Since I feel confident saying this is all gonna have a major effect on our culture in a couple of years, I suspect yes.
That's one thing I've been pondering--the long-term effects of this on our social norms, values, and political inclinations. The two most recent times this happened were 911 and the 2008 recession. Can't say I've liked the social changes those two events have engendered overall.
And actually, my current project just so happens to start with a number of destructive plagues bringing a society to the brink of collapse. Doesn't mirror our current situation as much as it sounds, but odd timing nonetheless.
I've also been wondering how it will affect entertainment, once this virus either peters out or becomes a normalized part of our lives as the population, and our institutions, adapt. I suspect people will start going to movies again, though maybe a portion of people will decide they prefer to get their entertainment at home, away from crowds.
For a while after 911, entertainment media about terrorist groups launching attacks at civilian sites in our country were considered too raw and close to home. Some projects were actually cancelled, as I recall. In the long term, though, tales about terrorists have made a comeback. And long-term interests about disasters tend to result in documentaries and semi-fictionalized accounts (like the recent Chernobyl miniseries).
Stories about plagues and outbreaks are already popular, of course, but I wonder if there might be a temporary lack of support for such projects. Long-term, it's harder to predict how it will change the way people write and interpret stories centered around disasters. I suppose current events might inform writers' knowledge of how society, and our public institutions, will react--with far less coordination and consistency as we expected. Tales set in speculative worlds, of course, can invent their own social systems and infrastructure, appropriate to the level of technical and social development.
I recently read Chuck Wendig's The Wanderers, which centers around a much more devastating plague with near 100% mortality. So it's parallels with this situation are pretty far removed. Still, I am impressed, in hindsight, at the things he predicted about the way our institutions and populace respond during the early days of an outbreak, when case numbers are low and people are mostly in denial.
Denial is a common theme in fiction too.
Gonna be a golden age for people writing, directing, and starring in movies shot in their bedrooms on their smartphones.
Wonder if this thing will improve book sales if it goes on for months and months? People stuck at home and under house arrest will be looking for entertainment, right, and if fewer new movies are released, and if the new seasons of popular shows are delayed, then people will be desperate for something to consume. Plus, writers already work from home (as do many agents and editors), and most books are now available in e-format, which doesn't even require a delivery driver to come up to one's door. It's already wreaking havoc on the con circuit and on in-person writers' workshops, though. Will there be a move to make some of these experiences available remotely? It won't feel the same, though, as being able to walk up to your favorite writer and shaking their hand.