The terms “pre-pandemic” and “post-pandemic” refer to the time before Covid-19 and the time after the pandemic has been declared formally ended, which has not yet happened.
As yet, there is no definition in any online dictionary for the term “pre-pandemic,” however it does appear in Dictionary.com in a use case for the term “premise”:
“The company had pre-pandemic plans to build five to 10 more, but Covid-19 proved to be a mass blow for a retail store chain built on the premise of offering a space for children to play in-person around purchasable toys.“
In an article for EveryDayHealth.com, writer Elizabeth Millard discusses the challenges of returning to pre-pandemic routines: “Although 43-year-old Minneapolis area resident and artist Christy Johnson is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and her state has lifted its mask mandates and many restrictions, she’s not eager to jump right back into her pre-pandemic routines. ‘During the pandemic, I felt happier than I ever have,” she says. “I’m a big introvert and homebody, so it’s not surprising that I’m not excited about getting back to my go-go-go life of pre-pandemic times.’”
We all look forward to the time when the pandemic will be declared over, done and finished with and we can begin the process of adjusting to a post-pandemic life where zoom meetings, cashless transactions and remote working are the norm. An article published in the November 24, 2020 issue of the online Harvard Gazette asks readers: “What will the new post-pandemic normal look like?..Harvard experts say some of our adaptations have accelerated already existing trends, like the development of a cashless society, the increase in remote work, and the decline of brick-and-mortar retail. And, they expect, some of these will become a more permanent part of the post-pandemic’s “new normal”” (Powell).
In some online news articles the terms “pre-pandemic” and “post-pandemic” appear together. A Forbes article published on September 29, 2020 and entitled “Pre-Pandemic Vs. Post-Pandemic Property Management Teams” reports on the challenges that property managers faced when dealing with clients during Covid-19 and how adopting different technologies allowed them to move to a fully remote learning model, as the author says “maintenance requests still get resolved, prospect queries still get answered, unit showings still occur and communication with residents is still frequent” (Kunes).
Social Media Trends as of May 17, 2022
Facebook #prepandemic: 16,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #prepandemic: 48,220 posts
TikTok #prepandemic: 79.6 million views
YouTube #prepandemic: 270 videos and 208 channels
Facebook #postpandemic: 26,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #postpandemic: 69,888 posts
TikTok #postpandemic: 26.8 million views
YouTube #postpandemic: 8,600 videos and 605 channels
Google Trends: pre-pandemic didn’t appear until the week of March 15, 2020 when coronavirus reached the United States. It reached its peak during the week of February 27, 2022 when enough time had passed that people felt the “pandemic era” was distinct in and of itself and they could refer back to the time before Covid-19 or “pre-pandemic.”
Google Trends: post-pandemic appeared during the week of March 29, 2020. When the outbreak first appeared in the United States it was said that two weeks of quarantine would “flatten the curve” and everyone could get back to normal life. However, two weeks turned into two years, and although Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted almost everywhere in the U.S., we are still living in a pandemic which has not quite become endemic as of this time of writing. The term reached its peak during the week of May 3, 2020 and since then has been through a series of peaks and troughs.
Sources:
Kunes, Nathaniel. “Pre-Pandemic Vs. Post-Pandemic Property Management Teams: Who Has The Advantage?” Forbes.com. September 29, 2020. URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2020/09/29/pre-pandemic-vs-post-pandemic-property-management-teams-who-has-the-advantage/.
Millard, Elizabeth. “Why Getting Back to Pre-Pandemic Routines May Sound Exhausting, Psychologists Say.” EveryDayHealth.com. August 5, 2021. URL: https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/why-getting-back-to-pre-pandemic-routines-may-sound-exhausting-psychologists-say/.
Powell, Alvin. “What will the new post-pandemic normal look like?” Harvard Gazette. November 24, 2020. URL: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/11/our-post-pandemic-world-and-whats-likely-to-hang-round/.
“Premise” (Pre-pandemic). Dictionary.com. URL: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/premise.