Reflecting on the pandemic as Covid-19 comes back, Iowa editor writes: 'This is a lot for any nation to absorb'

Art Cullen

As U.S. pharmacies roll out updated Covid-19 booster vaccines, it might be a good time to look at how much the pandemic still alters daily life around the planet. The trauma and changes brought on by Covid-19 still cast a long shadow, Iowa editor Art Cullen writes for his Storm Lake Times Pilot.

"It's impossible to forget: I was on the phone one dank morning in the spring of 2020 with brother John, who lives just a block east. We were isolating at home, trying to figure out what to do with the newspaper. Should we just shut it down? . . . We decided we couldn't quit. . . . . We're okay now, but the thought of it still traumatizes me. . . . People were dying every week. Some businesses never came back.

"We're still living it. The latest iteration of Covid spreads as classes resume. The psychological trauma persists. Friendships eroded through isolation and political extremity. Eating habits changed from dine-in to carry-out. Church attendance dropped even farther. . . . Shocks to the food system continue to ripple. . . The pork and poultry industries are beset by trouble as supply chains work out the huge whipsaws of the past four years. Food prices have moderated but continue to fire inflation sparked by the pandemic shutdown.

Cullen writes that changes go well beyond the United States. "The pandemic rewired world trade. China is reeling. Brazil has become the most-favored soybean trader with Asia. . . . These are huge changes that have not been fully digested. . . . 

"This is a lot for any nation to absorb. We are still working through it. . . . Early polling that confirms a general angst over everything — call it the blues or clinical depression. . . . The pandemic casts a shadow over our personal lives, our communities and politics. Supply shocks, inflation, rewriting world trade, and unkinking food supply chain links all are moving parts in this complex machinery. . . . American resilience is amazing. Democracy and justice have prevailed so far," Cullen writes.

"Still, we are not post-pandemic. It colors everything. Gov. [Kim] Reynolds last week rejected the idea of any more lockdowns. 'My answer—not on my watch,' she said. Not that anybody in Iowa was actually suggesting another shutdown. It just shows how the trauma of it still animates us."