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Editorial

Coronavirus shutdown and economic fallout

Public health cannot be sustained without a healthy economy


Bangladeshpost
Published : 29 May 2020 08:38 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 04:26 PM

Apprehending an economic fallout, the government has decided not to extend the ongoing shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic beyond May 30. It needs no emphasising that the economic fallout has been devastating with huge job losses and closing of businesses. 

But many people are opposing the move as it comes at a time when the number of  coronavirus deaths and infections are on the rise. Those who demand the economy remain locked-down until there is a vaccine or miracle therapy seem to think the government can replace the private economy. This is indeed a fantasy, and they are betraying the very low- and middle-income workers they claim to represent. 

It is worth mentioning that the strict lockdowns were not only a government policy choice but also a demand of the situation. But the damage is done, and now our focus is on recriminations. The issue is what to do now, and we are wise enough to know that public health cannot be sustained without a healthy economy. 


No society can safeguard public 

health for long at the cost of its 

overall economic health 


We can see the destruction all around us. We know the virus will be with us for a long time unless there is a vaccine, so we have to learn to live with it and have a functioning economy.

No society can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its overall economic health. Therefore, we urgently need a pandemic strategy that is more economically and socially sustainable than the national lockdown.

However, once the shutdown ends government and private offices will return to business as usual. In this regard, any breach of social distancing rules and health guidelines may cause the outbreak to rapidly get out of control.  Hence, general people as well as law enforcers must remain on the highest level of alert.  

Different phases of the pandemic require different policy measures. The government and health officials should utilise the lessons they learned in the first phase of the epidemic. If they can prepare better for the second wave of COVID-19, it will be possible to stem the spread of coronavirus successfully.