COVID, the word itself brings a lot of pain, misery, the images of hospitals embedded with patients, funerals, PPE kits laced COVID warriors and masks. The pandemic came when we were absolutely under prepared and took a toll on the lives of millions of people all over the world. Along with taking the economy of the entire world as a whole to the south. The introduction of vaccine in 2021 bought a ray of hope for everyone to win over the demon of COVID. However due to its mutation and people’s carelessness COVID hit back at us once again. This time we were prepared but the economy? Is our economy prepared to take another blow? Let’s see…
If the second wave of COVID followed its current trend, it wouldn’t be long that we all would again be locked in our own houses, i.e. a complete lockdown. The previous lockdown taught us to adjust and adopt and in the early months of 2021, the businesses were accelerating to cover the gap of 7–9 months they already had incurred. In a major shift, the prevalence of online education, internships, telemedicine, mobile banking, work from home increased. They became a necessity under the orders of stay- at- home, which led to an outbreak in the tech industry; such a trend is expected to rise once again in case COVID follows the trend.
How can we forget the masks, PPE kits, sanitizers, gloves and face shields while talking about COVID? If we compare the growth of COVID in 2020 and 2021, we could say that one could expect the turnover of these industries would undoubtedly be doubled if not tripled. Health care innovations and infrastructure to safely and effectively care for the infected patients would also be spurred. The increase in demand for online education is hidden from none. One could expect the trend would follow in the upcoming months. Also, the industries providing substitutes for minerals and vitamins and the add-ons for immunity had also seen a major growth in their businesses and are expected to have the same rate of growth.
However, Moody’s have downgraded India’s growth to 5.3% in 2020 due to downside risks of COVID 19, the slowest in 11 years. Tourism, aviation, restaurants, gyms and malls would certainly incur huge losses. Also the industry of formal wear especially lowers and shoes would have a major set back. The online food delivery business won’t be immune to the effect of COVID. Also, one could expect the growth of transportation, be it shared or private, would also move to the south sharply.
The people due to lockdown focusing on social distancing lost their social network which led to mental problems, depression and thus suicides. This would lead to increase in businesses of psychologists and psychiatrists. Global economic recession led to unexpected cutoff in salaries while many were rendered unemployed. This led to increase in loans, thus increasing supply of money in the market spurring inflation. However increased financial crises on the individual leading to their bankruptcy, further deteriorating the health of the bank.
The pandemic led to deep scars in the world economy. However, this second wave, the speed it is picking in the growth, would break the stitches and leave the wound open once again. So rather than being locked in our own homes, it is better to put a mask on and follow all the precautions properly, because
