A new normal? Impacts and lessons from two years of the pandemic in Portugal

The pandemic came into our lives quickly. On 2 March 2020, Portugal announced its first cases of COVID-19 infection. Just 16 days later, with the World Health Organisation declaring a pandemic, the first of several states of emergency was declared in the country. Since then, there are few spheres of our lives that were not affected by the pandemic: from the way we work to the way we socialise and study, from education to leisure and family relationships. It has become commonplace to say that nothing will ever be the same. This platitude invites a fundamental reflection: what will the new post-pandemic reality be like? And what can we do to make it better? To answer these questions, this book assesses the impacts and lessons of the pandemic in a multidimensional way, reflecting on the effects and challenges – economic, social and political – that Portugal faces in this "new normal"