Effects of covid-19 in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the United States in many aspects; it has affected the country’s economy, the mental health of the people within the country, and most importantly, the physical health of the people it has attacked. The virus got to the country unexpectedly, and it was not long until it started to spread through it. Even though the virus lasted a few months before coming to the United States, the government was not ready for it; they were not expecting it to impact significantly. The government’s response to the pandemic could be considered safe, but it was not the best. To protect the people, they decided to close down centers that seem to have a high-contagious rate, such as schools, workplaces, and other types of companies. This decision was the best to keep the people safe from the virus, but not the best to stop the economic impact. This decision of shutdown not only led to an unstable economy but also increased the number of patients with mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety. This pandemic showed us that no matter what, we will not always be prepared and also that sometimes precautions have to be taken before an issue begins. Nor the government or the people were ready for this pandemic; even though we knew about it for a while, the government did not take it seriously until it hit us.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the sudden increase in unemployment insurance claims caused by the shutdown of companies, worksites and the decrease in personnel working in one place during the pandemic. Restaurants, churches, recreational centers, and many small businesses were closed temporarily to avoid the concentration of people in those places, where people could quickly get sick with the virus. They also limited the workforce working at essential businesses such as hospitals, mail offices, schools, and other governmental facilities, to minimize the spread rate of COVID-19 in the United States. These decisions led to a massive job loss throughout the country; this is argued when the following is stated, “USA Today estimates that 36 states have some kind of “stay-at-home” order in place, affecting nearly 90% of the population. The spread of COVID-19 has led to the closing of many nonessential businesses which has resulted in an overwhelming number of employee layoffs.” (Siems 2020). When the country went into the quarantine, it obligated many businesses to close their doors, believing it would be a short pause for them. Still, it turned out that it had to go for longer, and as the businesses were not producing money, they still had to pay for the local rent, which was taking the owners to a total loss, making them have to close down the business. This led to the complete closure of many small stores, restaurants, and other locals, leaving more and more people unemployed, not leaving aside the fact that many people did not feel secure while at work, making them quit their jobs until things came back to normal.

Therefore, as a response to the sudden increase in the rate of job losses, the government had to respond to help the people. Most of this help was moneywise; they had to give money to parents and people who had lost their jobs or were experiencing some economic issue. The following graph expresses how many people had applied to unemployment insurance claims throughout the years. Before 2020 the highest number of unemployment insurance requests were 695,000 in 1982, the period of the Great Recession when the US government was having big economic problems, many companies were not producing money and went bankrupt, key financial trades were not taking place, farmers were not getting any money, and the Federal Reserve took action by raising prices, and interest rates. More than 20 years later, there was a tremendous increase in the request for unemployment insurance during the 2009 Financial Crisis, which had around 665,000 or more people. These two situations do not compare to the crisis during the COVID-19; only in March 2020 was reported three million people requesting unemployment benefits in the United States, five times the number of past requests. This had never been seen in the United States. Nevertheless, only one week after this, the number doubled, to six million people. This emphasizes the great economic crisis the country was going through during COVID-19. It is still happening today, lack of workers within many companies, the slow movement of goods, increase in prices, and many other things. This issue has taken a significant effect, and it is still unsure when something might go back to what it used to be if there is a possibility for things to go back to normal. One thing argued in “Policies to help the Working Class in the aftermath of COVID-19” by Burkhauser, Corinth, K., & Holtz-Eakin, D. (2021) is the following, “The key lesson from the Great Recession is that strong economic growth and a hot labor market do more to improve the economic well-being of the working class and historically disadvantaged groups than a slow recovery that relies on safety net policies to help replace lost earnings.”. One mistake made when the government tried to get us back on our feet; instead of providing the people with enough resources to keep them safe, they decided to start the economy again slowly, which kept us back and forth. The government did not have enough resources at that time, and they did not know what the country was facing; at the time, when it started, instead of ruling quarantine months after the virus got to the country, they should have set it before, not allow people to travel into the country from the country where the virus started until it was under control. This would have been a better choice, but since they waited too long, the virus got the chance to spread inside the country, leading to the shutdown and the desperate reaction of opening the country again.

The COVID-19 pandemic, as we know, had a tremendous effect on the country’s economy; studies have shown that people that were more affected by this were those in the lower-income class. Pew Research Center conducted a survey that asked people how many experienced financial difficulties during the pandemic. It showed that the people that were more financially affected were from the low-income and middle-income classes. These results showed that the wave of unemployment that ran through the country had a more significant effect on those dependent on their jobs and those who didn’t have a secured career, that is mentioned when the following is stated; “A new Pew Research Center survey finds that, overall, one-in-four adults have had trouble paying their bills since the coronavirus outbreak started, a third have dipped into savings or retirement accounts to make ends meet, and about one-in-six have borrowed money from friends or family or gotten food from a food bank. As was the case earlier this year, these types of experiences continue to be more common among adults with lower incomes, those without a college degree and Black and Hispanic Americans.” (Parker et al. (2020)). This shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people struggled with their finances, mainly those from the working class. People relied on their full-time jobs to maintain their families and pay their rent. During this time, these people could not earn the money they needed to keep up with their necessities, many lost their jobs because of the shutdown, and others left their works because they were scared of bringing the virus to their homes. The survey showed that those that suffered the most with these issues were Hispanics and Black Americans, forcing them to depend on either money they have saved for other manners or borrowing money from others. Some of these people also had to apply to receive unemployment insurance to help them go through those tough times. The following are some of the results from the survey that provided information about those who had difficulties through the pandemic. The data provided shows the difference between races and economic groups that reported having to borrow money, had any economic issues and those that depended on food banks during the coronavirus pandemic. Moneywise we can see that those from the lower and middle class were the ones that had the higher number in the survey. However, the upper class reported using money from a savings account, making up 16% in that graph. In comparison, the lower class completed almost every question for the 30-48% in all questions. This shows that during that period, those with a lower income had more difficulties than the other classes, not only did they have financial challenges in the past, but now they do not even have any income, which proves that at that time, the government was not thinking of the aftermath result of the pandemic. Also, we can see that the ones with the higher number in the study were those from the Black and Hispanic communities, which are the ones that mostly report having a low income because they are dependent on minimum-wage jobs. Throughout the history of the United States, they have had the most economic disadvantages.

Lastly, we can not leave behind one of the main things the COVID-19 pandemic affected: the people’s mental health. The pandemic did not only bring physical damage but also devastated people’s mental health during these challenging times. Being an unknown virus that seemed to be deadly at most, and was told that it mainly affected the elderly patient, only these statements were enough to arouse individual’s worries. Many were scared to bring them to their families; many were affected by being enclosed for months without having a chance to go outside and spend time with their loved ones. This is one of the most outstanding issues that the COVID-19 brought with it; this is argued by Panchal et al. (2021) when the following was stated; “During the pandemic, about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, a share that has been largely consistent, […] A KFF Health Tracking Poll from July 2020 also found that many adults are reporting specific negative impacts on their mental health and well-being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%), due to worry and stress over the coronavirus.”. The poll showed that as the pandemic kept getting worse, it caused people to feel more scared of what could have happened. They got stressed to the point where they could not even enjoy a meal, or sleep and had to draw upon substances to help calm their anxiety. It can be argued that the virus affected those that caught it, and those that were too scared to get infected with it, making people paranoid and forcing them to get away from social contact to maintain their health. Though it was getting worse because of the stress they were putting themselves into, they worsened their health, by starving, sleep-depriving, substance use, and other activities that damaged the human body.

In conclusion, we can say that the COVID-19 was a problem not only for people’s health, but also for their mental and financial stability. The pandemic brought many issues, leading the country to a temporal shutdown that worsened the economy. This led to one of the significant job losses seen in the country, which obligated many to rely on any way that they could supply themselves and their family with food, leading many to depend on unemployment benefits—also bringing an anxiety and stress wave that took over at least 40% of the United States Citizens. Thus the pandemic had a significant impact on the country. Moreover, it allowed itself to be recognized worldwide, which will probably make it part of the world’s history, just like the Spanish Flu and other controversial viruses.