COVID-19's Negative Impact on the Caribbean: Economic Slowdown & More - Essay Sample

Introduction

COVID-19 is an infectious viral disease that emanated from China and has spread around the world, affecting many people. COVID-19 has affected the Caribbean negatively by affecting the normal lives of the people and the activities that they engage in. The effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic in the Caribbean include economic slowdown where the economy of Caribbean countries has been affected because the businesses have been disrupted (The Caribbean Council). There are many businesses that are not operating during the period when the government and the countries are fighting COVID-19. The government has shut down some businesses that are not essential to stop the spread of the virus leading to the economic growth slowdown.

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The economic effect of COVID-19 in the Caribbean includes the government having to spend money on healthcare that it had not budgeted for (The Caribbean Council). The government of Caribbean countries needs more resources to purchase medical resources required in the fight against COVID-19, making the governments spend resources budgeted for other economic purposes. The economic projects of the governments have been postponed. Even the people have been forced to spend their savings on essential goods like food and rent to be able to survive this period when the people and the government is fighting COVID-19.

Another impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic in the Caribbean includes a negative impact on the tourism sector where tourists that were planned to visit the Caribbean are unable to visit due to the lockdowns and border closures to different countries around the world (Benveniste). Tourism in the Caribbean is critical for the livelihood of the people that are involved in the tourism sector. The movement of the people, including the locals of the Caribbean countries, has been stopped to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which has also affected the tourism sector.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has also changed the way of life of the Caribbean people where people are working from home and are embracing technology more to facilitate their working from home. The people have been encouraged to work from home to reduce their movement that could spread the virus to their loved ones at home (Ewing-Chow). Working from home reduces the risk of contracting the COVID-19 disease. Technological use has increased, such as online teleconferencing, using the latest technologies that have increased among the people that did not use the technologies before. Working from home has improved relationships among people as they are spending more time with their loved ones as they are working from home.

COVID-19 is a pandemic that has affected the education calendar of the Caribbean region and the entire World. Many countries in the Caribbean region have closed schools indefinitely. The majority of the countries in the region do not have adequate resources to learn through digital platforms, so they have to wait until the pandemic is over and the school reopens. The school-going children also feed in the school, and with the closure of the school, the feeding programs have been suspended, which means that at this time of the pandemic, they have to go without food. Approximately 10million of children in the Caribbean and Latin America rely on school feeding programs as their only source of food (Food and Agriculture Organization). This means that their nutrition is greatly affected by the pandemic.

COVID-19 has a psychosocial impact on many people due to factors such as fear of being infected, loss of loved ones as well as the loss of income (Center for Economic and Policy Research). During this pandemic, companies are not generating many profits; hence they have to lay off employees. Some of the employees who have been adversely affected are those working in the tourism and hospitality sectors. These employees are suffering psychologically, and uncertainties accelerate this regarding the time it will take to eliminate the deadly virus. Some people have died in this region, and countries are requiring the person to be buried within a short duration. This means that the bereaved cannot even mourn, and they have no one to comfort them due to the issue of social distancing. It is even worse for the families who have family members in other countries as when they die; they cannot transport them to the country and give them a decent send-off. Instead, the bodies are cremated in the countries where they died in for fear of transmitting the virus. Each day people live in constant fear of being infected as there are various ways in which one can contract the virus.

During the pandemic, the governments' focus is on preventing the spread of the virus. People are encouraged to stay at home, which has instilled fear of movement. This has made it harder for people with other diseases to seek medication, especially because they are more vulnerable to the infection. Therefore, many people are dying as they are refraining from going to health facilities for fear of contracting the virus. Also, the situation is worsened by the challenges in the health care system of the underdeveloped countries. Countries such as Haiti had 64 ventilators and 124 ICU beds for a population of 11 million people (Center for Economic and Policy Research). This means that if the number of cases increases, the healthcare system will be strained.

Works Cited

Benveniste, Luis. "COVID-19 Challenges and Response: The View from Latin America and the Caribbean". World Bank Blogs, 2020, https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/covid-19-challenges-and-response-view-latin-america-and-caribbean.

Center for Economic and Policy Research. "COVID-19 In Haiti - The Current Response And Challenges - Haiti". Reliefweb, 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/covid-19-haiti-current-response-and-challenges.

Ewing-Chow, Daphne. "COVID-19 Situation Report in the Caribbean - April 2020 - Aruba (The Netherlands)". Reliefweb, 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/aruba-netherlands/covid-19-situation-report-caribbean-april-2020.

Food and Agriculture Organization. "FAO Warns Of The Impact Of COVID-19 On School Feeding In Latin America And The Caribbean | FAO". Fao.Org, 2020, http://www.fao.org/americas/noticias/ver/en/c/1266855/.

The Caribbean Council. "COVID 19 Will Pass - The Economic Impact Could Be Longer Lasting - The Caribbean Council". The Caribbean Council, 2020, https://www.caribbean-council.org/covid-19-will-pass-the-economic-impact-could-be-longer-lasting/.