DENVER — The COVID-19 pandemic changed almost everything overnight.
For the Scott family, one of the many parts of life that has changed is the rules of preschool for their 3-year-old daughter.
"What are the rules of preschool?" Henry Scott asked his daughter over a family Zoom.
"No hugging, no kissing and no touching... air kisses at school," his young daughter said.
No hugging, touching or handshakes — the elbow bump has become a popular alternative now. Work and school for most went remote and life as we knew it moved online.
"It’s so easy to buy stuff online, so easy," said Buddy Scott. "We probably did it a little bit before, but now I shop on Amazon almost every day."
More Americans than ever are shopping online. We now have contact-less delivery for food and groceries, and everything from happy hours to doctor appointments have gone virtual.
"We turned our telehealth platform on in 10 days," said Dr. Scott Joy of Swedish Medical Center.
Dr. Joy says the pandemic pressured insurance companies and medicare to cover telehealth visits. Now, he sees a third of his patients virtually.
"We as clinicians want to continue this service but if the payers and CMS decide not to cover it, we will go back to a less efficient way to deliver important care," said Dr. Joy.
COVID-19 has changed the $32 billion-a-year fitness industry too. People have traded gym memberships for virtual classes and home equipment.
Gyms, like Compass Fitness in Denver, now offer online memberships to help keep them afloat.
"We will keep our online platform for as long as we can. Hopefully it keeps growing and hopefully we can open more spaces instead of close spaces as far as boutique fitness goes," said Heather Harrington, owner of Compass Fitness.
We are now eating out less and cooking more. We're also healthier thanks to handwashing and face masks.
"We’ve learned a lot about infection control. We’ve seen the reduction in influenza this season and I think it’ll be a trickle for us returning to a fully maskless society," Dr. Joy said.
Back at the Scott household, even COVID-19 has its silver linings.
Buddy Scott said he's enjoyed working from home and that it'd been a game changer.
"We’re realizing the people that we are really close to and the people we want to have in our lives," said his partner Vicky Krabill.
The pandemic has reminded us of how connected we are, how resilient we are and that even in darkness, there is still so much goodness in humanity.
"The kindness of humans really stood out to me in a time that’s really the scariest. You turn on the news and you’re like, 'Oh my gosh, what is going on.' We have felt just such kindness from everybody around us," Harrington said .
Molly Hendrickson anchors Denver7 in the mornings from 4:30-7 a.m. She also features a different 7Everyday Hero each week on Denver7. Follow Molly on Facebook here and Twitter here. To nominate a hero in your life, click here.