COVID19

As the world fights the battle against the new coronavirus or COVID19, that has affected all the aspects of our routine life like, social contact. It has also seen to be affecting the world economy majorly.

The coronavirus or COVID19 pullulated in Wuhan, China has the whole world on the edge. The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION categorized Coronavirus as a Pandemic on 11th March 2020.

A disease is categorized as a pandemic when it has spread across continents and worldwide. While the modern world has made travel easy for us, it has made easy for diseases such as COVID19 to travel with us. Infecting everyone and anyone we come in contact with.

The global pandemic, coronavirus has now spread across all the continents except for Antarctica.

A global pandemic has global consequences. The virus has forced countries to go on lockdown, closing borders, international as well as state borders. Slowing down the economy of the affected countries. India is one of the countries affected by COVID19, the economy is also witnessing a major drop. The world is set to nosedive into recession.

While the number of cases increases the numbers of the stock market seem to be dropping rapidly. The Indian stock market paused trading twice in one month for 45 minutes.

While money keeps evaporating from the stock markets and trading sectors, it is worrisome for the economy of our country. The Coronavirus or Covid19 outbreak will take a toll on India’s economic growth. Economists have suggested that we may witness a 0.5 to 1 percent cut in our next fiscal year.

Impact on the Economy

As we are aware of the economic growth of India has been the slowest in a decade. The Indian economy was already trying to resuscitate the production and consumption chains, now as the country is fighting the battle against the foreign virus COVID19, there will be a significant downshift in the Indian economy, business, and other sectors. The private sectors, public sectors and service sectors all are facing the combat at this point, as the country is under complete lockdown, everything and everyone is at a standstill. Before the lockdown was officially announced the service sector had already taken the hit - Travel and aviation, hospitality, tourism, and trading were the first in line to be affected. Later, leading its way to the public and private sector. While several conglomerate companies are willing to keep all the employees, they have given their word that they will not be laying off anyone or cut their salaries. But several others haven’t addressed this concern.

We are well aware of the fact that the jobs of hundreds and thousands of people are also at risk as the companies will be forced to cut down on the costs as a consequence of the economic impact. India is already facing a high unemployment rate and with taking the hit from the Coronavirus or COVID19, the number will increase. It is estimated that 25 million jobs could be at stake worldwide due to the spread of the Coronavirus or COVID19 according to the UN.

During an economic downfall, the self-employed sector has often helped with uplifting the economy in the past, but as the whole nation is at a standstill because of the shutdown, the restriction on the movement of the goods and services have made the policymakers worry about the aftermath of the Coronavirus or Covid19.

Even after winning against the coronavirus or COVID19, the country will be witnessing a significant loss of jobs and an increase in working poverty.

The economy of every country is facing a downshift as the Coronavirus has hit a pause button on the socio-economic growth. The affected countries are destined to face the hard reality of the recession. But the world needs to stand united and work on policies that will help them get through the recession and recover the lost economy numbers.

Health Is Wealth

While the facts state that the economy of the country and the world will be suffering, the wellbeing and health is the priority. The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) guidelines are clear and accessible across the globe. The World Leaders are emphasizing on the importance of the lockdown and self-quarantine as directed by the WHO. We must remember the old saying health is wealth, and in the situation that everyone in the world is facing now, health indeed is wealth.