Conclusion: The Consequences of COVID-19 – What Is Next?

Abstract

The preparation of this volume is bracketed by two events: first, the global pandemic that continues to this day, and second, the emerging conflict in Ukraine where Russia has invaded a sovereign nation. This juxtaposition of global and regional events demonstrates the need to understand the geography of places and consider how geospatial approaches can inform policy and solutions. To address the pandemic, the national governments have put into practice place-based procedures and policies to protect and save lives; we now enter a phase of global uncertainty where conflict upends those policies and lives are lost. The coincidence of the pandemic and conflict compounds the global health emergency particularly in fragile states exposed to conflict and violence where provisioning basic services (such as food, water, and shelter) is essential (Richardson, Chap. 3). As the Ukraine invasion unfolds, we observe in real time the impact of conflict and the emergence of the Ukrainian diaspora and consider the hidden toll the virus will take in concert with violent loss of life. This conflict will hinder and complicate public health responses and this is only one example of a nation-state, Russia advancing a specific agenda with the continued pandemic as a backdrop. Armed conflict results in people on the move and this means the virus will also be on the move. The UN reports that 24 million of the 98 million confirmed to have contracted the virus live in countries facing humanitarian or refugee crises (UN Press Release, 2021), and this number is sure to increase as the conflict rages and expands.

In some countries, the poorest people are nearly four time more likely to die from COVID-19 as the richest. Inequality Kills, Oxfam, 2022

The international spread of emerging infectious diseases…[has] created a world where regular outbreak and spillover events are the new norms. Gruetzmacher et al., 2020