COVID-19 Outbreak

Sarayu Bacchu

There is no doubt that the current global coronavirus outbreak poses a huge threat across the world. It has evolved from being regarded as a distant problem, only affecting a cluster of countries, to being declared a global pandemic in the span of three months.

Such a crisis has significant ramifications, and the possibility of severe disruption on the global economy is a worrying one. In the next few months, we are likely to see the widespread imposition of lock-downs, unprecedented changes to the way our economies function and huge crashes in stock markets across the world.

Policy makers in many countries will be faced with incredibly difficult decisions and trade-offs between containing the virus or slowing economic activity. Moreover, the sudden emergence of this virus has taken the entire world by surprise, with countries inadequately prepared to battle a health crisis of this magnitude. In the UK, government spending is bound to rise immensely, in order to ensure that the NHS is able to handle the large surges in patients expected. Further, financial stimulus packages are also expected to be rolled out to rescue struggling economies.

The next few months are certain to be testing times. Rational yet imminent action needs to be undertaken by countries if the devastating impacts of  the COVID-19 are to be kept to a minimum. As a society, we need to remain educated surrounding the matter, and be able to distinguish from fact and fiction, if we are to keep hysteria under control. 

In the coming weeks, we aim to be posting regularly about what seems to be one of the most profound and significant economic crises in recent years. In the meantime, we can only sit back and watch carefully how this pandemic unfolds.