Last updated: 1 Oct 2024 | 579 Views |
Amid this tumultuous time, mankind’s joint historic mission is to solve both the human-to-human transmission of the virus through containment and adjust the economy for a new global order.
Public parks have been gated shut, beaches emptied bars, restaurants, stadia and other meeting places deserted, as an unprecedented 2.5 billion people across the world are told to sit at home.
Times are tough. The Coronavirus is real and as it spreads its tentacles across the globe it is taking its toll on the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere. Measures such as closing gyms, shutting sports facilities and staying at home put a limit on a person’s mobility and exercise.
Necessary, but painful, as enforced inactivity can contribute to periods of intense stress and can lead to long-term negative health impacts.
The global price of crude oil has steeped to lowliest of the tons at $20 per barrel. The last time the crude oil price fell this low was in the 1770s.
Emergency response on Covid-19 pandemic
Corona is the Latin word for “crown”. Scientists have told us that they called the pathogen corona because of “irony of ironies; it has a graceful crown-like look under the microscopes.”
Whatever happens, we shall defeat this Covid-19; not out of misplaced optimism. Informed analysis highlights the challenging decisions to be faced by governments in the coming weeks and months, also but demonstrates the extent to which rapid, decisive and collective action now could save millions of lives.
Man has defeated such epidemics before and will do so this time around. The epidemics have terrorized and devoured us, but we have finally prevailed. Examples of past pandemics include:
• The Black Death, or Great Plague (1347-1351)
• The Spanish Flu (1910-1920)
• Ebola (2013 – 2016)
• SARs and Avian flu in addition to small pox
It is imperative to note that every crisis yields new opportunities. Nevertheless, this coronavirus calamity will leave us smarter, wiser and humbler than before. On the other hand many have got time more than they ever wished for to attend to their close families and loved ones plus reduced pollution, traffic and crowds in our urban centers.
With all our science and super technology, our heighted feelings of omniscience and omnipotence have been flattened by a small tiny insect. As Steven Magee said, “I would never have thought a mutant flu virus could crash the global stock markets.”
The uncertainty of tomorrow about our health and safety and of our loved ones is at stake! The government has been, by Thai standards, quite impressive. The media has exceeded itself in disseminating timely and accurate headship.
The religious(monks) leaders too have sourced and communicated a valuable spiritual war chest while our health workers in all corners of the country have given all their best in responsible and effective detection, treatment and tracking of the virus.
As we all know, a lot has been done, but much more remains to be done.
Everything in the economy is changing. There are well-founded fears of a severe economic downturn. Businesses are gripping in a deathly swing; extended lockdown as a real possibility and jobs will be lost. People need money to spend, to save and to invest.
Sustained livelihoods are a key to getting people out of poverty for equitable and inclusive growth. Our suburban folks are most vulnerable given the adversely disrupted supply lines which power, for instance, agricultural production, productivity and processing.
The key question to this evolving shutdown to our economically interconnected networks, which props up our fragile economy, is how long this virus will take and what impact it’ll have on Thailand’s big four sectors – industrial and agro-based manufacturing, services, tourism and ICT.
Dr Roni
MB ChB
