Editorial Ta Nea: Rules

The coronavirus pandemic has changed our lives in a variety of ways and not just from the resulting restrictions of movement.

Many things will change after the quarantine is lifted, such as the establishment of shift work for the first time ever in the public sector.

The measure is necessary due to the morning congestion in the mass transit system so as to lower the transmission rate.

The pandemic will not last forever.

Yet some of the emergency measures that it brought about could become permanent if that serves the social whole and helps society function better.

A segment of the states’ services to citizens was digitised.

Just as no one can imagine a return to applications for state or local bureaucratic documents on paper and long queues at the cashier’s counter so too should one examine if it is more effective for public services to expand their schedule and customer service hours with later shifts.

That is just one way that daily life can improve.

The more general rule is that any crisis if handled appropriately can be turned into an opportunity.

Naturally the changes may be disruptive at first but being too settled is often linked to inertia and fatalism.