The coronavirus impact on the global economy

Hi everyone! I am Ioana and I am back with a new interesting post that you can read about. I know that the title is not what you expected and I promise you that the series "How to expand your business abroad" will continue for sure. We are going through a hard period, not only on the personal side but also professional and this is why I thought that an extra article about what is happening right now in the world would represent a bigger interest for you. I am aware that everything you see these days on TV, on Facebook or from any other source it is about the coronavirus. I am not here to continue the circle with coronavirus news, but I think that it is my duty to inform you about the future of the global economy.

Starting with the cause for the future breakdown of the economy, let's make a short overview of what coronavirus really is. The COVID-19 started in China, a few months ago and it has spread with an unbelievable speed in other continents too. Currently, Romania is affected too and we all feel the problems that came with this virus and it is our responsibility to stop the pace of virus as soon as possible. The doctors and scientists are trying their best to find out more about the structure of this virus and eventually to discover a treatment for it. There are already some researches that proves us there are similarities between COVID-19 and HIV. We all hope that the specialists will find the cure for the humanity.

( Structural similarity between HIV-1 gp41 and SARS-CoV S2 proteins suggests an analogous membrane fusion mechanism, Date: 19.03.2020, Author: Xue Wu Zhang, Yee Leng Yap)

Until then, it is really important to stay safe and take care of us and the others, because right now our health depends on each other. The way this virus is spreading is unbelievable and this is why we need to stay safe, to stay at home and to slow it down as much as possible. The cases can be tracked on the following website, but besides the numbers, the doctors say that there are probably more cases than the statistics show us. We need to stop all of this and the solution is not actually that hard as long as we stay at home and take care of our hygiene. The medical staff and resources are not unlimited and if we look at the case of Italy, the doctors are already overwhelmed. Let's prove some responsibility and let's make the work of the doctors easier!

(https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/, Date: 22.03.2020)

Going back to our field, the disaster that comes with the coronavirus will surely affect the whole global economy. It is already started. All over the world the restaurants, bars, clubs and other places besides the necessary facilities like supermarkets or pharmacies were closed and meanwhile many people are losing their jobs and the production is slowed down. This is a measure that has to be taken and the ones who are not respecting that will pay a huge amount of fine. Coronavirus affects all sides of the economy. Every meeting, concert and party which involves a group of people was cancelled , even the events of famous Disneyland. The people are paid less or they are getting fired and the employers clearly need to pause their businesses.

(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/business/economy/coronavirus-economy-impact.html, Date: 22.03.2020, Date of the publication: 15.03.2020, Authors: Ben Casselman, Patricia Cohen, Stacy Cowley, Conor Dougherty, Nicholas Kulish, David McCabe and Karen Weise)

The tourism sector is one of the most affected among all the sectors and it is expected that tourism movements will decrease by 25% because of all the flight cancellations, closed borders and other measures that were taken in order to stop the spreading of the virus. Even if the trade body called the governments to apply some restrictions such as extra-taxes for travelers or to open some barriers, the rules are still extremely strict so the loss of the tourism sector will be one of the biggest ever. I think that the companies need to realize that the faster we stop spreading the virus, the faster they can recover their business.

(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51852505, Date: 22.03.2020, Date of publication 13.03.2020)

Since the coronavirus has spreaded all over the world, it feels like the whole economy took a pause: the customers don't buy stuff anymore, except basic needs, they can not go to malls, bars, clubs or restaurants, all the artists cancelled their shows, the price of oil for example is the lowest since 2001, the budget of all sectors stopped growing and it can drop to its slowest rate since the year 2009. This is a real problem for all the producers and they have to find a strategy for long term about what is going to happen with their business quickly and how they can save a least a part of it . The spreading of the virus depends on everyone, but it is pretty sure that this problem will not be solved in the next weeks, maybe not even months. Before every business go down, the entrepreneurs need to think strategic and creative in order to find solutions to keep delivering their products and not stop it for good.

(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51706225, Date: 23.03.2020, Date of the publication: 20.02.2020, Authors: Lora Jones, David Brown and Daniele Palumbo)

As in any other circumstances, there are also exceptions. If we have a positive look at this situation, the pharmacies and supermarkets are still open and they keep having more and more customers each day who tend to buy more than necessary, because of the fear that has taken over them. All over the internet, we can find images with empty stores and lines of people who buy too much food and medicines. The doctors need to work longer to deal with the patients in need. Their work is a must right now and they focused completely on healing the people.

(https://www.retaildive.com/news/retailers-brace-for-the-impact-of-coronavirus/574346/, Date: 23.03.2020)

This is a hard time for everyone, most of the economic sectors are collapsed or slowed down hardly and for the ones that are not, their personnel is working too much to protect the people or to deliver them the necessary food. I think that the focus of the entrepreneurs is to do their best to maintain their activity . Closing the businesses down should be their last option. They need to be creative and work faster to implement new criterias on their businesses such as home delivery or online services. The main purpose of the article is not only to describe the actual situation and the future consequences of the virus. The article is written for all the business owners who face a hard time and are tempted to shut down their business. In our era, we always have more solutions than one. With the desire of keeping a dream alive, we can get through this.

As a happy part, we can at least see the positive impact of the virus: all the places are cleaner now, the water is more clear and the pollution all over the world is decreasing.We can see this moment as a break for humanity, but a new chance for nature which has suffered because of us. Maybe this time it is our turn to be trapped and to let nature heal!