By Dewey TerrillLittle Apple PostDuring the COVID-19 period and the months to come we can possibly expect a new normal.&nbsp; Julie Gibbs, Riley County Health Officer and Bob Copple, Ascension Via Christi Hospital President were asked for their opinions.Gibbs said she sees the new normal conditions like those in place right now. "You've seen a lot of safeguards being put into the businesses that are considered essential right now. Hopefully a lot of those will stay in place for the future. It's a great new normal to have, to have those safeguards in place and also just what we're doing as citizens wearing masks and keeping that distance from another person, and possibly limiting handshakes from here on out, so those are are all going to be traits that we can do in the future. So I think it can be a good thing, this new normal."Copple expects to see more technology, for example in healthcare the benefits of telehealth have now been demonstrated out of a requirement. " It's going to be hard for some people to give that up. They're like the flexibility, they're going to like the access, and I think you're just going to see a shift because of that and how healthcare is delivered."Copple agreed with Gibbs that there would be a long period of social distancing and said it would "be for our own good." He also expects some sort of masking expectation for the public and improvement in the quality of masks as a supply chain is built. He feels by the end of the calendar year that kind of information and technology will be available and accessible to people.

Local officials discuss the possible concept of a new normal