This writing is a blend of real story and fiction.
Almost a year back in January 2020, the onset of a virus in China changed the way people worked, interacted, travelled and lived their lives. Everyone assumed that this new virus would be similar to the other viruses in the past. On the contrary, this virus was different and caused a global pandemic. Over the following twelve months, every country in the world struggled to stave off the virus. By the time the dust settled, we had a significant number of casualties, a world in recession, fallen businesses across the globe, high unemployment and elevated sufferings of poor and marginalised.
Onset of virus
It was the beginning of January 2020, few people in Wuhan of Hubei province in China got impacted by a SARS-like virus. Seeing a spur in cases, the Chinese scientists sprang into action and found a new virus called coronavirus (COVID-19). While the virus was not very lethal, it was highly contagious and could easily spread through person-to-person contact and contaminated surface and objects.
The virus started spreading rapidly, first in Wuhan, then in other cities in the Hubei province. Soon it moved to other cities in China including Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai. The Chinese authorities were quick to respond. They first locked down Wuhan and then other cities in Hubei province. From January end to mid of February, the number of infected cases increased rapidly in China and then plateaued.
The virus had slowly started creeping into other countries including South Korea, Japan, Iran, Europe, US and Australia. South Korea realized it late but took swift measures to contain the virus. Iran struggled in the absence of the desired infrastructure. Europe and the US stayed in denial. Italy’s casualties were high because of the higher number of the elderly population. The US started late but was putting full firepower to contain the virus. India’s infection number was low but the risk of community spreading was keeping the country at the edge. Rest of the countries had few cases of the virus but were bracing for the worst.
The severity of the pandemic
This virus was highly contagious and was spreading rapidly. With no medicine in sight, the only option was to prevent it from spreading until the medicine was developed. “Social-distancing” and “Quarantine” became the most widely practised solutions. Transport service stopped, states and countries border was shut. Only essential services were operational.
The travel, tours, hospitality and entertainment industry were the first to go on the watch. Factory production came to halt and supply chain links were broken. Both demand and supply were taking a simultaneous hit.
The companies with a weak balance sheet and higher debt were finding it difficult to stay afloat. The small businesses ran out of money and were unable to pay wages to their employees. Unemployment was going through the roof. Daily wage earners had no place to go.
There was no certainty about when we would be done with the virus. Volatility had increased dramatically. The stock market crumbled. The cheap valuation had no meaning, everything was on sale.
The virus spread was very brisk. Countries did not get time to prepare. The shortage of test kits slowed down virus detection. The health care staff did not have sufficient masks. The hospitals were short of beds. There was no cure for this virus. Few drugs were being used under the auspices of the compassionate use program. Mass burials were being done to prevent further infections. The shortage of ventilator and ICU beds raised the moral dilemma of choosing lives between 80 years old and 30 years old. There was extreme paranoia and fear. We were in different times.
The fightback
The next 12 months saw the people, businesses and government come together to overcome one of the biggest crisis of our time.
The Reserve Banks across the globe slashed interest rate to provide liquidity and help businesses survive. The governments came out with fiscal stimulus package to prevent business failure, protect employment and ease the pain of the people.
The corporates volunteered to erect hospitals, produce medical supplies and manufacture equipment on a war footing.
The shortage of masks did not deter healthcare staff from treating patients risking their life. Essential services staff continued to provide uninterrupted services despite the risk of infections.
The doctors volunteered to give free advice virtually to allay the fear of people with possible symptoms and decrease the load on stretched medical services.
People volunteered to provide food supply to the elderly’s home. They offered food and shelter free of cost to the needy. They became more responsible and voluntarily followed home isolation and restricted their outside movement only for urgent needs.
The Work-For-Home matured and became an important component of work delivery. The conferences, education and events became virtual.
The states and countries came out with protocols to enable controlled mobility without risking the spread of the virus.
We found new heroes in medical and essential services staff who were risking their lives to save our lives. It was a celebration of mankind.
The cast, creed, colour, religion and citizenship did not matter. The world came together.
The environment got a reprieve and we could feel the fresh smell of the air.
Looking in the rear-view mirror
Today (31st March 2021), almost a year later, the scientists have come out with medicine but the majority of our population knowingly or unknowingly has already developed immunity to the coronavirus, nevertheless, it will give us peace of mind.
I am reflecting on what transpired over the last year. It is a story of fear and despair when we lost our loved ones and struggled to make our ends meet. It is a story of benevolence when we not only cared for ourselves but also cared for and fed neighbours and community. It is a story of ultimate sacrifice when medical practitioners gave their lives to save many others. It is a saga of hope and resilience when we as individuals, family, nation and the world came together to overcome this unprecedented crisis. Humanity survived once again.
The writer is a SEBI Registered Adviser and Founder of FinMyn (https://finmyn.com). He provides Fee-Only Financial Planning and Investment Advisory services. If you want to know more about him, click on https://finmyn.com/about/. He occasionally writes on topics other than finance.