IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT
- Relevant for Sociology Syllabus: Paper 1 – Social Change in Modern Society; PAPER-2 – Challenges of Social Transformation)
- (Relevant for GS Syllabus: Paper 1- population and associated issues.)
- The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted every segment of life like commercial establishment, education, economy, religion, transport, tourism, employment, entertainment, food security, sports, etc. The outbreak is a major destabilizing threat to the global economy.
- Economist intelligence unit has forecast that markets will remain volatile until a clearer image emerges on the potential outcomes. One estimate from an expert at Washington University in St. Lois gave $3000+ billion impacts on the world’s supply chain that could last up to two years.
- Global stock markets fell on 24 February due to a significant rise in the number of COVID-19 cases outside China. On 27 February, due to mounting worries about the Coronavirus outbreak, the US stock index posted its sharpest falls since 2008. The stock plunged again due to Coronavirus fears, the most massive fall being on 16 March. Many consider an economic recession likely.
- Lloyd’s of London has estimated that the global insurance industry will absorb the US $204 billion losses, exceeding the losses from 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season and 9/11, suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic will likely go down in as the costliest disaster ever in human history.
- Tourism is one of the most affected sectors due to travel bans, closing public places, including travel attractions and monuments, and government advice against travel. Numerous airlines have canceled flights due to lower demand, and British regional airline ‘Flybe’ collapsed.
- The cruise line industry was hard hit, and several train stations and ferry ports have been closed. Even the Seven Wonders of the World, which was always packed with people, now has no audience other than pigeons.
- International mail between some countries was stopped or was delayed due to top reduced transportation between them or the suspension of domestic services.
- Reductions have impacted the retail sector in-store hours or temporary closures. The number of visitors to retailer shops in Europe and Latin-American countries declined by 40%. North America and Middle-East retailers saw a 50-60% drop. That also resulted in a 33-43% drop in foot traffic to shopping centers in March compared to February. Shopping mall operators worldwide imposed additional measures, such as increased sanitation, installation of thermal scanners to check the temperature of shoppers, and cancellation of events.
- Hundreds of millions of jobs could be lost globally. More than 40 million Americans lost their jobs and filled unemployment insurance claims. According to a United Nations Economic Commission for Latin-American estimate, the pandemic-induced recession could leave 14-22 million more people in extreme poverty in Latin-America than would have been in that situation without the pandemic.
- Coronavirus fears have led to panic-buying of essentials across the world, including toilet paper, dried and instant noodles, bread, rice, vegetables, disinfectant, and rubbing alcohol. The outbreak has been blamed for several instances of supply shortages, stemming from globally increased equipment usage to fight the epidemic, panic-buying (which, in several places, led to empty shelves of grocery essentials) and disruption to the factory and logistic operations. The spread of panic-buying has been found to stem from the perceived threat, perceived scarcity, fear of the unknown, coping behavior, and socio-psychological factors (such as social influence and trust). The technology industry, in particular, has warned of delays to shipments of electronic goods. In conclusion, trade is being affected.
- According to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom, demand for personal protection equipment has raised a hundredfold, leading price to twenty times the regular price and delays in supply of medical items of four to six months. It also has caused a shortage of personal protective equipment worldwide, with WHO warning that this will endanger health workers.
- Coronavirus outbreak has created a shortage of precursors used in the manufacturing industries of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine. The Yuachen groups, headquarters in these illegal drugs have been noticed on the street of the UK. The United States law enforcement also told New York post-Mexican drug cartels were having difficulty in obtaining precursors.
- The pandemic has disrupted global food supplies and threatens to trigger a new food crisis. David Beasley, head of the world food program (WFP), said, “We could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months. Senior officials at the UN estimated in April 2020 that an additional 130 million people could starve for 265 million by the end of 2020.
- In early February 2020, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), ‘scrambled’ after a steep decline in oil prices due to lower demand from China. On Monday, 20 April, the cost of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) went negative. It fell to a record low (minus $37.63 a barrel) due to traders’ offloading holdings not taking delivery and incurring storage costs. June prices were down but in the positive range, with a barrel of West Texas trading above $20.
- There have been many tests to find a vaccine for COVID-19. All the tests so far have been failures except one. No one is sure of this yet. But according to many, the last vaccine-trials had been of no advantage. The considerable decline in planned travel has caused many regions to experience a substantial drop in air pollution. In China, lockdowns and other measures resulted in a 25% reduction in carbon emissions and a 50% reduction in Nitrogen oxides emissions. Other positive impacts on the environment include governance-system-controlled investments towards a sustainable energy transition and other environmental protection goals.
- However, the outbreak has also provided cover for many illegal activities such as deforestation of Amazon rainforests, poaching in Africa, hindered environmental diplomacy efforts, and created economic fallout that some predict will slow investment in green energy technologies.
- Amid a new crisis, even more, daunting in scale, there is a natural tendency for governments and individuals alike to be consumed by the urgency of near-term domestic fallout from the pandemic. But just as the virus’ contagion respects no borders, its political effects will inevitably sweep across nations and continue to echo long after the health emergency has eased. Let us join together and fight against the pandemic faced by the world!