COVID-19 and its global consequences

Coronavirus as seen in the electron microscope

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a deadly flu that affects mainly the respiratory organs, remotely it has also been found that it might affect the kidney, liver, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms mainly include dry cough, headache, and continuous fever along with fatigue. Old people and the people having comorbid conditions along with COVID-19 are likely to be in much threat. The virus which is closely related to SARS coronavirus and MERS coronavirus is spread to more than 210 countries and territories throughout the world. According to WHO the cases of this disease can be divided into mild, moderate, or severe cases and the severe cases require immediate medical attention with proper ICU care and ventilators to provide artificial respiration. The virus spreads via air droplets and its infectivity is two times more than the common flu which explains the high number of casualties and exponential increase of cases. The absolute treatment for the disease has not been discovered neither the vaccine is created till now. To prevent mass transmission, the precautionary measures are to be applied like good hand hygiene as well as coughing etiquette. Preventing oneself from social contact which is now known as social distancing is most effective of all for reducing the transmission of the deadly virus. Social distancing can reduce the transmission by 50 to 70 percent according to one Japanese research. Due to this reason, most of the countries in the world are imposing lockdown strategies to prevent the spread.

As of May 17, 2020 coronavirus cases in the world are more than 4.5 million and the casualties are more than 300 thousand. The virus which first made its appearance in late 2019 in the Chinese province of Wuhan has shown multiple mutations. Nobody would have guessed that epidemic in the region would turn out to be such a disastrous pandemic throughout the whole world. Most of the countries in the world are in lockdown amidst this crisis. The plans and policies that the governments made for the coming fiscal year are all halted. Everyone is worried about what would happen next. Because of the long imposed lockdown, people are suffering a lot mentally, emotionally, socially, and economically. Hospitals in the world are full of COVID-19 patients. The shortage of medical and personal protective equipment(PPE) has created a ruckus among medical professionals. There are cases where some health professionals are dying because of hospital borne infection acquired while treating patients without proper protective gear. Patients with other emergency cases are also being rejected in a hospital because of limited ICU and ventilators. It has created real chaos in the medical sector.

Agriculture and economic sectors are also in a risk of getting shut as most of the industries and hotels are closed, farmers are unable to sell their goods as the demand is gradually decreasing. The goods are getting stockpiled and not being sold, vegetables and fruits are getting rotten because of fewer people's movement, it has been a potent disaster in demand and supply chain. Workers who depend on their daily wages are mostly affected due to this shutdown as they are unable to meet their daily income and such. Families are being pushed to poverty because of long-lasting unemployment. Families of lower socioeconomic status are most vulnerable due to the economic effects of this virus. Global tourism as well as the aviation industries are on the verge of collapse due to this pandemic. Even the governments in the world are trying their best to control the economic slowdown by liquidating large reserve money in the banks and providing relief packages to the people, the consequence of this economic disaster won’t be suppressed as because the global economy is a chain market and even if a single country falls behind, the effects can be seen in other countries with economic relations. Countries that are underdeveloped or developing are not prepared to meet the challenges due to global shutdown. The countries experiencing conflict, disaster, and migrant issues are likely to suffer more and need global support for the national stimulus package, protecting economy, jobs, and incomes.

The only a thing which is getting benefit in this lockdown is the environment. Very fewer transportations are running on the road, emission from the industries are decreasing, beaches and shore are deserted and people are staying in their home. Because of this, the environment which had been suffering human activities is seen to be healing. The global carbon emission has decreased drastically in the late months. Projections suggest that the global carbon emission could be reduced by 5 percentages in 2020 than the last year which had seen a high level of emissions. As per reports, the faunas which were not seen due to increasing human activities in the past years are seen to be appearing in those regions. Water sources are being cleaner and clearer day by day as are their aquatic habitats. These changes are surely highlighting the facts that how our reckless behavior towards nature was affecting it. It also has made us think about the global approach toward climate change, the use of perpetual energy, and sustainable development. Climate activists hope that these lessons will teach governments to think about sustainable future and climate protection.

The global crisis caused by this pandemic has an inevitable consequence in the upcoming future. The world will take some time to recover from this regression caused by the pandemic. People and governments need to learn some important lessons from this global disaster. To ensure the sustainability of humanity in the upcoming future, resources and labor must be used efficiently and with equity of power and respect towards nature. Also, the global healthcare systems must be made much more enhanced and available to all the people so that we can mitigate the disastrous effects of the diseases.