What would a second wave of corona virus come? and economy condition
Of the last five pandemics the world has faced in about a
century, four had multiple waves of infection outbreaks. In some cases the
second or third waves turned out to be far more severe than the first. As
governments around the world weigh the trade-offs between reopening their
economies and continuing lockdown restrictions.
what can we learn from history?
The worst pandemic in modern history, the Spanish flu, which
is estimated to have infected a third of the world’s population, had three
waves of infection. The first wave was in the spring of 1918, while the second
wave happened in autumn that year. The third wave occurred a few months later,
which lasted till the spring of 1919. You can see the pandemic peaked in the
highly fatal second wave, which was responsible for most of the deaths. Many
health experts have said that history may repeat itself. The World Health
Organization has warned that the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is yet to come.
But with widespread unemployment and many companies battling to stay afloat,
there are calls to end the social restrictions and reopen the economy.
Government action on corona virus and worried about second wave of corona virus
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also lashed out at government stay at
home orders as “fascist”. And that's a feeling shared by an increasing number
of Americans. You heard Elon Musk’s comments. I think that reflects a growing
sentiment in this country where people want this to be over. So that is going
to tug against what the governors have to do. They have tough decisions to
face. However, many analysts have warned against reopening the economy too
soon, which may derail current efforts to stem the crisis. The island of
Hokkaido in the northern part of Japan was forced back into a lockdown after a
second wave hit the region more severely than the first. Singapore, which was
lauded for its early efforts to stem the pandemic, also recorded a second wave
of infections in March, mainly from imported cases and migrant workers living
in packed dormitories.
What say Survey of economist ?
A survey of more than
40 prominent economists in the U.S. found that 80% agreed easing severe
lockdown when infection risk remains high would lead to greater economic
damage. As the debate over when to reopen the economy drags on, the Spanish flu
offers some clues. In 1918, the U.S. had no coordinated pandemic plans at a
federal level. It was therefore left to local authorities to decide how and
when to intervene to prevent the spread of the disease. The social distancing
measures over a century ago are similar to the modern-day restrictions such as
the closure of schools, offices and the banning of mass gatherings. Because
tackling the infection spread was orchestrated at a local level, the
interventions varied widely. This led to the mortality rates and the pace of
economic recovery differing from city to city at the end of the pandemic. In
1917, a year before the Spanish flu outbreak, Philadelphia and St. Louis had
very similar mortality rates from influenza and pneumonia. However, when the
pandemic broke a year later, the two cities had very different approaches to
tackling the outbreak.
Philadelphia was very late to implement social restrictions ?
Philadelphia was very
late to implement social restrictions and even allowed a large street parade
involving some 200,000 people to go ahead in the middle of the outbreak. Three
days after the parade, every bed was filled in Philadelphia’s 31 hospitals. In
contrast, St. Louis officials intervened quickly, resulting in a much lower
death rate. The evidence also shows that cities which intervened sooner and
more decisively saw their economies grow faster after the pandemic was over.
For instance, this graph shows how cities with stricter social distancing
measures recovered faster one year after the 1918 pandemic. However, cities in
red, with more lenient measures generally performed worse. In cities that
implemented social distancing measures quickly and for longer, manufacturing
activity and banking assets also saw increased growth a year after the pandemic
was over.
What effect of aggressive social distancing and mortality
The evidence suggests that aggressive social distancing
measures not only reduced mortality rates but were also economically
beneficial. While there are important economic lessons to be learnt from the
Spanish flu of 1918, it’s difficult to compare that pandemic, which occurred
more than a hundred years ago, with the coronavirus pandemic of today. Advances
in technology, global supply chains, the larger role of services and better
communication tools may ease the economic fallout significantly, which limits
direct comparisons between the two pandemics. However, the evidence does imply
that decisive social restrictions to reduce the severity of a pandemic plays a
key role in the economic recovery process. So how can both livelihoods and
lives be saved? While there are no easy answers, revisiting the past offers a
glimpse into the future. After all, a healthy economy doesn’t happen without a
healthy population.




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