Boris Johnson may survive coronavirus personally but UK and its people will not

The Prime minister of UK Boris Johnson was admitted in ICU recently after infected by Coronavirus and we all are praying for him since it will not be good for any country to loose its Prime minister  in this global crisis of pandemic Coronavirus irrespective of political affiliation. But having said that it is also true UK as a country is in grave danger from all side due to the Pandemic Coronavirus and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be able to do much about it. 

 

 

Let us begin with the first thing that is the - immense loss of life due to Coronavirus and families affected by it which Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be able to stop because its too late now -

 

As on 11th April 2020 , about 75000 people have been infected by Coronavirus in which about 9000 people have died including young adults, health workers etc .

Scientists of UK have been pushed back against an influential new coronavirus model that predicts the UK will be the worst-hit European country, with a death toll from Coronavirus(Covid-19) possibly much higher than previously thought.

The grim forecast came from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington's School of Medicine in Seattle on the Coronavrus and its affect on people of UK. It predicted  66,314 people would die of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the UK by early August.

The UK government and Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan for tackling the epidemic has been largely informed by a study from the Imperial College London, which said that a lock down and social distancing measures would -- hopefully -- limit the number of deaths to between 20,000 and 30,000 which look very unlikely now .

 

The another thing which has been badly handled by Prime Minister Boris Johnson even before the pandemic Coronavirus strike  - ECONOMY  

 

 

UK 's economy was almost stagnant in the three months to February specially after Brexit, even before the Coronavirus crisis escalated and pushed the country into what is likely to be a historic recession, official data showed . Gross domestic product rose by 0.1% in the December-February period, the Office for National Statistics said, weaker than a median forecast for growth of 0.2% in a Reuters poll of economists. Paul Dales, an economist with Capital Economics, said the figures were the last that would look anything like normal for a while. There are 5 ways the economy of UK is going to be affected and Prime minister Boris Johnson will not be able to do much about it since he already messed up with Brexit .

 

 

1. GDP will fall opposite of the forecast of growth amid CoronaVirus Lock down:-

UK's economy is shrinking at a record pace, faster than during the 2008-09 financial crisis, The Coronavirus lock down will mean that in March and April GDP will fall at a speed and magnitude no one has ever seen and no economy has ever experienced before. In February alone, when flooding hit shopping and construction, GDP fell by 0.1% compared with a forecast for growth of 0.1% in the Reuters poll. 

 

 

2. Almost half of companies were suffering before the Coronavirus lock down :-

Of the almost 4,000 companies the ONS spoke to, 45% said their takings were substantially below normal between 9 and 22 March; almost all attributed that to the fallout from Coronavirus.

And they were responding largely before Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the enhanced restrictions on movement and closure of non-essential businesses, including gyms, hairdressers, cinemas and pubs, on 23 March due to Coronavirus

So the next set of figures are likely to show a big rise in the level of suffering. Economists are warning that activity could have dipped by as much as 15% across the quarter. 

 

 

3.  Over 25% of firms were intending to lay off staff temporarily -

 

 

This was also before the coronavirus lock down announced by the Prime minister Boris Johnson which include closure of non-essential businesses and the announcement of the government's Job Retention Scheme.The scheme allows organizations to furlough staff who were on the payroll up to the 28 February (even if they were laid off or left subsequently), with the government covering up to 80% of salaries.So again, the numbers will have risen since - probably sharply. And this of course doesn't cover all affected workers.

Other figures have shown that the number applying for universal credit, many of whom will have been self-employed, have risen by 950,000 in just two weeks.Even with the furlough scheme, some economists say the UK unemployment rate could double to 8% this year. 

 

 

4.The cost of cold and flu remedies has gone up since the announcement of Coronavirus Lock down announced by Prime minister Boris Johnson -

 

 

 

As the demand for hand sanitizer , soap, and toilet rolls increases so did the concerns of excessive price mark-ups.The Markets Authority set up a coronavirus task force to deter price gouging as directed by Prime minister Boris Johnson 

But are these fears are real ?

The ONS said that almost 70% of businesses reported that prices of their products were unchanged.Only 12% admitted to raising prices but in many cases this was due to problems with getting hold of supplies.

The ONS has also zoned in on some of the current must-haves, monitoring the price of items from toilet rolls to vitamin C online.It found that cold and flu remedies were 10.7% more expensive in the last week of March than in the previous week .

This is on top of reports of price rises earlier in the month which pharmaceutical companies have blamed on rising demand and a scarcity of raw materials.Other items have seen prices vary by far less with some, such as antibacterial wipes and baby food seeing falls recently.As yet, there's little evidence here of a significant impact on the overall cost of living due to Coronavirus Pandemic.

5. Many firms that export or import have had supply chain issues amid Coronavirus Lock down and restriction announced by prime minister Boris Johnson :- 

 

Roughly six out of ten of the firms the ONS heard from neither import or export.But of those that do, more than half reported disruption. This is presumably down to interrupted production around the globe - perhaps inevitably in the face of movement restrictions, shuttered factories and offices and depleted workforces.

The ONS survey doesn't reveal the extent of the disruption - it may just a be a slight delay.However, given today's highly integrated global supply chains, this could flag supply issues with some imported items down the line.But the report also shows traffic though ports up to 28 March is holding up. And we know that airlines and the shipping industry are working with government to maintain the transport of essential cargo. 

 

 

The last thing which will be affected is - The Mental Health of all section of society both due to death of loved one from Coronavirus and the Social distancing :-

 

 

 

 

UK's society is very Companionable and Sociable . People are very out going , they love to mingle ,go on dates and make friends . But amid lock down due to Coronavirus and harsh call by Prime minister Boris Johnson for Social Distancing (which is of course very necessary to fight the pandemic coronavirus) the society and its people will going to largely affected and their mental health will take a toll. 

 

More than 80% of young people with a history of mental ill health have found their conditions have worsened since the coronavirus crisis began in the UK, a survey has found. In a study by the mental health charity YoungMinds, 2,111 people aged under 25, who had a history of mental health needs, were asked how the pandemic coronavirus had affected them.Of the 83% who said the pandemic had made their mental health worse, 32% said it had made it “much worse” and 51% said it had made it “a bit worse”.

 

There is going to be psychological distress, anger, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after episodes of people living in isolation or quarantine in the face of Pandemic Coronavirus which is a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The impact of quarantine is wide-ranging, substantial and long-lasting.The physical spread of Coronavirus can be halted through isolation and Social distancing protocols, but there is no prize for guessing it is largely going to affect people's mental health, and the effect is going to last very long.

 

The primary ways of containing the pandemic Coronavirus that is isolation and physical distancing  have made the world a place we’ve never seen before. Now the mere sight of people standing close together sets off a mental alert. This is a time when we stay away from those we love to keep them safe.

 

 

 

 

So yes ,Prime Minister Boris Johnson is going to be discharged from ICU very soon but it will interesting to see when people and economy of UK will come out from ICU and right now there is no light in the end of the tunnel due to the darkness spread by Coronavirus.