As the horror of Coronavirus continues to rule the world, what’s being tested is the global health infrastructure. Although social distancing and lockdown are two of the popular measures taken by the governments, the only sector at work is— medical; having already started failing in many countries.Talking about the other sectors of economy, they are also on all-time downturn.
In the beginning, not many leaders, including the United States President, were even ready to recognize what’s coming their way. In the midst of all these, what actually has happened is economies all around the world have become sick. The economic cost of this outbreak is much higher than what many might have thought. Although the global economy is yet to reach the level of recession, a number of countries have shown the early signs of a long and serious problem, as their economies go into disarray.
Little Clarity
Social distancing is probably the only measure we know to address the disease till now. This approach was missed in China, in Italy, in Spain, and wherever the circumstances are worse. However, the authorities of the USA and UK, tried other methods of fighting Corona, they didn’t stop the intermixing of people. As a result of this ignorance, New York itself is home to almost 4% of global Covid-19 patients. No market pundit, today, is ready to predict the prospect of the world economy. It was estimated that the United States’ unemployment figure will be about 1.6 millions but the original figure came in at 3.3 million.
Talking about a developing nation like India, thousands of factory workers are seen returning to their hometowns in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and other parts of the country from Delhi NCR, Maharashtra, Bengaluru, etc. This shows a serious problem in the economic outlook of the world. Nobody can predict what the future beholds.
Why so much uncertainty?
Since the virus is new, scientists are yet to find its properties, which might change in future. The role of asymptomatic patients has still not been understood completely. One of the biggest problems underdeveloped countries are facing is the unknown numbers of cases due to limited testing. No country can focus on any other economic affair, currently.
Since many are talking about recession, it is worth discussing. However, I am not expecting this to happen due to Corona. We have to see and analyze how the market reacts in the coming few quarters. All we can currently do is just hope that we do not reach the stage of a global financial crisis.