Introduction
With social distancing put in practice in most of the countries due to Coronavirus pandemic, the economy has nearly shut down. The question arises whether this step proved to be a benefit for most of us. In order to answer this question, you need to remember that you are weighing this against the cost of human lives. Web.com Reviews analyses if the shutting down of the economy was actually beneficial.
The Analysis
- Value of Life – Of course, life is priceless, but if you weigh it against the shutting down of the economy, you will realize that it was indeed a very fruitful step. If no lockdown was put into effect, millions of people would have become sick or dead by contracting the virus. This would have put an extra burden on the economy. Not only would it have reduced the manpower; consumers would refrain from any kind of extravagant expenditure like hotels and tourism on account of widespread fear. This would have hit hard on the companies leading to retrenchment of the employees. Avoiding large scale deaths have reduced the pressure on the state fund towards medical expenses.
- The low-class labor – The people who suffered the most due to this lockdown are the low wage laborers. With offices, schools, factories, tourism, etc. being closed down workers in the sector of cleaning, hospitality, and security have been badly affected. There are many more such workers who earn on a daily basis and have lost their jobs all of a sudden. Even though the government is coming up with great support programs, it is not proving to be sufficient. In many instances, there is just a single earning member to support a large family. With no substantial income during this period, these people are living in despair and frustration. They are afraid that a lack of basic essentials may take over either of their physical or mental health.
- Boost to few sectors – Surprisingly, the shutdown has proved to be beneficial in a few areas. As people are holed up inside their homes, they have started to rely on online delivery for their grocery and food needs. Most of the online grocery companies and food delivery services have seen a sudden surge in their demands. It is to a degree that they are not able to meet all the demand and people are waiting just to get a delivery slot for themselves.
Many offices have shifted to ‘work from home’ culture along with the schools promoting ‘home-based learning’. Professionals and individuals are using apps like Zoom to participate in virtual conferences. As a result, they are earning huge profits with their ever-increasing demand. Google classroom, Duo, and popular social media handles have also experienced a surge as people are spending a lot of time on it.
Conclusion
It is a debatable topic whether this step was beneficial or not. It is difficult to imagine just how much the death toll around the world would have risen if the lockdown was not put into effect. Web.com Reviews believes that it was a necessary step to take such an action as the circumstances were extreme. The alternative was a much worse scenario than just the shutdown of the economy.
