In This paper we’ll discuss, skills and hobbies I learned in lockdown as a student, though this list could easily be much longer, we’ve boiled it down to the list of best 10 things I learned during lockdown . hope it will help you to write best essay on Things I Learned During lockdown .

The 2020 lockdown took a big turn on us. And not just affect, lockdown changed many people views on so many things and I am one of them . I used to study and read in books that a pandemic is spread every 100 years and the world goes down to lockdown due to the epidemic, like when Bird Flu and Influenza spread in Spain. The same happens to our world in 2019, when COVID-19 finds its way to us.

The world shut down, shops, cinemas, educational institutes, gyms, restaurants, I mean, everything just locked down due to COVID. We got stuck at home and that’s when the COVID started taking a toll on me.

I was devastated as to why I can’t go out and hang out with my friend. Like Every other person I was asking the same question, “When will things go back to normal?” But one day, some facts stuck me in the face, “Why not trying something new?”, “I am free, let’s try reading that novel I never got the time to read”, “Let’s improve my English spoken Skills” and so much more.

And from there I took the road to self-improvement. As a college student, I was always busy with work and homework of college and didn’t have time for myself and extracurricular activities. But then the lockdown started helping me in discovering myself and my newfound hobbies. It helped me stay healthy both physically and mentally.

Lockdown was very boring to me at first but eventually, I took a liking to it. I started doing things that I always wanted to do but didn’t because of my tight schedule of college life . Like I took a liking to read books both fictional and non-fiction. This new hobby of mine helped me in so many ways as it helped me with my subjects of college, it also helped me improve my spoken English. Reading books taught me about so many world histories, religion, trust, and problems of real life.

Page Contents

10 Things I learned During Lockdown

1. learned technology during lockdown.

Yes, it is right. The main thing I get used to and learned a lot was technology. Most of our classes were going online during COVID-19 Lockdown, it helped to learn new things about online classes platforms like Zoom , Google Meet , etc.

I learned how to use specific apps and it helped me a lot in my researching skills . The one thing I learned about some app or website, due to free time, I started spending my time searching for other things related to that app or website.

Also, I have become a pro in using Laptop and Computer because otherwise, I have nothing to do with it. I was English Major and never have anything to do with PCs.

| Read: about advantages and disadvantages of technology in education

2. I learned the Importance Of Family During Pandemic

I was very happy that I had got a lot of time to spend with my family. And this lockdown helped me in understanding the need as well as the importance of family . I learned how a family is so crucial part of our lives. I was watching blogs and interviews of those living alone and how they are getting anxious with time and sometimes panic too. Watching them I realized, how fulfilling my house is and how blessed I am to have a family .

3. Learned Managing and Organizing

The best thing I learned during lockdown is managing and organizing.

I used to be a messy person before lockdown. Like my things were always here and there scattered around the whole house. The COVID-19 lockdown gives me time to realize this mistake. I started organizing my things.

I allot each section of my cupboard for different things. I started taking care of my house and used to keep it all clean and prep.

I learn to manage in limited and fewer resources. As COVID-19 left many in financial instability, my family was also one of them. But we stick together and survives this bad time. I started changing my habits which were charging extra money to me and developed my interests in other things. Like instead of buying new novels or books to read, I started reading online and borrowed books from friends.

4. Cooking & Baking

I never got the time to cook before lockdown. But I always have an interest in baking. This lockdown helped me spend more time in Kitchen helping my mom . I learned baking and now I know how to make cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and other baking stuff.  I started taking interest in cooking and try making different types of dishes like Chinese, Italian, etc.

5 Participated in Online Classes effectively

Another thing that I have learned is how much the feeling of going to class in the real world compares to going to class in the online world is so different yet normal for me. For the first few days, it felt a bit weird during my second week during lockdown, I felt nerves coming into the idea of online learning . We all were fine with going into class in the real world, but the virtual world was a whole new experience for me because I am always the shy one . Thankfully I have managed to embrace the idea and managed to get on without any issues.

6. Improved English Speaking Skills During Lockdown

As an Asian native, my English-speaking skills were not that good. Like before lockdown, I could understand that what people are talking about, but I didn’t have enough confidence in me to speak in English too. During the Covid-19 lockdown, I highly worked on this habit. I started hearing podcasts and English shows as well as news.

I started speaking in English in online classes and even to my siblings. I worked hard in developing this skill. And now after lockdown, I am a pro in English speaking. I can fluently talk in English now and also, now I am also participating in English speeches and debates.

7. You can learn from anything or anyone

I had always hated the notion that only people with more experience or age are capable of teaching. Some of the most interesting things and skills that I have learned were from YouTube and people much younger than me, or people with little formal education. There are opportunities to learn from anyone , whether or not they have had a formal education.

8. I Learned Blogging 

This is the best thing I learned during the lockdown . I always have an interest in blog and article writing. But again, I was not free enough to give this full time. In a lockdown, I take free online courses and started blogging . And now I am also earning from this skill set.

|Read: about the Advantages and Disadvantages of Blogging for Students

9. Appreciate the people in your life

This goes without saying that the people in your life are not here forever . Whether by voluntary or involuntary action, everyone will leave. But we have to make the most of our time with the ones that we love the most .

Conclusion:

I am so happy that I didn’t waste my time lurking around the house and laying down on couches. I developed several skills set which, I know, will help me in my practical life now. COVID-19 brings disasters and bad times for all of us, I was also worried about the wellbeing of my family and studies. But at least, I didn’t lose my faith that a good time will come soon and started spending my time learning new things in that worst time.

And the best thing I learned during this lockdown was Blogging and English-Speaking skills . Because now, utilizing these skills, I am generating side money for myself. I will wrap up everything by saying that, in this lockdown, we got time for our loved ones, we got time to focus on ourselves, and, especially, we got time to develop into a better version of ourselves.

So above is the  top 10 things I learned in lockdown as student . I guess you’ve finished reading it.

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Essay on Impact of lockdown on Students and People

Nobody ever imagined that life could turn like this. Despite being most countries democratic, people are forced to live inside their homes. The basic freedom given to us by our constitutions is taken back from us. Nobody is free to move. If anyone is found breathing in the open air he is beaten by the police and imposed with heavy penalties. What has forced all the governments to take this dictator style decision? Why are people all over the world simultaneously forced to live a completely altered life during lockdown 2020? This Essay on the Impact of lockdown on Students and People will answer all the above questions.

Essay on Impact of lockdown | Coronavirus Impact on Students and other people

With the outbreak of covid 19, the world was locked down. The fast-paced life came to a standstill. Covid 19, a disease caused by Corona Virus, started in China initially and spread all over the globe. All were helpless because the medical fraternity could not invent its antidote. So, the safest and the only option seemed was world lockdown. All the national and international borders were sealed. Some countries announced a 3-6 months stay at home order while others declared complete lockdown in phases.

People, businesses, and governments around the world have changed the way they spend, move, communicate and travel because of COVID-19. Let’s see how life has changed during the lockdown period. Did it alter our life for the better?

Lockdown 2020 in India

Indian Prime Minister Mr Modi announced a country lockdown on 21st march 2020 for 21 days. Later it got extended for more and more days. As Indians are notorious for not following the rules, everyone expected it to last for 3-4 days. But the story was different this time. Police drove away from the people who ventured on roads by giving physical punishments and charging fines. Covid 19 triggered lockdown brought a significant change in the life of all.

Impact of Lockdown on Students in India

This disease has affected all segments of the population. And students are no exception. In India, a lockdown was announced just at the time when CBSE exams were going on. Students of the 10th and 12th classes got stuck in the middle. National level entrance exams had to be postponed. Generally, the months of March and April are very crucial for students preparing for these papers. The pandemic diverted students’ focus from their studies. It has created an atmosphere of anxiety and depression among some students and parents.

Seeing from another angle, Children were the happiest creature in the world after the announcement of lockdown. But due to the setting up of virtual classrooms, their happiness did not last long. Now regular classes were going on with no escape from home assignments. However, they learned a new way of education.

Although, schools and coaching institutes have started online classes. The devices required for attending virtual classrooms are not accessible to all in India. It might create a burden on students’ psychology.

Effect of Lockdown on Senior citizens

The government officials appealed that the elderly people stay inside the home during the period of lockdown. According to doctors adults were more vulnerable to coronavirus. Morning walks and evening strolls were their only way to bring some movement in their stiff bodies. This curtailment left them immobile. But they got the company of all the family members who were otherwise too busy to talk to them. Board games and mythological serial telecasts on national television came to their rescue.

Impact of lockdown on Women

A lockdown increases the burden of household work for all families.  While all the domestic helpers were stranded at home, there was no one to share the increased household chores. In Indian families, nobody is empathetic towards the mental and physical health of women due to the increased workload.

Impact of lockdown on Men

Men are the most deeply affected victim of this pandemic. Most of the men leave their homes in the morning to complete the task of bread earning for the family. They spend their whole day outside the house. Lockdown has put them inside the four walls of the house which they are not accustomed to. The absence of professional life is making them sick. Some are lucky to do their work from home with the help of computers.

With the extensions in lockdown, they are adapting to enjoy this altered version of life. Playing online ludo and tambola is a common scene in every house. Some gentlemen are trying their hands on cooking to share a story on Instagram. Watching movies and web series, growing a beard is more a compulsion than a hobby. Sharing basic household work to cheer their better halves makes their bonding even stronger.

Conclusion: Impact of lockdown and coronavirus on people

Today, humans are in cages to save themselves from highly contagious disease covid 19. We were so blindfolded in the race of development that we neglected our spouse, our family, our culture, our environment. We were urgently in a need of some change. But nobody knew that the change would appear like this in the disguise of the Corona Virus.

This period of crisis and global volatility is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we should utilise it thoughtfully and productively.

Read More Essays Related to Coronavirus Impact of Covid-19 on Economy Essay Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan|Self Reliant India Essay in English Social Distancing to Fight Coronavirus How to Boost Immunity during Covid19 Crisis

How to Boost Immunity during Covid19 Crisis Plastic advantage, disadvantage and waste management Tell me about yourself Merits and Demerits of Online Exams Essay  Essay on E-Waste in Hindi Online Education versus Traditional Education My First Online Class Experience Essay

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Guest Essay

A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture

By Erik Hoel

Mr. Hoel is a neuroscientist and novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

Increasingly, mounds of synthetic A.I.-generated outputs drift across our feeds and our searches. The stakes go far beyond what’s on our screens. The entire culture is becoming affected by A.I.’s runoff, an insidious creep into our most important institutions.

Consider science. Right after the blockbuster release of GPT-4, the latest artificial intelligence model from OpenAI and one of the most advanced in existence, the language of scientific research began to mutate. Especially within the field of A.I. itself.

Adjectives associated with A.I.-generated text have increased in peer reviews of scientific papers about A.I.

Frequency of adjectives per one million words

Commendable

A study published this month examined scientists’ peer reviews — researchers’ official pronouncements on others’ work that form the bedrock of scientific progress — across a number of high-profile and prestigious scientific conferences studying A.I. At one such conference, those peer reviews used the word “meticulous” more than 34 times as often as reviews did the previous year. Use of “commendable” was around 10 times as frequent, and “intricate,” 11 times. Other major conferences showed similar patterns.

Such phrasings are, of course, some of the favorite buzzwords of modern large language models like ChatGPT. In other words, significant numbers of researchers at A.I. conferences were caught handing their peer review of others’ work over to A.I. — or, at minimum, writing them with lots of A.I. assistance. And the closer to the deadline the submitted reviews were received, the more A.I. usage was found in them.

If this makes you uncomfortable — especially given A.I.’s current unreliability — or if you think that maybe it shouldn’t be A.I.s reviewing science but the scientists themselves, those feelings highlight the paradox at the core of this technology: It’s unclear what the ethical line is between scam and regular usage. Some A.I.-generated scams are easy to identify, like the medical journal paper featuring a cartoon rat sporting enormous genitalia. Many others are more insidious, like the mislabeled and hallucinated regulatory pathway described in that same paper — a paper that was peer reviewed as well (perhaps, one might speculate, by another A.I.?).

What about when A.I. is used in one of its intended ways — to assist with writing? Recently, there was an uproar when it became obvious that simple searches of scientific databases returned phrases like “As an A.I. language model” in places where authors relying on A.I. had forgotten to cover their tracks. If the same authors had simply deleted those accidental watermarks, would their use of A.I. to write their papers have been fine?

What’s going on in science is a microcosm of a much bigger problem. Post on social media? Any viral post on X now almost certainly includes A.I.-generated replies, from summaries of the original post to reactions written in ChatGPT’s bland Wikipedia-voice, all to farm for follows. Instagram is filling up with A.I.-generated models, Spotify with A.I.-generated songs. Publish a book? Soon after, on Amazon there will often appear A.I.-generated “workbooks” for sale that supposedly accompany your book (which are incorrect in their content; I know because this happened to me). Top Google search results are now often A.I.-generated images or articles. Major media outlets like Sports Illustrated have been creating A.I.-generated articles attributed to equally fake author profiles. Marketers who sell search engine optimization methods openly brag about using A.I. to create thousands of spammed articles to steal traffic from competitors.

Then there is the growing use of generative A.I. to scale the creation of cheap synthetic videos for children on YouTube. Some example outputs are Lovecraftian horrors, like music videos about parrots in which the birds have eyes within eyes, beaks within beaks, morphing unfathomably while singing in an artificial voice, “The parrot in the tree says hello, hello!” The narratives make no sense, characters appear and disappear randomly, and basic facts like the names of shapes are wrong. After I identified a number of such suspicious channels on my newsletter, The Intrinsic Perspective, Wired found evidence of generative A.I. use in the production pipelines of some accounts with hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers.

As a neuroscientist, this worries me. Isn’t it possible that human culture contains within it cognitive micronutrients — things like cohesive sentences, narrations and character continuity — that developing brains need? Einstein supposedly said : “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” But what happens when a toddler is consuming mostly A.I.-generated dream-slop? We find ourselves in the midst of a vast developmental experiment.

There’s so much synthetic garbage on the internet now that A.I. companies and researchers are themselves worried, not about the health of the culture, but about what’s going to happen with their models. As A.I. capabilities ramped up in 2022, I wrote on the risk of culture’s becoming so inundated with A.I. creations that when future A.I.s are trained, the previous A.I. output will leak into the training set, leading to a future of copies of copies of copies, as content became ever more stereotyped and predictable. In 2023 researchers introduced a technical term for how this risk affected A.I. training: model collapse . In a way, we and these companies are in the same boat, paddling through the same sludge streaming into our cultural ocean.

With that unpleasant analogy in mind, it’s worth looking to what is arguably the clearest historical analogy for our current situation: the environmental movement and climate change. For just as companies and individuals were driven to pollute by the inexorable economics of it, so, too, is A.I.’s cultural pollution driven by a rational decision to fill the internet’s voracious appetite for content as cheaply as possible. While environmental problems are nowhere near solved, there has been undeniable progress that has kept our cities mostly free of smog and our lakes mostly free of sewage. How?

Before any specific policy solution was the acknowledgment that environmental pollution was a problem in need of outside legislation. Influential to this view was a perspective developed in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, a biologist and ecologist. Dr. Hardin emphasized that the problem of pollution was driven by people acting in their own interest, and that therefore “we are locked into a system of ‘fouling our own nest,’ so long as we behave only as independent, rational, free-enterprisers.” He summed up the problem as a “tragedy of the commons.” This framing was instrumental for the environmental movement, which would come to rely on government regulation to do what companies alone could or would not.

Once again we find ourselves enacting a tragedy of the commons: short-term economic self-interest encourages using cheap A.I. content to maximize clicks and views, which in turn pollutes our culture and even weakens our grasp on reality. And so far, major A.I. companies are refusing to pursue advanced ways to identify A.I.’s handiwork — which they could do by adding subtle statistical patterns hidden in word use or in the pixels of images.

A common justification for inaction is that human editors can always fiddle around with whatever patterns are used if they know enough. Yet many of the issues we’re experiencing are not caused by motivated and technically skilled malicious actors; they’re caused mostly by regular users’ not adhering to a line of ethical use so fine as to be nigh nonexistent. Most would be uninterested in advanced countermeasures to statistical patterns enforced into outputs that should, ideally, mark them as A.I.-generated.

That’s why the independent researchers were able to detect A.I. outputs in the peer review system with surprisingly high accuracy: They actually tried. Similarly, right now teachers across the nation have created home-brewed output-side detection methods , like adding hidden requests for patterns of word use to essay prompts that appear only when copied and pasted.

In particular, A.I. companies appear opposed to any patterns baked into their output that can improve A.I.-detection efforts to reasonable levels, perhaps because they fear that enforcing such patterns might interfere with the model’s performance by constraining its outputs too much — although there is no current evidence this is a risk. Despite public pledges to develop more advanced watermarking, it’s increasingly clear that the companies are dragging their feet because it goes against the A.I. industry’s bottom line to have detectable products.

To deal with this corporate refusal to act we need the equivalent of a Clean Air Act: a Clean Internet Act. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to legislatively force advanced watermarking intrinsic to generated outputs, like patterns not easily removable. Just as the 20th century required extensive interventions to protect the shared environment, the 21st century is going to require extensive interventions to protect a different, but equally critical, common resource, one we haven’t noticed up until now since it was never under threat: our shared human culture.

Erik Hoel is a neuroscientist, a novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

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