Coronavirus Covid 19 Lockdown

This paper considers different approaches to modelling the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic/lockdown shocks. We review different modelling strategies and argue that, given the nature of the bottom-up recession caused by the pandemic/lockdowns, simulation models of the shocks should be based on a social accounting matrix (SAM) that includes both disaggregated sectoral data and the national accounts in a unified framework. SAM-based models have been widely used to analyze the impact of natural disasters, which are comparable to pandemic/lockdown shocks. The pandemic/lockdown shocks occurred rapidly, in weeks or months, not gradually over a year or more. In such a short period, adjustments through smooth changes in wages, prices and production methods are not plausible. Rather, initial adjustments occur through changes in quantities, altering demand and supply of commodities and employment in affected sectors. In this environment, we use a linear SAM-multiplier model that specifies a fixed-coefficient production technology, linear demand system, fixed savings rates, and fixed prices. There are three different kinds of sectoral shocks that are included in the model: (1) changes in demand due to household lockdown, (2) changes in supply due to industry lockdown, and (3) changes in demand due to induced macro shocks. At the detailed industry level, data are provided for all three shocks and the model imposes the largest of the three. We applied the model on a monthly time step for the period March to June 2020 for four countries: US, UK, Mexico, and South Africa. The models closely replicate observed macro results (GDP and employment) for the period. The results provide detailed structural information on the evolution of the different economies month-by-month and provide a framework for forward-looking scenario analysis. We also use the SAM-multiplier model to estimate the macro stimulus impacts of policies to support affected households. The model focuses attention on the structural features of the economy that define the multiplier process (who gets the additional income and what do they do with it) and provides a more nuanced analysis of the stimulus impact of income support programs than can be done with aggregated macro models.

This book asks whether the decision to lock down the world was justified in proportion to the potential harms and risks generated by the Covid-19 virus. Drawing on global, empirical data, it explores and exposes the social harms induced by lockdowns, many of which are 'hidden', including joblessness, mental health problems and an intensification of societal inequalities and divisions. It offers data-driven case studies on harms such as domestic violence, child abuse, the distress of being ordered to stay at home, and the numerous harms associated with the new wealth industries. It explores why some people weren't compliant with lockdown restrictions and examines the already vulnerable social groups who were disproportionally affected by lockdown including those who were locked in (care home residents), locked up (prisoners), and locked out (migrant workers, refugees). The book closes with a brief discussion on what the future might look like as we enter a post-Covid world, drawing on cutting-edge social theory.

When WHO first declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020, there was a great deal of apprehension about how India - the country with the highest TB cases and diabetes, inadequate health infrastructure and a population of 1.3 billion - would fare. Between the Janata Curfew and the first vaccinations, a massive machinery has been working as seamlessly as possible to make sure that, despite some missteps and missed infections, India conquers what has been the greatest challenge the world has encountered in decades. Covering the pandemic from the start, first for The Indian Express and then for ThePrint, Abantika Ghosh has had a ringside view of India's battle against the pandemic. A thrilling tale of unnamed thousands battling against a little-understood virus from the frontlines, Billions Under Lockdown brings that gripping theatre and its dramatis personae to life.

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, has infected people in 212 countries so far and on every continent except Antarctica. Vast changes to our home lives, social interactions, government functioning and relations between countries have swept the world in a few months and are difficult to hold in one’s mind at one time. That is why a collaborative effort such as this edited, multidisciplinary collection is needed. This book confronts the vulnerabilities and interconnectedness made visible by the pandemic and its consequences, along with the legal, ethical and policy responses. These include vulnerabilities for people who have been harmed or will be harmed by the virus directly and those harmed by measures taken to slow its relentless march; vulnerabilities exposed in our institutions, governance and legal structures; and vulnerabilities in other countries and at the global level where persistent injustices harm us all. Hopefully, COVID-19 will forces us to deeply reflect on how we govern and our policy priorities; to focus preparedness, precaution, and recovery to include all, not just some. Published in English with some chapters in French.

A metropolis with a population of about 11 million, Wuhan sits at the crossroads of China. It was here that in the last days of 2019, the first reports of a mysterious new form of pneumonia emerged. Before long, an abrupt and unprecedented lockdown was declared—the first of many such responses to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. This book tells the dramatic story of the Wuhan lockdown in the voices of the city’s own people. Using a vast archive of more than 6,000 diaries, the sociologist Guobin Yang vividly depicts how the city coped during the crisis. He analyzes how the state managed—or mismanaged—the lockdown and explores how Wuhan’s residents responded by taking on increasingly active roles. Yang demonstrates that citizen engagement—whether public action or the civic inaction of staying at home—was essential in the effort to fight the pandemic. The book features compelling stories of citizens and civic groups in their struggle against COVID-19: physicians, patients, volunteers, government officials, feminist organizers, social media commentators, and even aunties loudly swearing at party officials. These snapshots from the lockdown capture China at a critical moment, revealing the intricacies of politics, citizenship, morality, community, and digital technology. Presenting the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people, The Wuhan Lockdown is an unparalleled account of the first moments of the crisis that would define the age.

Millions died, health-care systems were overwhelmed and our deepest values challenged. The pandemic of 2020-21 took us to the edge, it destroyed our way of life and it undermined trust. On 8th March 2020 I shut myself away (a Brit in Amsterdam) before anyone else we know (we had co-morbidities and didn't want to die!) I searched for help from the victims of Spanish flu. I didn’t find much so I wrote this warts-and-all 'lived experience' for my young grandson, so he'd know what we went through and how the world changed -- the chaos, the confusion, the fear and the frequent stupidities. The chapter titles summarise the shifting story of surviving the virus, the lockdown and the destabilising torrent of false-news. It’s a day by day running journal of what happened, what we got wrong and what it means to us now, written with the author's young grandson in mind! Thirty-one chapters covering the key 15 months to mid-summer 2021. . . . "vivid, gripping first-hand account; essential reading" -- Jonathan Burton . . . . "upbeat, lively; philosophical reflection of a pivotal year!" -- Dr Kit Byatt . . . . "The structure and chapter outline are brilliant and enticing" -- Steve Richards . . . . "extremely readable and profound" -- Joanna Czechowska . .

Utilizing extensive research in economics, psychology, political science, neuroscience and evolutionary theory, Ananish Chaudhuri provides a critical perspective on the role of cognitive biases in decision-making during the Covid-19 pandemic. The extensive use of, and support for, stringent social distancing measures in particular is explored in depth.