March 17th
2023
Essay #2 Draft
Daniela Valdez
English 111
HOW DID COVID AFFECT AMERICANS
How did Coronavirus change the lives of many Americans? December of 2019 was when the first cases of covid-19 started to be submerged into social media and news, starting in Wuhan, China. As few people worried about it or inform themselves about this virus sooner than later two weeks of break to prevent the spread turn into months of lockdown and two years of drastic changes. Causing about 6 million deaths worldwide, and still an ongoing issue. New strains of the virus seemed to come up every couple month and even after 4 rounds of vaccines it is still something we are dealing with and trying to manage; this virus has left a footprint behind causing the U.S economy fallout, impact of health, and overwhelmed healthcare system.
Covid-19 has triggered the largest global economic crisis of the century. At the beginning of the pandemic millions of people lost their jobs, especially restaurants. It was presented that earlier in the months of 2022 only 3 million less people have been reported unemployed compared to before 2020; all according to the Center on Budget and Policy priorities article. As that number might seem too large it is nothing compared to 20 million people (about the population of New York) reporting not having enough food to eat back at the beginning of 2021. A substantial number of Americans struggled to sustain basic consumption for longer than a month, or to be specific it was 50% being reported. It was a greater issue with business owners not being able to pay their expenses. As the economy grew back in 2022 it is still not doing great. Inflation is still present cutting into wage growth, it is claimed that is slowing down, but consumers continue to see an increase in demand and resources. “Many business forecasters think the economy is likely to slide into a recession this year”- NPR. Not only are groceries and daily entertainment increasing, but this is not a fun time for homebuyers. Also, this issue seems to just continue to increase causing major changed for the next generations.
As hundreds of people continue to die from this disease, hospitals are still dealing with short-staffed and mental health problems. Covid 19 has had a significant impact on today's society, beginning with hospital staff. Healthcare workers are exhausted, burnout, and dealing with trauma. As many were dealing in direct contact with covid patients, others who were not or could not, started to have their hours cut off. Hospitals lost many of their staff due to deaths or burnout, as of the beginning of 2022 a 22% critical staffing shortage was reported. This virus caused many unnecessary deaths as many American without insurance were too “scared” to a hospital to be treated for the symptoms causing many deaths. To be further continue, in addition to the symptoms of coronavirus as the virus has not been fully researched many other complications have come afterwards of this virus. Including psychological effects inducing hyperinflammation and hypercoagulation. These effects can then result in depression, anxiety, fatigue, and PTSD: according to News Medical & Life Science. Causing more future issues with the population worldwide. Yes, not only did it affect the affected but also the healthcare employees. Continuing with ongoing issues within the hospitals of America. As of March 17, 2023; There are 138,003 hospitalized patients with positive test of covid-19 in Virginia hospitals.
Pew research Center conducted research where they asked 180,000 Americans how covid-19 affected them in their daily lives. As many of them agreed that if affected their personal relationships many decided to be focused on the health issue it caused including the loss of a loved one. As 14% mentioned positive outcome twice as many (28%) mentioned how negatively the pandemic affected them. Not only did it cause mental health issues, but many agreed the lack of physical activities caused weight gain during the pandemic.
Worked Cities:
“Chapter 1. The economic impacts of COVID-19 crisis”
https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2022/brief/chapter-1-introduction-the-economic-impacts-of-the-covid-19-crisis
“COVID-19 in Virginia hospitals”
https://www.vhha.com/communications/virginia-hospital-covid-19-data-dashboard/
“How was the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Global Health”
https://www.news-medical.net/health/How-has-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-Impacted-Global-Health.aspx
“Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Hospital and Outpatient Clinician Workforce”
https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/9cc72124abd9ea25d58a22c7692dccb6/aspe-covid-workforce-report.pdf