Where the tiny invisible virus brought the world to a standstill, what kept us going is the desire to overcome this pandemic. Emerging as one of the most widespread epidemics in the history of mankind, it has created a situation of health and economic emergency.
The world which celebrated globalisation for years now looks down at it as the reason for widespread virus. Being highly disruptive in nature, affecting the lives of millions, the pandemic will leave its dark patches in the columns of history. From compelling to change the way humans used to live in COVID-19 times to requiring a rapid enhancement in the health care facilities, the virus has significantly affected all the spheres of human life, be it social, economic, financial or political. The virus has brought tough challenges to individuals and governments around the world to sustain lives and livelihood. Undoubtedly, the world is in the middle of a crisis but education knows no leaps and bounds. Through this compilation of scholarly articles, we aim to bring in focus the impact of the COVID-19 on the lives and livelihood of people, and on the various sectors of the economy. Further the aim is to highlight the innovative ideas to overcome this pandemic and minimize its ill impacts.
Trade and commerce is one of the important aspects to determine the development of a nation as it helps to enhance and build up a strong economy. But in quite a few months the world has witnessed a huge downfall in the economy as the ongoing pandemic had a great impact on trade and commerce worldwide. In order to maintain social distancing in various employment sectors, India has recently witnessed a downfall of about 3 per cent in employment rates. Also, few of the sectors are working remotely that has impacted the working of various industries, thereby affecting the demand and supply of goods in such industries. Owing to the restrictions on the extent of social gathering, the schools and colleges have been closed in India, significantly impacting the education sector. Learning couldn’t be compromised even at the times of crisis as it guides the lives of students. This has lead to many schools and colleges switching over to online mode for conducting classes using conferencing apps like Google Meet, Zoom , Webex etc.
As every coin has two sides, this pandemic also has two sides. Although the whole world is battling the pandemic but better sides of it are not to be overlooked. Even though this novel virus has been claiming all the sad news for months but reality in its totality is not that abysmal. Wildlife is experiencing a greener version, the environment is rejuvenating and even the human lives are getting to see their latent skills. It is still unknown how this crisis will unfold and the foreseeable future sees no end to it. Humans have been witnessing the challenges since ever, but time and again humans have shown their supremacy and virtue to combat the worst of anything. It is believed that humans will sail through this difficult time too. Looking into the scenario, an edited book titled as ‘Impact and Challenges of COVID -19 on Health, Livelihoods, Environment and Education’, this is enriched with 20 chapters.
At last, we do express my sincere thanks to all authors of this book for their valued support in bringing out this edited book in time.
Editor
Dr. Lalita K. Sharma