COVID-19: What It Means For People? For Businesses? For Globe? – [Part I]

Forget about anything that has got to do with money. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Times like these demand us to stay strong and come together with a collective effort. Even though if that collective action means staying away or to practice self-isolation until the current situation improves.

‘World Health Organisation’ has announced the COVID-19 Coronavirus as pandemic wherein 2,173,432 cases have been confirmed globally at this juncture (again time). Out of which 146,291 have been recovered, and our hearts go to those 146,291 families who have lost their loved ones.

We take this moment & platform to urge everyone, especially our readers, not to panic and go through standard recommendations to prevent the spread of infection (read more info on how to contain the spread of disease here). Testing people & tracing contacts, instituting quarantines of those who are affected, closing public spaces, banning mass gatherings, and keeping social distancing are few of the immediate priorities set by governments for their respective states, cities, and towns.

Let’s first get the basics clear about Coronavirus. Coronaviruses (CoV) are zoonotic pathogens meaning viruses that are common in humans and various animals. This virus family has already transmitted SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV to the human race back in 2002 & 2012, respectively.

[SARS – Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus

MERS – Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus]

COVID-19 is the newly found strain in 2019 that was previously not identified in humans. A few of the common signs of infection are respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, common cold, and difficulties in breathing. Up to a significant extent, the Coronavirus disease outbreak can be contained with proper precautions suggested by the WHO (World Health Organization). 

What seems critical is not only the human race but also businesses around the globe have had a lot at stake and ultimately suffered. Nonetheless, the catastrophic effect has led to a slump in the global economy, elevating uncertainty & risks lurking over everything. 

However, the cause and effect of it in our daily lives have put a full stop. Everything has come to a halt now – schools, shopping malls, airports, transportation, you name it. Streets are empty with the fear of infection standing at every crossroads. Contrary to globalization, isolation now remains the only new hope of survival except for the United Kingdom’s stance on implementing “Herd Immunity” to indirectly protect its citizens from the ongoing infectious disease COVID-19 Coronavirus.

Just like “Time” never stops – the same way our attempts to lend a hand to humanity should also go on. Tougher times like these demand us to adopt digital automation in full measure. This would certainly help with an ongoing situation as well as does not disrupt our everyday life also. 

The current outspread of Coronavirus has put a hold on total shutdown and has affected the global economy. Those who can have been asked by their employers to work from home. They are also promoting to cancel conferences & design contingency plans so as not to hamper the productivity of an organization. Many have even started to limit the resources and save as a rainy day fund until the fog clears.

Due to the panic, global spending will seem to have a temporary upward shift. However, because of either demand or supply-side shock, we might also head towards a worldwide slowdown in spending.

If a car manufacturer can’t sell cars because nobody wants to buy it (demand problem) that’s not good for his business. On the other hand, if he can’t sell cars because the manufacturing unit is shut down (supply problem), that’s also bad for his business.

Every one of us is quarantined, and streets are being empty, closing its door to the retailing activities and disrupting our livelihood. In a way, the COVID-19 coronavirus effect is leading to a change in our grocery shopping habits as per the grocery supply chain response. This individual pattern could be seen throughout all industry sectors – starting from trucking & transport response to Coronavirus to online food ordering services & delivery business during such an outbreak. It would be naive to exclude thinking that ongoing Coronavirus can’t impact the digital industry.

Stay tuned as we would cover more of the COVID-19 affecting Trucking & Transport response to Coronavirus, Grocery Supply Chain Response to Coronavirus, and coronavirus impacts Online food ordering and delivery business. The Overall Coronavirus’s Threat To Businesses & Global Economy & Our Globe.

For now, this is a moment to re-evaluate our existence as one. Because, What an Earth it would be to have amusement parks and theatre malls and yet not be able to go to, right isn’t it?

It is time to take full measures to adopt the digital solutions and innovate more to help us weaken any such calamity that keeps befalling upon us from time to time. It is time that consumer technology should take drastic measures to cope with the current situation. Few tech innovations in health tech, supply chain, delivery, and many other aspects can be put to use to maintain worldly order.

A few of the innovations have already helped in bringing down the effect of infection threat and spread. Such as using artificial intelligence in the first place to use data to evaluate public health risks via conducting “automated infectious disease surveillance”.

When Ebola cases were on the rise, smartphone thermal imaging apps and smart bands played a crucial role in health tech in limiting the spread of epidemics. A quick way is to streamline medical supply chains through drone deliveries for remote or quarantined areas.

A digital health startup delivered a wearable sensor “Sticker” to capture the patient’s data remotely. Moreover, it also real-time data to identify physiological changes such as an individual’s temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, coughing, etc.  

At this time, certainly, two things we need, one is to attain a breakthrough for COVID-19, and second is to keep innovating and push tech usage at its optimum level.

The Future:

If anything, we are out to face risks and more challenges divided economically, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological as per the World Economic Forum – Global Risks Reports. (more on it in our next blog)

The coronavirus outbreak is one of the many public health crises that our society should start to be well-equipped against in the future. Environmental disasters, natural calamity, and climate change now top the list of global risks. But for a species which has step foot on the Moon a while back, it is time to keep our head above shoulders & with plenty of collaboration, we can create a world that’s up to the challenge of meeting them and keep it sweeter to live.

Conclusion:

With the above thought in mind, if you have a way to go about using digital automation for your business – why not grow together! Let’s talk about it for 90 minutes and find a digital solution.

Let’s Create Together

For the other set of readers who think that Coronavirus outbreak may have a link to the biowarfare program – click here to proceed. Stay tuned for our next blog.