Big Economies have taken a big impact from Covid-19. How bad is it?

No one anticipated the year 2020 would cripple economies, claim close to a million lives and lock down people to their homes because of a microorganism believed to have originated in an animal market in Wuhan, China. The impact has been seen in the biggest economies, the populous country and even the smallest of the ones. Infecting people at an exponential rate, there have been more than 18 million infections across the globe with more than 50% infection in top three countries i.e USA, Brazil, and India. Let’s take a look at how the countries have been responding to the global threat.

China

The first incident of a potential outbreak was in the Wuhan province of China in the last week of 2019. The country had to exhibit a spontaneous response to the outbreak. Though the number of infections were contained less than a lakh, the country became a catalyst in spreading infection across the world. Today, China is considered the source for the global pandemic.

United States of America

The USA is the biggest victim of the pandemic so far with nearly 5 million infections and claiming nearly 1.5 lakh lives. So far the largest economy in the world has the worst hit recording than 50k infections a day. The Federal Government, State departments and Centre for Disease Control (CDC) have been in the forefront of this battle.

Brazil

Brazil is close to breaching the 3 million mark and the response by the local authorities is criticized across the globe. With nearly 5% mortality rate, this factor is among the highest in the World. The situation is so grim that the President of Brazil also contracted the infection along with his wife, ministers and close staff.

India

The Indian subcontinent currently has the fastest infection rates in the world with nearly 2 million infections. The recovery rate in the country is appreciable with nearly 70% recovery and the mortality rate less than 2%. The government of India is not just containing the internal situation but is also preparing for mass production of Vaccines as the country houses the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world.

Taiwan

Being just 100 miles off the coast of mainland China, Taiwan is the most vulnerable country considering the source and the area of outbreak. Taiwan is the least affected country in the world with less than 500 infections. The island country is also the most efficient one in containing the epidemic by curbing the internal spread and also avoiding import of new cases.

New Zealand

The island country in the Southern hemisphere is the first to declare free of Covid-19 infection. With little more than 1500 cases, the Government and the citizens played a vital role in ensuring the infection spread throughout the country. The country was also among firsts to open international travel to ease the local and international economy.

Spain

The European country seems to have seen its worst year so far as it was the among first to declare a state of emergency along with Japan as the deaths and infections skyrocketed in the month of March. The country has seen the worst that anyone could see and thanks to the authorities and healthcare workers, the situation is returning back to normal because of the careful measures the government is taking.

Italy

Italy projected an inverted V recovery. The response to the pandemic is more aggressive and the curve started the descent and a substantial decrease in the number of deaths. At a point in this year’s timeline, Italy accounted for nearly a quarter of the global fatalities and currently just accounts for less than 1% of the deaths.

Russia

Russia is among the top five affected countries in the world. The country is close to a million infections recording an average of 5k+ cases a day and has a recovery rate close to 75%. Russia also has been on the verge of a breakthrough in the vaccine with successful human trials and is preparing for vaccine production.

Iran

Iran’s Covid response is a tale of secrecy, coverups, and disinformation. The country was also known for its economic mismanagement and the pandemic spread started occurring the same time. Though Iran has put out a very less number of infections, the global media and news outlets have been criticizing the response of the country for putting their own citizens at risk.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom multiple cluster outbreaks within the country causing multiple lock downs. The UK intensified the battle against the pandemic alongside fast tracking the vaccine candidate that has been developed by Oxford University along with the biotech firm AstraZeneca. The potential vaccine is in its final phase of trials across the world.

Singapore

The city state had imposed very tough lock down restrictions. A country that is facing the population density issue is more prone to the spread due to the congestion. The country is praised for its success in containing the virus and is opening for international trade and is posing as a stronger economy in the Asia-pacific region.

There are multiple vaccine candidates across the World developed by Government institutions, Universities and Biotech firms. The world desperately needs a vaccine to save a lot of lives and ensure the world is safe. Countries across the world have responded differently to the common threat and it’s a collective responsibility of all the countries to unify the supply chain for vaccine distribution.