When I envisaged writing this piece (certainly not under the above title) at the start of COVID-19, “new norm” represented for me a life-changing approach to dealing with the pandemic.
We have adopted – with remarkable ingenuity – innovative ways to greet friends and acquaintances, stay in touch via Zoom, attend online Mass, conduct our fitness regime through YouTube instructors, and shop for our daily necessities masked like Zorro and making payment through plexiglass shields at checkout.
We have managed to achieve physical distancing while still maintaining social contact, largely without compromising the health of our families, friends, neighbours, or indeed the broader community who could be affected by the transmission of this ubiquitous and dreaded scourge.