COVID-19 IN THE FOCUS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new and unprecedented situation in the vast world of humanity and in the small world of national, regional and local communities. Among all its other effects, it has shown how the normality of existence can be spontaneously disrupted and a cognitive imbalance in people's conceptions of life and values can be created. When the pandemic began to spread around the world, it spared no community or society and quickly caused devastating socio-economic consequences, such as loss of income, negative impacts on businesses and concerns for human health. Basic consumer needs were affected. Respected or challenged community leaders, local, regional and state governments were faced with extraordinary demands during a crisis that took them by surprise and in many ways caught them off guard. The reason was that such a situation required recourse to established rapid response and support systems, and these were either undeveloped or stunted by disuse. The pandemic brought heavy losses worldwide and profoundly changed the ways, people in the affected countries, groups and localities lived, thought and worked.