First, travel restrictions. As of mid-May, only 3 countries globally have no travel restrictions in place. However, for the vast majority, travel restrictions began being implemented as early as January with a cascade of more strict restrictions starting in March. Early closures may have prevented more than 70,000 cases outside of Wuhan. Because of the early travel ban by China, it prompted other cities to implement strict measures to slow down the outbreak. The early travel ban in China delayed the spread of the virus by about 2.9 days. On the other hand, America’s European travel ban was not effective in preventing the spread of the virus because by that time, the US was already contaminated. 

Following travel restrictions came public health warnings that ultimately culminated in shutting down access to certain public areas as well as economic shutdowns. Early public shutdowns and aggressive implementation of such rules, as seen in countries like Taiwan where punishments for breaking quarantine were introduced early on, helped slow the spread of the virus in their respective countries.

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In Taiwan, their response resulted in only 1 reported death by March 19. However, at the time that this analysis is being written, certain countries have still not enacted such shutdowns (ex. UK) or have only recommended refraining from going to crowded locations rather than imposing strict rules (ex. Iran).

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The UK did not enact shutdowns until March 23, two months after Wuhan was locked down. The consequences of a late shutdown was apparent as the UK had a total of 254,000 cases while Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, only had 68,000 cases. Iran did not impose strict policies on the lockdown and many of its citizens still had the freedom to do what they wished to do. As citizens continue on with their lives, the spread of the virus increased because no quarantine policies were enforced, making Iran one of the highest infected countries.

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However, while these early and current public closures have possibly helped lower the number of potential cases, they are also having drastic effects on the economy. Countries across the globe are suffering from these shutdowns. In light of the effects that the economic standstill has domestically and globally, each country is working on ways to lessen the impact.

With the surge in cases globally, countries have both worked alone to mobilize resources as well as help deliver resources to similarly struggling countries.

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Countries like Taiwan have activated programs to mobilize resources to healthcare frontlines.  On 1/20, Taiwan activated the CECC, whose purpose was to coordinate among the government and to supply resources for the fight against the virus. Additionally, Hong Kong’s citizens have taken it upon themselves to combat the virus. Because the government was short on masks, Hong Kongers imported or made their own. Hong Kong and Taiwan are not alone in these actions as other countries are also starting to implement or plan programs to distribute the necessary resources for the struggling healthcare sector.

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In the U.S, CDC distributed testing kits to authorized labs for coronavirus testing and established guidelines for public institutions in how to respond to the pandemic. Initially, these testing kits were deemed faulty and had to be replaced. The CDC was also provided with 2.2 billion by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act to fund all the healthcare facilities responding to the outbreak. The money was invested for PPE (personal protective equipment) as well as research funding for authorized labs that are investigating the virus.

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By April 7th, the WHO had shipped more than half a million of protective equipment to 133 countries that were in need of medical supplies. Additionally, the UN and WHO had issued a 6.7 billion dollar appeal for the distribution of supplies, such as handwashing facilities and medical gear, to poor vulnerable countries and refugee camps through the Global Humanitarian Response Plan. 

As mentioned previously, governments have tried to alleviate the impact that the economic shutdown has on the domestic front. Such measures taken by each country do have global effects, hopefully in a positive direction. The extent to which coronavirus has impacted a country’s economy varies, and thus different degrees of new government actions have been taken.

Countries like Germany have employed a government program known as Kurzarbeit. This applies to companies that are losing revenue and need to cut down employee numbers. The government subsidizes the company and pays the workers at least 60% of their salaries. This program emphasizes allowing workers to keep their jobs until the pandemic subsides rather than just filing for unemployment. As of now, workers that fit the Kurzarbeit criteria are in the millions and the program is very similar to the costs that an unemployment benefit program would require, except that workers maintain their occupations.

On the other hand, it is more difficult for countries like India or Mexico, where a large majority of the workforce is an informal economy and not represented in figures. Millions of migrant workers are now unable to work and file for any sort of compensation. People that work in public such as markets and vendors are now stranded at their workplaces and cannot get home because of public transportation shutdowns. For India and Mexico, millions of people struggle to even find food by missing a day of work. In Mexico it is difficult to enact government help due to past histories of such bailouts benefiting the wealthy rather than the poor or small businesses.

However one common trend in most countries is the emphasis of maintaining a work position. Rather than laying off employees, governments are enacting programs to help contribute to worker salaries despite being unable to work until the situation begins to turn for the better.

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