The world is on lock down under the grip of the COVID-19 virus with no clear end in sight. As some countries begin to lighten their societal restrictions, other countries are just beginning to enact their own. The new hot-spot for COVID-19 is within the borders of the United States, and according to the Worldometers’ coronavirus tracker, the U.S. now has over 100,000 cases of the virus across its 50 states.
California, the third largest case holder, led the wave of shelter-in-place orders, followed closely by New York, which has the largest number of cases. New York’s cases account for nearly half of the cases in the United States.
According to The New York Times’ interactive map, 24 of the 50 states have declared a state-wide shelter-in-place order. However, 14 states have specific counties with the highest rates under stay at home orders. The remaining states have not yet declared any specific orders to its population.
The New York Times calculated that almost “seven in 10 Americans are or will soon be under instructions to stay at home.”
California is the most populated state in all of America, so it is important that these measures have been put in place in order to decline the spread and to not allow what is happening in the state of New York to occur in California. California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom has been quoted saying that the country “will look back at these decisions as pivotal” in the long-run battle against the infectious COVID-19.
Although the United States rate of infection increases, the rest of the world is also feeling the impact of COVID-19. According to international news agency AFP, approximately 3.7 billion people are ordered to shelter-in-place.
The countries under the strictest quarantine implementations, as reported by Business Insider, include China, India, France, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, and the UK.
With this pandemic sweeping around the globe, the health care system in every country is faced with difficulty so these quarantines are instilled to slow the spread of the infectious illness in order to not overload the worldwide health-care system. With the world’s cases reaching the 770,000 mark, the population is at a standstill as to when restrictions will be lifted.
These stay-at-home orders have put many industries into turmoil and many citizens across the globe without stable incomes. The economic impact of the stay-at-home measures has created a newfound difficulty for the world-wide economy due to the slowing of production and consumption.
According to Market Watch, many industries have been impacted because there is “substantial economic cost as people aren’t engaged in the same work and life activities that fuel the economy.”
People are not free to engage in the same way of life they had been used to prior to the spread of the coronavirus.
The beauty industry is largely affected, especially in-person service-based businesses who are no longer able to offer their services during this time. The health and wellness industry is also largely affected by the closure of gyms.
This means businesses such as these or those similar are no longer able to function as normal which means the loss of jobs and unfortunately the loss of businesses altogether.
While these stay-at-home orders are needed and important, they impact society as a whole. Many are struggling to afford necessities due to no income coming in. However, many companies have begun to offer employees benefits and pay during this time. Yet, small businesses may not be able to offer the same since they are not able to generate an income during this time.
The entire world has phased into a time of loss and difficulty but that does not mean there will never be an end. While society is stuck in the middle of a pandemic, the notion that there is light at the end of the tunnel is important for the population to remember during this time. While everyone is negatively impacted, the world has the means to recover after the eventual end of this pandemic.
