Vladimir Lenin, in the wake of the Russian revolution, had famously said that ‘there are decades when nothing happens, and then there are days in which decades happen.’ If in late December, last year, anyone would have predicted that within a few months the global economy would grind to a halt, travel suspended, and countries locked down, all because of a virus, he or she would have hastened their arrival to a mental institution. But here we are, cooped up in our dwellings and waiting for respite.
In late December, news in bits and pieces, started streaming in that China’s Hubei province has reported a cluster of viral pneumonia cases of unknown cause. Within a month, World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency. While the current consensus is that the virus has natural origins and early cases were linked to the Hunan wet meat markets, there is rife speculation that virus originated in a Chinese lab. Further, WHO has been roundly pilloried for its inept handling of the crisis, especially in failing to alert the global community of the virus’s severity.
As we write this article, the virus has claimed 305,000 lives, with 4.5 million active cases across the world. Developed countries have been caught woefully unprepared in handling of the pandemic. From shortage of hospital beds, ventilators to availability of medicine, health systems of both developing and developed countries have been overwhelmed. Though due to a weak social safety net in developing countries, the underclass has been left to fend for themselves, by and large.
Apart from the human cost, the pandemic wreaked havoc on the global financial markets. However, the Federal Reserve took unprecedented measures to calm the roiled markets, with other major central banks following suit. Further, governments around the world have launched major fiscal stimulus programs to mitigate job losses and avoid an economic recession, or even a depression. While the financial markets have relatively bounced back, the real economy is still between the devil and the deep sea; in months to come, we will have to keep track of the impact Covid19 has on the economy.
Rumi provide hope - “And this too shall pass.”With major part of the world still under lockdown and a vaccine many months away, there iswe have to acclimatize ourselves to a world in which Covid19 looms large. Social norms will havesafely in a Covid19 world.clamor to partially or totally lift the lockdown. Irrespective of when the vaccine is developed,While the virus has taken its toll, words of the great Persian philosopher to be readjusted, mobility options reappraised, and work culture re-calibrated to cohabitate
