As we move into the New Year, who would have thought that 2019 and 2020 would have seen the global economy destroyed by a virus? Aside from the almost one million fatalities, Covid-19 has seriously impacted us in so many ways, economically, socially and mentally. Mutant strains are now being detected in different parts of the world and the vaccine rollout is in full swing in a bid to protect the population, and staying at home is much easier with online solutions.
Here are just a few of the things that you can do during the pandemic with the Internet.
- Fitness & Exercise – While fitness gyms, yoga and Pilates studios have to close their doors, most now offer virtual classes, using Zoom, which enables you to interact with the remotely located instructor. Courses are much cheaper in the virtual form, as the gym does not have to be managed and you can also chat with other students during the session. What’s more, the session is recorded and sent to you, so you can review the class. If you are on a limited budget, there are literally hundreds of fitness videos on YouTube that you can follow. Whether you are a semi-professional athlete or a retired person who wishes to stay active, YouTube is the platform for you, and you can workout at your own pace.
- Renew Insurances – Life must go on and sooner or later, your car insurance will expire and you can compare car insurance with Rabbit Finance, a leading Thai provider of cheap insurance. All the details can be done online, meaning you won’t even have to leave your home and with immediate cover, that’s one more thing to scratch off the ‘to do’ list. Your home insurance can be changed at any time and the Internet can help you find the cheapest policies.
- Ordering Fresh Fruit & Vegetables – Rather than risking a trip to the local supermarket, why not search online for a local organic farm? They would have a daily delivery route and with fresh organic fruit and vegetables, your diet will not suffer during the lockdown. Simply register on their website and browse the produce and fill up your shopping cart, then a secure online payment sees the produce delivered to your door. Click here for a list of healthy morning drinks to set you up for the day.
- Mental Health Counselling – Many people have been made redundant during the Covid crisis and you’ll be happy to learn that there are organisations that offer free virtual counselling. This is essential for those who live alone – having someone to talk to about the many issues you might be facing can be a stress-reliever – and a trained counsellor can help you to focus on the positive aspects of your life.
- Source of Income – If Covid-19 resulted in losing your job, there are ways that you can make a living online. Teaching English online to Chinese kids is something that any native-English speaker can do with a little training. It might mean working unsocial hours, as prime times will be evenings and weekends Chinese time, and if you have never taught in your life, the agency provides full training. You could also blog online; contact a web content agency and they would ask for a sample of your writing, while you might have to take an online English grammar test. Some people make a living doing online surveys, while others sell products online, which is very doable, even during the pandemic.
- Social Contact – Thanks to VoIP solutions, we can video call our family and friends whenever we feel like a chat and spending an hour a day on your social media sites is a great way to keep in touch with your friends. Zoom is a free online video application that is very easy to use; download the app and then invite a few of your friends to do the same and within a short time, you will master using the app. You can share files and images and a group call can be as many people as you wish to invite, each having communication with all the other users.
- Medical Services – The term ‘telehealth’ refers to virtual medical services that most doctors are now offering. A video call with the patient is often enough for the medical professional to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the right medication, while physios also offer virtual consultations to their patients. As mentioned above, you can talk to a qualified mental health counsellor; simply Google ‘mental health counselling online’ and this will give you a list of agencies that offer such services.
We all rely heavily on the World Wide Web during the pandemic and if you are making good use of the Internet, this will really help you to handle the lockdowns, which should be over sometime in the next few months and we can all return to a normal life.
