Since the origination of the Coronavirus in November 2019 in Wuhan China, the virus has so far affected almost every country and the death toll is increasing every day. The world has been struggling to contain the spread of the virus and take precautionary measures for protecting the public. However, not only human health has been suffering from this virus, but it has also shaped the global economy as well as the healthcare system. The fear of global recession is looming and the virus has some serious long-term implications for business and the healthcare system.
Impact on the Global Economy
The WHO threat level stands at ‘very high’ as most countries are still practicing lockdown. As a result of this, most people have already lost their jobs and others are at risk of losing it. In addition to this, for avoiding the further spread of the virus, strict to moderate level lockdown has resulted in the rise in the unemployment rate. Furthermore, countries have also implemented some other precautionary measures, such as limiting large gatherings, shutting down workplaces and schools, as well as closing borders to stop traveling. These restrictions have brought global economic activities to a halt, which has resulted in hurting businesses and many people have become jobless.
Although an increase in job losses was predicted by many economists. In the US, which is one of the largest economies in the world, more than 26 million people have lost their jobs in April 2020. This number has increased drastically since April and is continuing to increase daily. However, the US isn’t the only country dealing with the rising unemployment rate, South Korea and Australia have also observed a rise in the unemployment rate. Economists have warned that the situation might get worse than this if the COVID-19 situation isn’t handled efficiently.
In addition to this, the services sector has also been immensely affected because countries like China and the US are among the countries that have the largest consumer markets and economies. However, due to the lockdown, both countries have shown a sharp decline in retail sales because many stores were closed forcing consumers to stay at home. Although online sales were noted by certain retailers, such as Amazon.
Most counties are also expected to enter a severe recession phase; whereas developing countries are most susceptible and vulnerable to facing higher economic as well as health losses. The pandemic is likely to have long-lasting repercussions and can be addressed if global coordination and cooperation are adopted. Furthermore, a sharp decline in trades has also been observed. Due to the fear of the unknown, panic-induced stock-piling has been caused. Moreover, an increase in supermarket food delivery services has also been experienced, as people prefer staying at home and have also been placing unusually large orders. Hence, this pandemic looks good for delivery services and supermarkets, and only if they have they have the staff and capacity of meeting the increasing demands of goods.
The travel industry has taken the biggest hit so far, as flights have been canceled and more people are putting off their traveling plans to contain the virus and also due to government restrictions. The effect on the global supply chain holds up the business and this combined with travel restrictions can lead to a global recession.
Impact on the Healthcare System
Due to the increasing cases of COVID-19, the strain on the healthcare system has become immense. Healthcare practitioners have been working round-the-clock to cater to the needs of the patients. In most hospitals, they aren’t even provided proper PPE to protect themselves while treating a COVID-positive patient. Furthermore, the capacity for meeting the increasing demand for patients has also been affected. In the US, acute hospital beds and workforce capacity is lower as compared to other countries. This means that the resources of the US would be stretched to a greater extent than those of other countries.
In order to efficiently respond to COVID-19, patients should have the access to affordable healthcare services. However, in the US most citizens are uninsured and the remaining of them are underinsured due to out-of-pocket costs and deductibles. As a result of this, most US citizens don’t visit a doctor even if they show symptoms of the novel virus. In addition to this, due to the increasing unemployment rate, employees have lost their employer-sponsored insurance. Even those employees who have their jobs might find their coverage curtailed or dropped and employers have also become financially strained and are now cutting back costs.
Since the system didn’t effectively identify and control the spread of the virus, the strain on the healthcare system enhanced. Moreover, testing wasn’t widely available during the early times of COVID-19. The government was also late to implement physical distancing and other precautionary guidelines, which further led to the spike in the cases. Although the country has a strong healthcare infrastructure, the increasing strain on the system and the increasing cases have made the US vulnerable to COVID-19.
Even though the SOPs; as prepared by the WHO, have been implemented, but they are being violated constantly, even by the President himself. The public has also thrown caution out of the window and they believed that there somehow immune to the virus. Most of the people didn’t wear a mask in large gatherings and public places and even flouted the orders given by the government. Even after thousands of deaths each day due to the pandemic, life is normalized everywhere. As a result of this reckless attitude, a rapid jump in cases were recorded. Hence, this non-cooperative behavior has further added fuel to the fire and has resulted in increased virus transmission across the country.
By overlooking precautionary measures, citizens are risking their as well as the lives of their loved ones. If we continue to ignore SOPs, we might end up in a bigger and long-lasting pandemic-like situation. In addition to this, students in most nursing schools are required to write essays related to the healthcare situation, so you can reach out to nursing essay writing help to help you with your writing needs.