As we all know, the whole world is stuck now due to the unexpected attack of a disease named COVID 19 which is caused by a newly discovered virus that is named as Coronavirus. So, what actually is this COVID 19? It is an infectious viral disease that is spread through human discharges like saliva, secretions from nose and mouth while sneezing and coughing, etc. Briefly saying, when an affected person comes in close contact with a non-affected individual, he has a high risk of getting affected by COVID 19.
COVID 19 was first reported in China. Reports hint that a 55-year old individual from China’s Hubei province might’ve been the first person to have contracted COVID 19 but it was back in November 17, 2019: a month earlier than the doctors noted cases in Wuhan by the end of December, 2019. Later, by the beginning of new-year, 2020, COVID 19 started extending its hands all over the globe. Most people consider the beginning of this disease from the wet markets of China that later spread through contact with human secretions or discharges. This outbreak was declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 30, 2020 and the disease was named as COVID 19 on February 11, 2020.
As we all are aware of, this whole world doesn’t simply exist rooting on a single factor. The world we see around us is the combined result of a lot of sectors around us. But by the entry of COVID 19, a lot of changes have took place around us. Throughout history, nothing has killed more human beings than infectious disease. Covid-19 shows how vulnerable we remain till now even if we have advanced a lot than we were. Let us take a look at how COVID 19 affected the economy in some sectors around the world.
- Education: It is one of the basic sector in the world. It is through education that we can normally gain knowledge and new information. As the disease can spread highly through close contact, all the educational institutions were shut down. The teachers were left with no particular job and students were unable to complete their studies. The education and training of a country’s workforce is a major factor in determining how well the country’s economy will perform. The government considers that only best education can lay a strong foundation for a country’s economy as the future working class is the present students and their performance influence economy greatly. But in these COVID 19 days, several online platforms that stays close to the syllabus and provide study materials through internet has gained popularity and are earning a lot in this manner.
- Financial services: This sector comprises of all the institutions that assists the public financially. It handles the economic sector completely. It provides credit provision, liquidity provision as well as risk management services. The banking institutions are trying to help people to their maximum extent but social distancing keeps people a bit away from banks. Even if that is the case, e-financing is working perfectly. It is also used for collecting funds for medications provided by government. The World Bank has approved a huge amount of financial aid for many countries in such a scenario.
- Health services: Let me say this guys, we must give a standing ovation for each and every people associated with medical field around the globe. Whichever country it may be, everyone related with this field is spending sleepless nights finding patients, treating them and at the same time, trying to find a proper cure/ medicine for COVID 19. The medical facilities a country possess is based on their economic situation. One main reason that some countries are struggling is due to their poor economic status. Investment in health is not only a desirable, but also an essential priority for most societies. This disease hinders institutional performance also which results in the downfall of economy.
- Internet: Social media platforms are fully active during this time. A lot of financial and emergency services work via online nowadays. But several online services, which are user-friendly, have stopped working. Many people prefer internet because of the reason that internet has the potential to increase productivity growth in a variety of distinct and reinforcing ways. For example, it provides several platforms that significantly reduces the cost of many transactions necessary to produce and distribute goods and services. It increases management efficiency, competition among companies leading to the prices being more transparent. It also increases the effectiveness of marketing and pricing and gives great value for consumer’s choice, their satisfaction and convenience.
- Tourism: Being one of the major sector providing support to the economic spine of a country, it has a major position. Tourism is pleasure travel. And tourists are people who travel for personal pleasure. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), tourism comprises “the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes. Tourism’s economic significance give the industry greater respect among the business community, public officials, and the public in general. Tourists contribute to sales, profits, jobs, tax revenues, and income in an area and tourism sectors like lodging, restaurants, transportation, amusements, and retail trade. Since COVID 19 has spread worldwide and close contact can increase disease rate, the whole tourism industry has been frozen. The government is now concentrating mainly on treating people but this frozen tourism sector will surely be a slap to the economic condition later.
- Transportation: COVID 19 affected all those industries that were a platform where people joined. When a person affected with COVID 19 uses this transportation facility, there is a high chance for a lot of people to come in contact with that person and thus get affected. So the government of most of the countries have stopped transportation facilities and only allows travel for basic need such as food and medical help. This will mainly affect the common public. Transportation is closely related to the economy of a country. The capability and levels of transportation invites several people economically to an area. Productivity, employment, business activity, property values, investment, tax revenues, etc. are some of the sectors that transportation lays impact economically.
The World Bank is estimating that the Coronavirus outbreak will cause economic growth to slow significantly this year all over the world, especially in China and other East Asian-Pacific countries, throwing millions into poverty. While considering the economic impact globally, we have a lot more to discuss. UN has stated that the world economy may shrink by almost 1% in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
It is disrupting global supply chains and international trade. China was one of the main manufacturing hub of many global business operations. Many sectors in this world that held an active position in keeping economy straight have come to a screeching halt in these days. This must surely have left a majority of people unemployed. Several individuals who live basing on their daily wages is surely left at stake in this condition. According to the forecast, lockdowns in Europe and North America are hitting the service sector hard, particularly industries that involve physical interactions such as retail trade, leisure and hospitality, recreation and transportation services. Collectively, such industries account for more than a quarter of all jobs in these economies. Global shares have taken a huge hit. Big shifts in stock markets, where shares in companies are bought and sold, can affect many investments in pensions or individual savings accounts.
Several investors are fearing that even government’s actions can’t stop the stock market crash. Industrial production, sales and investment all fell in the first two months of the year, compared with the same period in 2019 globally. China being the world’s largest exporter of goods and third in manufacturing, was the country where COVID hunt began. So they had seized many processes by the beginning of 2020 which would probably reduce their overall economic stability. The Global GDP has fell from a 2.9 (as per 2019 reports) to a 1.6 this year. The price of oil has fallen by about a quarter and the demand still keeps falling down. As the supply of components are at a halt, several industries have shut down. The GST rates have been given a rise quickly and this will surely result in hike of several products including grocery items, electronic accessories, android phones, etc. which will be hit on the common public. The only sector that is still working are supermarkets and some online delivery services. They have reported a huge growth in demand as customers stockpile goods such as toilet paper, rice and orange juice as the pandemic escalates. That is the only sector that provide a bit of economic support but haven’t fallen yet.
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In this scenario, people are mainly concentrating in entertaining sectors which are not at all contributing anything financially. So the economic growth rate is now nearly zero. The whole world will surely face an economic crisis that we’ve never seen before. But one thing is for sure: we will stand united and we’ll overcome everything!!!
