A New World After Covid-19

Governments now keep devising ways and means to opening up their economies, Likewise, COVID-19 is likely to alter global economic development models, at least in the short-term.

- Kelum Bandara

Covid-19 continues to take its toll all over the world, bar a few countries. The total or partial lockdown in most countries still remains, and the prolonged home stay has become something sickening to people. A few countries including Sri Lanka have managed to prevent the community transmission of the disease. In Sri Lanka, despite a spike in the number of cases, the disease has been confined to identified clusters. It is obviously bound to take a long period, may be more than a year, for any country to achieve zero case levels. In fact, the total eradication would be possible only in the event of the development of a vaccine, which is at experimental level.

Accordingly, the governments across the world now keep devising ways and means to opening up their economies while keeping the threat from COVID-19 at a minimum possible level. Sri Lanka is no exception. As such, plans are afoot in Sri Lanka to resume normal economic activities and forge ahead albeit taking health precautions - social distancing in main method.

Post-pandemic life may not be the same in the world and people will be compelled to forego what they would otherwise desire to do under normal circumstances. It will be impossible for people to undertake international travel except in the case of urgent and emergency matters. International tourism is going to be the hardest hit in this case because countries, though opened up, will not entertain international arrivals for some time. It will be a major hit on the global economy recovery in the post-COVID-19 context. Tourism accounts for ten percent of jobs worldwide. It was one of the most visible growth areas in Sri Lanka after the war ended in 2009.