Covid-19 Blog

In just about four months Covid-19 has gone from a regional epidemic to a full blown global pandemic. It has spread throughout the entire world, and while cases are plateauing in China, things are getting worse in many other places. Just yesterday day (March 26) the United States beat out China for the highest number of cases out of any other country. This is due to a lack of support from president Trump, who has stated that he believes that the disease isn't as bad as people say. He was also resistant to putting social distancing in place due to its potential effects on the economy. However, with social distancing now being put into effect more the situation will likely improve. The main concern at the moment is we don't know how long the quarantine will last, and also how will jobs be affected by this. I personally know several people who have lost their jobs because of the virus, and things might continue to worsen if things don't plateau soon though. People are also worried about whether there will be food shortages, however it has been shown that there will be plenty of food to last until this is over. Along with that, most of this fear manifested in people panic buying things, and once that subsides things should go back to normal. 
I feel like the government has responded too little too late to the threat of Covid-19, but things can definitely improve. I'm trying to remain an optimist in this situation and I think that if everybody follows the proper social distancing protocols things will turn out well. 

Comments

Charlie McGill said…
Hey Willow,
Many things happened this afternoon that put us in a better position to fight coronavirus. President Trump passed the $2 trillion stimulus package, and although I am not a fan of every aspect of the deal, it has two parts that will truly benefit Americans. First, and most important, is the Bernie Sanders led unemployment expansion. The government will now cover 100% of your former paycheck up to $75k. This is the biggest expansion of unemployment benefits in U.S history, and with 3,000,000 people applying for unemployment this week alone, it will literally save millions of people from starvation. The second part of the deal that I think is beneficial are the loans to small businesses. Although I was initially against putting businesses in debt in response to COVID-19, these loans can now be forgiven if the business retains 90% of their employees. This will help fight unemployment and keep small businesses alive. I say all this to convey the fact that there is reason to be optimistic in terms of the economy, despite the horrific corporate bailouts included in the deal. I've read most of the bill, so if anyone wants to talk about its pros and cons I would love to.
March 27, 2020 at 2:09 PM
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