3 of the worst side effects of Coronavirus

*Looking out of a window is currently part of the excitement of daily life.*

Disclaimer: This is not a medical advice blog post, this is a rundown of some non-health implications of Coronavirus/COVID-19.

Coronavirus is the bane of everyone’s lives at the moment. We’re all stuck at home, life can’t go on as “normal.” Today we’ve had to have a send off for our next door neighbour in the form of a round of applause as his hearse leaves our street as only the closest of family can attend his funeral due to social distancing restrictions. It’s cruel, it’s callous, it’s heartbreaking.

But away from the health implications, it’s affecting people’s lives and making what we perceive as “normal,” a far cry from reality. There are some things which are actually pretty good (unlimited lie-ins, anyone?), but there have been plenty of bad things to come out of this that have nothing to do with illness or disease. Here is a list of some of the most annoying non-health side effects of COVID-19.

1. No travel and sports

*Stadia across the world remains empty, as many countries continue to employ social distancing and lockdown measures.*

The two things that I enjoy most in life are probably two of the worst-affected industries when it comes to COVID-19.

Global, non-essential travel has been put on pause across the world, and with so many lockdowns even if you could travel between places it would be a pointless exercise for most.

Then there’s the lack of sport across the world. Fortunately, the Belarusian Premier League is still going ahead – so there’s that – and the NFL draft, despite relocating from Las Vegas to the basement of Roger Goodell, provided some much-needed entertainment. However, the sooner the sporting calendar can get back up and running and we can start exploring the world once more, life won’t be as good as it could be.

2. Awful TikTok content

*People are flocking to TikTok in their droves, which has both positives and negatives.*

Before all this kicked off, I was loving TikTok. It’s such an addictive platform, but I was enjoying it for several reasons – that it’s quick, consumable content, there’s some really interesting stuff on there (I’m now a fan of glass blowing videos – who knew?) and it’s really easy to get involved yourself.

Beforehand, it was getting a lot of criticism, and I think a lot of that stemmed from its image as a platform solely for young people. If it was before, it certainly isn’t now and there has certainly been an influx of the middle age, and that’s not for the better.

My For You Page now regularly has appearances of the cringiest TikToks I’ve ever seen, whereas pre-COVID, they were few and far between. But because so many are bored during quarantine, they’re turning to TikTok for fun, having a go themselves and some results are better than others.

3. People pretending their staircase is a mountain

*This is actually Snowdonia - your hallway isn’t.*

In the plethora of cringe COVID content, this takes the biscuit. The other day I watched someone vlog the repeated ascent of their stairs as though it were Mount Snowdon. They packed a backpack full of a change of clothes, food and even a raincoat just in case they “need it” (hint: you’re indoors, you definitely don’t).

I’ve seen a lot of people posting their runs on stories as well, but at least they’re interesting, personal and legitimate. Your stairs aren’t, and never will be, Everest – unless you’re a Sherpa.