Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus SARS – CoV-2) in Thailand and India: A Brief Review
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Abstract
COVID-19, scientifically called Novel Coronavirus SARS – CoV-2, which first emerged in a sea-food and live-animal market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, at the end of December 2019, has infected above 2,480,000 persons in more than 200 countries worldwide, and the World Health Organization has announced coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic, which has become one of the biggest threats to mankind, with lots of socio-economic impacts globally. The authors present this article by reviewing documents and collecting relevant data from the beginning of the outbreak in January 2020 till July 15, 2021, in Thailand and India, from various kinds of electronic documents available on the daily internet media, social media, news, reports, and opinions related to COVID-19 outbreak. The article aims to find: 1) the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand and India, and 2) the comparison of its impact in Thailand and India. It is found that coronavirus disease has impacted both Thailand and India’s socio-economy through several channels, including impact on the economy, unemployment and poverty, education, health, tourism, and travel, creating chaos, disaster, risk perception, and management, panic, racism, and social stigma. The article is concluded by presenting the comparative socio-economic impact between the two countries, which is considered to be relevant to policymakers of each country, to be prepared for a future pandemic disease outbreak.
Keywords: COVID-19, Socio-economic Impact, Pandemic, Coronavirus, Thailand, India
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