We're still living with the legacy of Covid
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TODAY'S STARTING POINT
Five years ago today, the world changed.
The Covid pandemic, declared as such by the World Health Organization on this day in 2020, altered billions of lives. To mark the anniversary, my Globe colleagues have published a series of stories about the lessons of the pandemic and how it changed American society.
My main takeaway from their stories is that Covid is still with us — not as a raging epidemic, but as a shock whose effects still ripple. 'It feels like really everything changed,' said Laura White, a biostatistician and infectious disease researcher at Boston University's school of public health. 'It's hard to understate how big of a seismic shift it was.'
Here's an explanation of where things stand and how Covid's effects still echo.
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A diminished threat
First, the good news. Thanks to widely available vaccines and natural immunity, Covid today is at or near its lowest ebb. In Massachusetts, for example, it has become
Case data is less reliable because of at-home testing. But cases in Massachusetts are also way down, and
Of course, it's still possible to get sick with Covid, which is rarely fun. But the virus now resembles other illnesses — like the flu and RSV — that hospitalize and kill a relatively small number of Americans each year.
There will probably be better and worse Covid seasons in the future. In some winters, like this one,
Ripple effects
Yet Covid — as a destabilizing, traumatic force that disrupted ordinary life —
is
still
with us in other ways. Many of its effects, products both of the virus and how Americans responded to it, haven't yet reverted to pre-pandemic levels.
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Covid's effect is there in higher rates of
,
and
students remain
Covid also continues to shape how Americans spend their time. Many,
The virus changed our politics, too. Supply-chain disruptions and economic stimulus fueled price increases, souring many Americans on an economy that is healthy by most metrics. The lingering malaise has led voters to throw out incumbent governments here and around the world.
And after a brief window of solidarity, Covid
Covid wrought some positive changes, of course. Telemedicine is now routine, making it more convenient to see a doctor. The flexibility to work from home has
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A legacy of mistrust
The pandemic's five-year mark, as anniversaries often do, has elicited reflection and even some regret.
Experts, scrambling to understand a new virus, made mistakes in the pandemic's opening weeks and months. As several
White, the BU biostatistician, does much less research on Covid today than she used to. But she worries that declining public trust will have consequences for the next major viral outbreak. The Trump administration has sought to cut funding for scientific research,
Read more:
Spend some time with my colleagues' stories,
Our reporters want to hear about your pandemic experience.
🧩 7 Across:
| ☀️ 61°
POINTS OF INTEREST
Domingos DaRosa encouraged his football players during practice in 2022. The community activist announced that he's running for mayor of Boston.
John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
Boston and Massachusetts
Electric slide:
Most Mass. residents will get
More layoffs:
Mass General Brigham began a
Another rival:
Domingos DaRosa, a community activist, plans to
Staying steady:
A city-backed developer is buying a Mattapan apartment complex
Deadliest catch:
A fishing boat off the Mass. coast
'I wanted to stay':
Brad Marchand, traded to the Florida Panthers, choked up discussing
New England
You bet:
Rhode Island lawmakers introduced legislation to
Democracy in action:
In Barrington, N.H., kids get to cast ballots on what to name roads and which day to trick-or-treat. One side effect?
Trump vs. universities
College crackdown:
Harvard and MIT
Follow the leader:
Viktor Orbán, Hungary's autocratic leader, has criticized universities and installed allies to run them. Trump
More on the Trump administration
Power move:
Ontario, which provides electricity to about 1.5 million customers in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota, added a 25 percent surcharge in retaliation for Trump's tariffs on Canada. (
Gutting USAID:
The administration's elimination of most of the agency's aid programs is complete, leaving just 18 percent that will be moved to the State Department. (
On the job:
The Senate easily confirmed Lori Chavez-DeRemer to be Trump's secretary of labor. (
Pledging allegiance:
Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, visited Ukraine in support of its fight against Russia. Musk called him a traitor. (
The Nation and the World
Changing positions:
The Supreme Court will hear a case challenging Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors. The court previously rejected a challenge to a similar law. (
GOP budget bill:
The House is expected to vote today on a Republican plan to keep the government open. Democrats pledged to oppose it, so the vote will test GOP unity. (
Maybe too few workers?
X was down for thousands of users yesterday. Musk, its owner, blamed a cyberattack. (
Ships collide:
A Portuguese cargo ship hit a US oil tanker off England's coast, setting both ablaze and causing the tanker to leak fuel. (
Rodrigo Duterte arrested:
Police detained the Philippines' former president on an International Criminal Court warrant. He's accused of crimes against humanity over his deadly anti-drug policies. (
BESIDE THE POINT
🐑
Counting sheep:
Obsessing over your sleep tracker can cause you to ... lose sleep. (
👰 The Big Day:
Four years and two near-misses later,
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✂️
Don't forget your nose hairs:
Apparently having long eyelashes is so un-manly that men are cutting them — and posting the process on social media. (
🎭
An appreciation:
Athol Fugard, a South African dramatist who died last week at 92, was
🐢
'Turtleboy':
This blogger thinks Karen Read is innocent — and has himself been charged with intimidating witnesses. (
🪦
Epilogue:
James Carlin, a businessman whom then-governor Bill Weld appointed to lead Chelsea out of financial ruin,
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