Unlocking Economy — Fast and Furious! Fears of Second wave of infection on rise.

Almost every country in the world was under a lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. But, some countries decided to unlock their economy and return back to their day-to-day activities. However, those countries reported new clusters of coronavirus and some even reported a possible second wave. Many Countries across the world have faced huge casualties to the global pandemic that originated in China and is in almost every country in the World. Economic downfall in this year has pushed countries to be no more in lockdown mode and is pushing to remove restrictions and resume industrial and economic activities. In today’s blog, let’s see how countries are unlocking and impacts they are facing and was it too early? Let’s checkout.

United States of America

The economic superpower USA is the worst affected country in the World both in terms of number of infections and casualties. But, the people thought that the pandemic was over and started floating the instructions given. Along with these unthought consequences, the federal government too started opening the public operations which led to the rapid surge in the number of infections along with the number of deaths. With more than 6 million infections and close to 2 lakh deaths, the country is registering close to 50k new cases.

Germany

Germany was among the earliest to unlock the restrictions on citizens, which it did in April. However, the government regretted the decision and enforced lockdown again as the infections started to rise again. Germany currently has close to a quarter of a million cases and is slowly opening up its public access and markets yet there is fear of a second wave of infection that may sweep in causing public outrage and a second healthcare crisis in the same year.

South Korea

South Korea understood that it should embrace the new normal and started to unlock the economy too early. However, it was too early to act before understanding the outbreak which resulted in a climate of fear because of the surge in infections. Although South Korea has been successful in containing the spread to less than 20k, the fear of a second wave grips its citizens as the markets open.

Australia

Australia unlocked its economy well before their neighbour New Zealand that saw very few infections thanks to their countermeasures. However, Victoria, the second most populous city in the country, saw new clusters of infection which raised fears of a second wave. To stop the spread of the virus, the government has decided to reimpose lockdown.

Israel

Israel started unlocking its economy in the beginning of May, and as the cases increased, the government declined any plans of reimposing another lockdown. This led to more than 100 cases being reported from one Jerusalem high school, followed by quarantine of hundreds of people who had come in contact with a minister. Israel is slowly opening up to normal life and is following strict protocols.

United Kingdom

While the UK is still unlocking the economy in phases, the government has decided to impose travel restrictions for visitors from Europe, mainly France and Spain. Earlier, few counties and cities in the UK saw a sudden increase in positive cases. Fearing a second wave, experts and Secretary of State for the Home Department had announced a possibility of reimposing a localised lockdown in the city, which was later declined. The British government is, however, urging locals to stay indoors, wear masks and practice social distancing.

India

India imposed an early lockdown when the active and confirmed cases of Covid infection were less than 500. With nearly 2 months of complete lockdown, the sub continent started unlocking its economy. But, the situation isn’t controlled and is currently registering more than 75k cases a day. While the economic activities are resuming, the country is embracing the challenges ahead in the fight against the invisible virus.

Taiwan

Taiwan is among the very few countries that didn’t impose lockdown and was also the first responders to a potential outbreak as early as the start of the new year. Taiwan recorded fewer than 500 till date and has been the most efficient country in containing the virus. Given its closeness to the epicentre of the viral outbreak, the work the island country has done is excellent.

While the pandemic has got the worst of the scenes that one could picturize, the hopes of having a better tomorrow still echoes in the hearts of the people and it’s time for all the countries to unify against a common enemy.