How and when will life go back to normal?
“For some, it has gone back to normal, and because of this, it will be two to three years before things are back to normal for the cautious, at least in the U.S.”
Cathryn Bock, associate professor, Wayne State University
“The new normal will be continued masking for the next 12 to 18 months and possibly the next few years. This is a paradigm shift.”
Roberta Bruhn, co-director, Vitalant Research Institute
“I think widespread availability of vaccines will result in the further relaxation of most precautions by mid-to-late summer 2021.”
Michael Webster-Clark, postdoctoral researcher, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“It’s hard for me to imagine that it will ever go back to our previous ‘normal,’ but I do think that new preventive measures that we’ve had to adopt, like masks, will feel normal in time. In that sense, I’m optimistic that life will settle into a new kind of normal.”
Marilyn Tseng, assistant professor, Cal Poly
“It is normal now; similar to 2019, never again.”
Vasily Vlassov, professor, HSE University, Moscow
What will never return to normal?
“My relationships with people who have taken this pandemic lightly and ignored public health messages and recommendations.”
Victoria Holt, professor emeritus, University of Washington
“Every part of my daily life that involves interaction with anyone other than my spouse.”
Charles Poole, associate professor, University of North Carolina
