Covid 19 - Aftermath and Recovery
Novel coronavirus - Covid19 had its silent entry to the world towards the end of 2019 in China. The virus has now spread cross borders, some credits attributed to globalisation and the free market economy. The mortality rate for Covid19 is pretty high and there is no known cure yet. There are theories that the virus is mutating frequently that an immediate cure is a remote possibility.
The immediate response by nations of the world had been to go on lockdown. People who have homes are now confined to their homes. The homeless are now in peril. Hospitals are overcrowded with covid patients. There is a shortage of immunity medicines, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and ventilators, so much that trade wars have started for these. The medical response team in many countries are now stressed with the spike in covid19 cases. Law enforcement agencies have prioritised in enforcing the lockdown.
With people confined to their homes, the schedule for many people is not how they had anticipated it to be. International travel has been put on hold. There is an impending economic slowdown and recession as the scale by which our GDP and Economic growth are defined linked to factory output is now on standstill. The plight of many vulnerable like woman or children subject to domestic abuse or the migrant population is uncertain and insecure. There have been reports of rising domestic abuse worldwide. The unplanned and sudden shutdown has confined many victims with their abuser. Many migrants who had migrated to cities from their villages for a better life have no earnings and no food for survival now. Across the nation, migrants are forced to walk hundreds of miles back home or die of hunger. With no earnings as there is no job with the shutdown happening and their savings getting drained to sustain life in a place far away from home many have begun the long walk home.
There is no end in sight for the current scenario. A shutdown till a vaccine or cure is found is highly impractical. Many countries are now experimenting and proposing alternatives to lockdown. There are countries like Sweden which considers exposing the population to the virus in a controlled manner and imparting them herd immunity. There are confused nations like the USA or Brazil which are not sure whether to lockdown or not. There are nations like NewZealand and Australia which are lucky to be water locked, helping them enforce a strict lockdown and get the cases controlled. What works in the long run, we don't know yet.
The future world after the virus is going to see new norms. The mask is here to stay and so is social distancing. The feasibility of working from home is now thought by many companies. Indian tech giant TCS and global tech giant Google have already made it clear that work from home is going to be a norm for more than a majority of their workforce even after the lockdown phase. Twitter went a step ahead and said all employees will work from home going forward.
For future budget, many nations may have to prioritise medical spending than military spending. The virus has exposed the flaw in the current money allocation where preparations for an impending military war that may never happen to take a major chunk of money is of no use in fighting a microorganism that is invisible to the human eye. Disaster recovery plans for nations and corporations alike are now going to consider the scenario where the world shuts down. This was never a remote possibility in the past and was not accounted for by any. Economic growth may have new formulas. The idea of Universal Basic Income may come into force in many countries. The most vulnerable hence may have a sustainable income. They may not die of hunger neither do they will have to walk miles to return to safety.
War in the current world is not profitable while peace is. Human beings are not invincible. A tiny virus had shown many of us to look the world with a different view, perhaps to slow down a bit and be a bit more thankful to the life we live here.
The immediate response by nations of the world had been to go on lockdown. People who have homes are now confined to their homes. The homeless are now in peril. Hospitals are overcrowded with covid patients. There is a shortage of immunity medicines, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and ventilators, so much that trade wars have started for these. The medical response team in many countries are now stressed with the spike in covid19 cases. Law enforcement agencies have prioritised in enforcing the lockdown.
With people confined to their homes, the schedule for many people is not how they had anticipated it to be. International travel has been put on hold. There is an impending economic slowdown and recession as the scale by which our GDP and Economic growth are defined linked to factory output is now on standstill. The plight of many vulnerable like woman or children subject to domestic abuse or the migrant population is uncertain and insecure. There have been reports of rising domestic abuse worldwide. The unplanned and sudden shutdown has confined many victims with their abuser. Many migrants who had migrated to cities from their villages for a better life have no earnings and no food for survival now. Across the nation, migrants are forced to walk hundreds of miles back home or die of hunger. With no earnings as there is no job with the shutdown happening and their savings getting drained to sustain life in a place far away from home many have begun the long walk home.
There is no end in sight for the current scenario. A shutdown till a vaccine or cure is found is highly impractical. Many countries are now experimenting and proposing alternatives to lockdown. There are countries like Sweden which considers exposing the population to the virus in a controlled manner and imparting them herd immunity. There are confused nations like the USA or Brazil which are not sure whether to lockdown or not. There are nations like NewZealand and Australia which are lucky to be water locked, helping them enforce a strict lockdown and get the cases controlled. What works in the long run, we don't know yet.
The future world after the virus is going to see new norms. The mask is here to stay and so is social distancing. The feasibility of working from home is now thought by many companies. Indian tech giant TCS and global tech giant Google have already made it clear that work from home is going to be a norm for more than a majority of their workforce even after the lockdown phase. Twitter went a step ahead and said all employees will work from home going forward.
For future budget, many nations may have to prioritise medical spending than military spending. The virus has exposed the flaw in the current money allocation where preparations for an impending military war that may never happen to take a major chunk of money is of no use in fighting a microorganism that is invisible to the human eye. Disaster recovery plans for nations and corporations alike are now going to consider the scenario where the world shuts down. This was never a remote possibility in the past and was not accounted for by any. Economic growth may have new formulas. The idea of Universal Basic Income may come into force in many countries. The most vulnerable hence may have a sustainable income. They may not die of hunger neither do they will have to walk miles to return to safety.
War in the current world is not profitable while peace is. Human beings are not invincible. A tiny virus had shown many of us to look the world with a different view, perhaps to slow down a bit and be a bit more thankful to the life we live here.
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