Economy over health

[audaciousbeing]

The economy was shut earlier this year to accommodate efforts in tracing cases of corona virus and to stop the rapid spread, but from the news I'm about to share, I do not think any sort of wave or spread of the virus can shut down the economy again. Costa Rica as a country is a tourist attraction to people from different parts of the world, but majorly from the U.S., and that's to say the U.S. dollars plays a very important role in the Costa Rican economy.

More Americans travel to Costa Rica than any other nationality. In 2019, over 40% of all tourists to the country were from the United States.

Despite the United States of America having more than five million confirmed Corona virus cases, Costa Rica is opening it's borders to American tourists and to make things sound good, only Americans from six states:

Residents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont will be able to fly into Costa Rica from Sept. 1.

Mind you this five states combined have had a total of about 694,765 confirmed cases of covid-19, which is about 20 times higher than the number of cases in Costa Rica. So it's obvious this is a move made to stimulate the Costa Rican economy, and can be said to be at the expense of health. This is very risky from the Costa Rican government and it'll cause huge backlash if it leads to a wide spread of covid-19 in their territory, as of course they will put the blame on this decision.

Another thing to note is how important a role they (Costa Rica) are playing in trying to revive their economy, do you think other nations will also follow suit and take risky measures like this one to generate funds needed for the fast recovery of the economy. Some people, in my country for example have been calling for fresh total lockdowns to be imposed as the only option to defeat the virus completely, I don't think any government can take that step again, what do you think?
Read the full news, it's a good read: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/25/costa-rica-is-allowing-american-tourists-from-six-us-states.html

Its really a dilemma for most countries because a lot of countries cannot afford to be on shutdown for a long time because of their own economy. The issue is that if the country didn't open up, hunger would kill alot of people even more than the corona virus impact couple with the civil unrest, the looting, challenges with security among any other social vices that could come along the continuous lock down of the economy. So, its not that country leaders care more about the health of their own selfish needs but because when they are faced with two impossible situations, they went with the easier one while they manager the other.

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[Assface16678]

There are a lot of places and the country today are having trouble with their economy because they are suffering from this pandemic outbreak and one of the best things we should do is to open some business or the whole economy even there is a virus spreading.

Some people don't want too because they are afraid it looks like they are sacrificing their lives just to earn money instead of keeping safe but we cannot deny some people don't have enough money so they risk their lives on it.

It looks like you will choose either you will suffer from hunger because of COVID or risk your life to go to your job.

[Janation]

.
 i dont also believed that governments are gonna get poor if they continue lockdowns but i think they have a good wealth reserve for this kind of situation  . this is better than they spend money on others 

I think that is obvious that they will be having a hard time supporting the country with long lockdowns.

As people are restricted to go to their jobs, just imagine lower taxes going in the government, that means they will be having a limited money to use. They will be having a hard time making projects because they will be focussed on supporting these people that are stucked in their houses. That would really empty the taxes bag..

[Salauddin1994]

The economy will have a very bad effect on health because many people have become unemployed due to the disruption of the economy and that is hurting them emotionally. In this case, they are losing their mental balance which is affecting their health. Industrial enterprises have suffered because labour wages depend on marginal productivity which is regulated by good health. But the existing public health system does not reach the door of the poor. Growth enthusiasts are frustrated that the growth rate may be much lower this time around.

[Hydrogen]

Everyone emphasizes casualties inflicted by corona virus.

The neglected inverse angle could be one where we attempt to estimate the number of casualties inflicted by economic shutdown. Then compare the two statistics to guessestimate whether quarantine is saving lives or having an overall opposite effect.

It is known that economic crisis (and perhaps economic shutdown) greatly increases statistics relating to suicide, violence, crime, drug overdoses and other negatives. There were news stories published months ago claiming more were dying from suicide associated with lockdown, than were dying from the actual virus.

Suicide leading cause for over 300 lockdown deaths in India, says study

NEW DELHI: Suicide was the leading cause for over 300 “non-coronavirus deaths” reported in India due to distress triggered by the nationwide lockdown, revealed a new set of data compiled by a group of researchers.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/suicide-leading-cause-for-over-300-lockdown-deaths-in-india-says-study/articleshow/75519279.cms

[bearexin]

Same thing in my country, the government is opening up some sectors of the economy, everything is opening up slowly.

When the lockdown started at first because of the Coronavirus the government said they were going to support the people, but they were not able to do that, and people started complaining that if the lockdown should carry on they are going to die of hunger, some of them even started sneaking out from their houses lol.

The government had no other choice than to stop the lockdown and allow people to start going out again. And of course the economy was affected due to the lockdown, but things seems to be going back to normal.

[target]

Every government had reacted differently to the same dilemma they experience. Costa Rica chose to revive their tourism for they see they could benefit from it after all even with this COVID19 there are still people roaming around.

Why should they chose just one when they can choose both reviving the economy and at the same time have a strict mandate to prevent the spread of COVID.

[Wawa2013]

It is wrong to prioritize the economy over health. So what Costa Rica is doing in my opinion is too risky, moreover let tourist
from America arrive. As we all know the spread of COVID-19 in America is still the highest until now. There are still many ways
to improve the economy, not necessarily by allowing tourists from various countries to come to Costa Rica.

[ChiBitCTy]

I think we are at the point that we can't afford to shut down much longer, or have any sort of "full on" shut downs.  I'm from the United States and the initial shut down was detrimental for our economy which of course trickles out in to other avenues, making millions homeless, jobless etc.  I'm all for practicing safe measures, I wear a mask wherever I go, I practice social distancing but I also go to my gym thats not open, I think we need to continue on with normal life as best as possible.  There's a fine line between which to lean but I think leaning in the middle makes the most sense in the end. Just my 2 satoshis.

[Silberman]

It is very clear that by the way the economies of the world are run that there was no way to maintain the lockdown for a very long time, as soon as governments realized that the virus was not as lethal as they thought it was they had been deciding that the best thing for them is to open the economy, and quite honestly many people want the same, because just as much as the government was not ready to deal with this pandemic people were not ready either and they prioritize their economic well being over their health.

[The Cryptovator]

I do not agree with those who are opening their border for tourism. Most probably Costa Rica took a wrong decision and they would regret that in near future. It's better "stay safe than sorry", who knows if in case spread the viruses once again then it will be very difficult to control. I like those countries just open basic needs organizations. The economy should recover slowly, it wouldn't recover suddenly. A wrong decision would lead to more losses.

[akram143]

It is impossible to stop the spreading virus, if they closed borders in the Jan itself then it could be a right decision but closing the borders doesn't make sense when they need funds to help their revival of economy which is more important that health to be honest in the view of government.So if people don't want to lose their lives then they have to stop doing such activities.

On the contrary , I heard health is wealth. I think that should me you don't trade your health for wealth. If Costa rica or any other country expose their citizens health because of money to revive the economy, I don't think is a very wise decision. Bad health can kill so much than hunger and with hunger, help for food can easily come.

As I said in the view of government health is not more important compared to economy, even they are not going to worry if thousands of people died because it lower their burden and gives opportunities for the unemployed one.It may look like too harsh but in this politics these things are happening in reality.

[Coyster]

I do not agree with those who are opening their border for tourism. Most probably Costa Rica took a wrong decision and they would regret that in near future. It's better "stay safe than sorry", who knows if in case spread the viruses once again then it will be very difficult to control. I like those countries just open basic needs organizations. The economy should recover slowly, it wouldn't recover suddenly. A wrong decision would lead to more losses.

+1 to all you said. Opening intracountry businesses imo isn't bad, the home government can ensure strict compliance to social distancing and other covid-19 preventive measures. Tourism (travelling to other countries) is the major way this virus touched almost all nations in the world, tourism should be the last thing that should open as the lockdown is eased gradually.

There's also a different between opening the borders for essential matters/businesses and the number of people who travel in will be cut down, but tourism brings in quite a lot of people and these tourists will always wish to stay for a longer period of time, imo, Costa Rica can only hope this doesn't bring a wave of the virus with it.

[AniviaBtc]

It is impossible to stop the spreading virus, if they closed borders in the Jan itself then it could be a right decision but closing the borders doesn't make sense when they need funds to help their revival of economy which is more important that health to be honest in the view of government.So if people don't want to lose their lives then they have to stop doing such activities.

Virus are unstoppable once the government and its people are underestimating its ability to kill people and spread immediately.

That's why government are still having a hard time to recover, they can't reopen businesses, transactions, and travelling of goods due to the risk of Covid-19. But if the thing is really necessary, they should do it carefully while following precautionary measures. I know that life is hard if we live like this, but I want you to understand that this is just temporary. We will surely go back to normal and we will surpass this trials.

Just prioritize your health before anything else.

[tbterryboy]

Unfortunately economy IS health, if you cripple the economy to a point that nobody works and everyone is at home, people who can work from home do work from home but all the other jobs and business' that can't work from home, such as cafe or restaurant or dry cleaner or MANY other stuff that has to get out of the house to work, would really go bankrupt, if they have some savings account at the side they could barely survive but at that point they are eating away from their years long savings as well.

This means they will be stressed out and some would be basically unemployed and with no income and that would cause them to lose any chance of getting any medical need as well. All these come down to their health going down constantly because you can't be in this much trouble and still have your health up.

[mezzaluna]

The economy was shut earlier this year to accommodate efforts in tracing cases of corona virus and to stop the rapid spread, but from the news I'm about to share, I do not think any sort of wave or spread of the virus can shut down the economy again. Costa Rica as a country is a tourist attraction to people from different parts of the world, but majorly from the U.S., and that's to say the U.S. dollars plays a very important role in the Costa Rican economy.

More Americans travel to Costa Rica than any other nationality. In 2019, over 40% of all tourists to the country were from the United States.

Despite the United States of America having more than five million confirmed Corona virus cases, Costa Rica is opening it's borders to American tourists and to make things sound good, only Americans from six states:

Residents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont will be able to fly into Costa Rica from Sept. 1.

Mind you this five states combined have had a total of about 694,765 confirmed cases of covid-19, which is about 20 times higher than the number of cases in Costa Rica. So it's obvious this is a move made to stimulate the Costa Rican economy, and can be said to be at the expense of health. This is very risky from the Costa Rican government and it'll cause huge backlash if it leads to a wide spread of covid-19 in their territory, as of course they will put the blame on this decision.

Another thing to note is how important a role they (Costa Rica) are playing in trying to revive their economy, do you think other nations will also follow suit and take risky measures like this one to generate funds needed for the fast recovery of the economy. Some people, in my country for example have been calling for fresh total lockdowns to be imposed as the only option to defeat the virus completely, I don't think any government can take that step again, what do you think?
Read the full news, it's a good read: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/25/costa-rica-is-allowing-american-tourists-from-six-us-states.html

Its not just America that is suffering because of the Pandemic but most of Asian countries that have bad healthcare system damaged the economy as a whole. The Indonesia and Philippines which are both currently in deep debt from other countries. The government officials did not have any concrete plan to fend or mitigate the damage done to the economy and health of their people. It would really be hard to recover from that UNLESS they create drastic measures in which that they prioritize the health of their people because having people work can boost up the economy.

[ecnalubma]

We cannot defy governments doing ambiguous decisions specially that most countries now can’t feed their people anymore. Though its a hard situation to open establishments for operations but they don’t have any choice, what is happening now is fighting the pandemic and at the same time reviving the economies. Its the new normal, live with the virus but with the proper protocol.

[CarnagexD]

.
 i dont also believed that governments are gonna get poor if they continue lockdowns but i think they have a good wealth reserve for this kind of situation  . this is better than they spend money on others 

I think that is obvious that they will be having a hard time supporting the country with long lockdowns.

Actually there is no country that can contain this virus in a year unless there will be a vaccine available. Definitely, we are talking about years in a pandemic and there is no country that can stand with themselves economically facing the pandemic with strict lockdown protocols.

As people are restricted to go to their jobs, just imagine lower taxes going in the government, that means they will be having a limited money to use. They will be having a hard time making projects because they will be focussed on supporting these people that are stucked in their houses. That would really empty the taxes bag..

I see now that each country are making some amendments from normal to the "new normal" stuff, but things like taxes won't be change in fact they are looking for its extra sources to replace the productiveness of unemployed workers temporarily. Our country will be opening flights again starting next month, our tourism will be open too partially, guidelines will be implemented strictly and social distancing will be practiced.

[rodskee]

We cannot defy governments doing ambiguous decisions specially that most countries now can’t feed their people anymore.

The very reason why they needed to make a hard decision like this, either way there's consequences that
the government needed to address, they need to take their stand.

Though its a hard situation to open establishments for operations but they don’t have any choice, what is happening now is fighting the pandemic and at the same time reviving the economies.

No in between but to continue surviving facing this pandemic, they have to make a clear decision making
to address the virus and the needs of the people.

Its the new normal, live with the virus but with the proper protocol.

Correct proper protocol to avoid making more infected and to lessen the spread of this virus.

[cheezcarls]

This is one big challenge that the government is facing nowadays. It's really hard to balance both economy and health. Most of the governments around the world are prefereing economy over health, especially here in the Philippines.

During our 2 month lockdown, more establishments have closed and the government funds quickly depleted despite donations from other countries. Right now, the government admitted that they cannot afford anymore to implement full lockdown for the entire country. However, frontliners are also depleting because they got infected too. They are tired right now, and the number of hospitals are not enough.

Because the government needs the economy to recover, taxes are collected and to be used to aid us once again for the pandemic. I just simply don't like the incompetence of our national government.