Category: COVID-19

Introduction

The Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic has become of the most significant challenges faced by the contemporary business environment. The pandemic has entailed nationwide lockdown protocols, while global travel was virtually paralysed. In such a situation, airlines experienced serious financial problems caused by the decreased passenger flow and the overall uncertainty. As this crisis has reached an unprecedented level of impact, recovering after it will be a long, demanding process. Ryanairs situation is not an exception, as the global turbulence has inevitably affected the worlds leading low-cost airline. However, the companys competitive advantage in terms of pricing policy and affordability has the potential to remain relevant after the pandemic. Ryanairs recovery strategy in the post-Covid environment will comprise two major steps, and this report provides insight into the short- and medium-term recovery option in the case of Ryanair.

Current Situation and Short-Term Plan

The Impact of Covid-19

The novel coronavirus pandemic has been a challenge of unseen magnitude for the entire planet. However, while its negative implications have been observed across industries, Covid-19 has introduced a particularly difficult environment for travel-related companies. As a concept, tourism became nearly non-existent amid the pandemic, as countries closed national borders and introduced severe travel restrictions. Accordingly, airlines have had to suspend their operations, leaving but a small portion of their activities. Albers and Rundschagen (2020) report an expected decrease of $314 billion in passenger airline revenues, amounting to a 55% drop in comparison to the previous year. Such numbers indicate a crisis of extraordinary scale in the industry, meaning that even the strongest airlines cannot rely on their traditional business models in this case. The focus of all companies activities has shifted toward balancing expenses and retaining valuable resource, including skilled workers. In this situation, companies have demonstrated varying behaviour, and most of them focused on preserving their capabilities on the market and trustworthy relations with customers to enable quick recovery (Amankwah-Amoah, 2020). However, a more innovation-focused approach may be required for Ryanair to overcome the challenges of the pandemic.

Short-Term Recovery Plan

First of all, the companys management should take immediate measures, resisting the growing impact of travel bans and restrictions across the globe. Ryanairs recovery is going to be more challenging for the low-fare market leader, as its business model has traditionally relied on individual travellers in Europe. As reported by Albers and Rundschagen (2020), the current situation has once gain provided airlines with an opportunity to obtain state financing. Governments across the world prepare considerable bailout packages, and Ryanair could benefit from it. According to Albers and Rundschagen (2020), European nations allocate billions of dollars to support their airlines, and the number for the United States exceeds $25 million. However, the exact degree of this support depends on the estimated revenue losses and impact on a countrys GDP (Abate et al., 2020). Being eligible for a similar bailout package from the Irish government will provide the necessary support for Ryanair, as it would contribute to the companys financial stability in the short term.

Simultaneously, it is important to retain key resources in such a difficult situation, and the emphasis should be on human capital. Governmental financial support is to be used to provide employees with a stable income, prompting them to stay in the company after the pandemic. Human resources form the core of successful business operations today, and this aspect acquires additional importance in air travel. Siddiqui and Bisaria (2018) state that turnover is one of the most expensive challenges faced by the air travel industry. Furthermore, flight safety must be guaranteed at all times, which is why retaining qualified pilots should be a short-term priority. Overall, the company cannot afford to lose its valuable employees, as the process of recruiting and training new personnel is going to postpone Ryanairs recovery in the post-Covid era. If the company manages to attract enough external financial support and utilise in an effective manner, retaining valuable human resources, it will be possible to survive the current Covid-related turbulence.

Medium Term Recovery Options

The financial aid is to going to help Ryanair recover in the following year or two, but the company cannot rely on external help over a longer period. Furthermore, the short-term plan should be complemented with more profound actions, as the effect of Covid is expect to resound in the industry for several upcoming. Ryanair is one of the leaders on the low-fare airline market segment, meaning that low-range travellers with limited financial capabilities form the core of the companys customer base. Following the pandemic and lockdowns, this clientele may have to postpone any kind of international travel. Nevertheless, the low-cost competitive advantage of Ryanair is likely to remain in the post-Covid market. The companys business model allows it to offer incredibly low fares, and, if the low-range segment travels less, it is still possible to attract higher tiers, such as the low-to-mid one.

It is useful to examine the approaches of the worlds major airlines in the fallout of the pandemic. Table 1 proposes a classification of current crisis management models implemented on the market. As it becomes evident, leading European airlines have varying strategies in terms of recovering after Covid-19. Ryanair currently appears to follow the Persevering model, remaining loyal to its policy. Simultaneously, its primary competitors (marked in bold) implement more active measures, either significantly reducing their fleet or completely withdrawing. Nevertheless, the feasibility of this strategy is yet to be confirmed, and the majority of European companies have opted for Persevering. In this difficult situation, Ryanair will benefit from utilising the innovation opportunities, which have emerged during the pandemic.

Table 1. Covid-19 Crisis Management Models of Major Airlines (Albers and Rundschagen, 2020).

Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns have highlighted the vast potential of online technology, and Ryanair should increase its emphasis on Internet-based services. Online operations and communication allow for a more profound stakeholder engagement, and this principle has been confirmed as an important factor of quality digital innovation (Leonidou et al., 2020). As Ryanair steps into the post-Covid era, the companys management should utilise the global opportunities of online communication, namely social media, to interact directly with its customers. Such engagement will positively affect the public image of the brand, enabling a better understanding of customers expectations. Airline passengers consumer behaviour has changed in the fallout of the pandemic, and it is vital to have a clear vision of their updated requirements Ryanairs proposed mid-term strategy should include the development of automated, remote interaction mechanisms. While the implementation of advanced technology may be expensive and time-consuming, it appears to devise a new framework in three to five years, completely redesigning the image of the brand.

Reference List

Abate, M., Christidis, P., and Rundschagen, V. (2020) Government support to airlines in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Air Transport Management, 89. Web.

Albers, S. and Rundschagen, V. (2020) European airlines2 strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic (January-May, 2020), Journal of Air Transport Management, 87. Web.

Amankwah-Amoah, J. (2020) Note: Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! Responding to environmental shocks: insights on global airlines responses to COVID-19, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 89. Web.

Leonidou, E. et al. (2020) An integrative framework of stakeholder engagement for innovation management and entrepreneurship development, Journal of Business Research, 119, pp. 245-258. Web.

Siddiqui, N. N. and Bisaria, G. (2018) Innovative Techniques of Motivation for Employee Retention in Aviation Industry, ANVESHAK  International Journal of Management, 7(1). Web.

Introduction

Presently, the United States is one of the most affected countries that are facing substantial socioeconomic and human damage during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this situation, minorities, especially Mexican and black, remain the most vulnerable groups of the population because of predominant poverty and limited access to quality healthcare and information resources. Thus, this paper aims at exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Mexican and black and the health care delivery system. The paper will also offer specific recommendations for addressing the health issue related to necessary stakeholders and funding considerations.

General Description

The USA is currently the epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the world in terms of the number of reported deaths and infections. In this situation, mortality among White Americans comprises around 61.7 deaths per 100,000, while the mortality among Black and Latino Americans accounts for 114.3 and 78.5 deaths per 100,000, respectively (APM Research Lab Staff, 2020). Herewith, it is worth noting that the research involving the Mexican people by Salinas-Escudero et al. (2020) concluded that people with chronic kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, or obesity have the highest risk of dying during follow-up. This unfavorable statistic is primarily conditioned by several factors that favor community spread and individual risk concerning COVID-19.

First, one of the core contributors to the pandemics adverse effect on racial communities is existing disparities in healthcare access and quality that have long-standing roots in the US. Garcia et al. (2020) indicate that considering Mexican and black overrepresentation in low-income jobs, these minorities are less likely than Whites to have employer-delivered health insurance, producing considerable barriers to providing and accessing medical care. Furthermore, the researchers add that when Blacks and Latins overcome these obstacles and access the healthcare system, they frequently obtain inferior quality service compared to Whites due to physician bias or structural inequalities. A higher risk of exposure to COVID-19 of ethnic groups also stems from their cultural traditions, values, beliefs, and customs. In addition, Bhala et al. (2020) state that specific variations in community interactions, multigenerational and more crowded households, and shared places of worship and religious rituals may play a notable role in spreading the disease.

The US governments inadequate preparedness and response to the pandemic have also played a critical role in adverse consequences. Rothstein (2020) notes that the US public health funding at the federal and local levels has been reducing for decades. As a result, since the outbreak, the country had a severe shortage of healthcare capacity, including hospital beds and intensive care unit (ICU) beds, ventilators, and personal protective equipment, such as gowns, gloves, face shields, and masks. It should be admitted that this catastrophic situation has stricken ethnic communities than Whites predominantly.

Finally, some indirect issues concern the US healthcare delivery system and population overall. With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many patients contracting moderate disease with pneumonia and mild disease without pneumonia obtain antibiotics. According to the study by Rawson et al. (2020), less than 8 percent of 72 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients receiving antibiotics had respiratory bacterial co-infections. Besides, an increased number of hospital admissions due to COVID-19 also leads to the amplified hazard of healthcare-acquired infections and the dissemination of multidrug-resistant organisms. This causes considerable disruptions to health delivery services, resulting in interruptions with treatments of such conditions as human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis (Getahun et al., 2020). Disruptions to vaccination measures, which come from vaccine delivery interruptions and healthcare overloading, can also increase infection risk. Thus, the problem related to non-compliance with antimicrobial stewardship during the Covid-19 pandemic acquires critical, nationwide significance for public health professionals.

Problem Statement

The issues associated with racial disparities in healthcare access and quality, national healthcare preparation, and inappropriate antimicrobial stewardship during the Covid-19 require immediate consideration since they place a heavy burden on the public health sector. Furthermore, the pandemic complicates the operation of the healthcare delivery system by increasing the number of hospital admissions and disruptions to vaccination measures and treatments of other severe diseases. The primary groups under significant risk include older adults with such chronic conditions as hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, or obesity. Therefore, it is relevant to develop specific measures concerning addressing these concerns and initiating policy change.

Recommendations

To resolve the problems with racial disparities in healthcare access and quality and antimicrobial stewardship, the federal and state governments and respective healthcare organizations should design a comprehensive strategy pursuing several aims. Firstly, the US authorities should seek and collect adequate financial and social resources. The CARES Act, comprising over $2 trillion and aiming at eliminating the economic and health implications, is an excellent example of the needed financial aid. (Perkowitz et al., 2020). Secondly, the focus should be placed on improving clinical competence among healthcare providers, especially nurses and clinicians who are at the forefront of fighting COVID-19. Clinical staff should be instructed to treat all people, irrespective of social and ethnic affiliation, equally, without discrimination and biases. Moreover, the main skill includes identifying the signs of severe COVID-19 and imposed bacterial or fungal illness to obviate needless antibiotic use. Besides, healthcare providers should implement clear infection prevention and control measures.

Thirdly, hospitals and clinics should be supplied with required qualitative testing, protection, and treatment equipment to reduce the turnaround time of COVID-19 and identify other communicable diseases timely. Besides, Rothstein (2020) claims that affordable, instant, widespread testing is critical to detect asymptomatic persons who carry or conceal the infection and their contacts and avert additional transmission. Protection equipment will restrain infection spread, while alternative treatment methods will minimize the antibiotic therapy use. Fourthly, chief executives of medical facilities should pay adequate attention to communication quality within the clinical staff and between staff, administration, and patients overall.

Fifth, governments, together with profit and non-profit entities engaged in healthcare, should urgently address gaps in research to ensure that pertinent antimicrobial stewardship activities are integrated into the pandemic response. The research agenda should comprise affordable and fast diagnostic tests that distinguish viral and bacterial respiratory tract infections. The studies involving comprehensive data will help avoid different misunderstandings and disinformation, which can cause excessive panic and problems in the treatment of various diseases. For instance, despite a lack of research studies and FDA approval, President Trump endorsed hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as being effective for COVID-19 treatment (Rothstein, 2020). Consequently, many physicians supported such statements, which resulted in a significant deficit of these medicines for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

In conclusion, the paper has examined the issue of antimicrobial stewardship during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on a particular population and the health care delivery system. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics, significantly aggravated by COVID-19, poses a growing threat to public health by promoting antimicrobial resistance and undermining preventive medical activities. Specifically, increased hospital admission due to COVID-19 also leads to the amplified dissemination of multidrug-resistant organisms. In addition, the current pandemic causes considerable disruptions to health delivery services, resulting in interruptions in vaccination activities and treatments of other conditions. The paper has offered specific recommendations, including gathering adequate financial and social resources, improving healthcare providers competence, and delivering testing, protection, and treatment equipment. Moreover, chief executives of medical facilities should pay adequate attention to the quality of staff communication, and governments, along with healthcare profit and non-profit organizations, should urgently address gaps in research.

References

APM Research Lab Staff. (2020). The color of Coronavirus: Covid-19 deaths by race and ethnicity in the US. APM Research Lab. 

Bhala, N., Curry, G., Martineau, A. R., Agyemang, C., & Bhopal, R. (2020). Sharpening the global focus on ethnicity and race in the time of COVID-19. The Lancet, 395(10238), 1673-1676. 

Garcia, M. A., Homan, P. A., García, C., & Brown, T. H. (2020). The color of COVID-19: Structural racism and the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on older Black and Latinx adults. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 20(20), 16. Web.

Getahun, H., Smith, I., Trivedi, K., Paulin, S., & Balkhy, H. H. (2020). Tackling antimicrobial resistance in the COVID-19 pandemic. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 98(7), 442  442A. Web.

Perkowitz, R. M., Speiser, M., Rehr, R. C., & DeJarnett, N. (2020). Environmental health leadership on climate solutions amidst COVID-19. Journal of Environmental Health, 83(1), 38-40.

Rawson, T. M., Moore, L. S., Zhu, N., Ranganathan, N., Skolimowska, K., Gilchrist, M., Satta, G., Cooke, G., & Holmes, A. (2020). Bacterial and fungal co-infection in individuals with coronavirus: A rapid review to support COVID-19 antimicrobial prescribing. Clinical Infectious Diseases, ciaa530. Web.

Rothstein, M. A. (2020). The Coronavirus pandemic: Public health and American values. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 48(2), 354-359. Web.

Salinas-Escudero, G., Carrillo-Vega, M. F., Granados-García, V., Martínez-Valverde, S., Toledano-Toledano, F., & Garduño-Espinosa, J. (2020). A survival analysis of COVID-19 in the Mexican population. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-8. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed many established practices and arrangements in peoples social lives, medicine, and business. Many experts point out that these changes will continue to affect society, and workplaces, in particular, are not likely to be the same. Therefore, it seems relevant to look deeper into the transformations occurring in organizations to determine how they influence employees job satisfaction and motivation.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly more people around the globe started working from home. Even for the most developed countries, such as the US, an increase in such type of working arrangement is significant. According to the survey conducted by Clutch, 66% of US workers surveyed are working remotely due to the pandemic, with the growth being around 17%¹. Peoples experiences can differ depending on their personality traits, circumstances, and the type of work they do. Consequently, their attitude towards working remotely and job satisfaction may also vary. According to Clutch, 40% of Americans surveyed are satisfied with working from home, while 39% would prefer to work in an office². The level of job satisfaction depends on such factors as the working environment, work-life balance, and opportunities for personal growth and development.

For some people, working from home may be a convenient arrangement since it allows them to develop the working routine which suits them the most, while for others, it is highly uncomfortable due to various distractions. For instance, while being at home it may be harder to avoid distractions from family members, pets and even from ones surroundings. For people who lack self-regulation it can be particularly difficult to be productive while working from home. On the other hand, individuals who prefer more flexible working hours and seek improved work-life balance may benefit from such new routine. Introverts may also feel more satisfied with working remotely due to the reduction of interpersonal contacts, while people high in extraversion can, on the contrary, suffer from the lack of communication. In general, though, according to the latest surveys, the overall job satisfaction has improved³. This may indicate that many people feel good about being more in control of their schedule and working environment.

However, 34% of the respondents find doing their jobs somewhat harder due to the current pandemic⁴. This can be attributable to another critical factor  stress. It might be relevant to investigate how increased pressure affects workers motivation. There are many reasons for anxiety during the time of the pandemic. Many people are worried about getting infected; others experience an exacerbation of mental health issues due to reduced interpersonal interactions. There is also a widespread concern regarding the economic consequences of the crisis, and many people are worried about losing their jobs with millions of people already unemployed⁵. The fear of getting fired may increase employees motivation to work harder, but the overall level of stress can have a negative impact on peoples performance. It should also be noted that such circumstances commonly contribute to the increase of extrinsic negative motivation which comes not from anticipation of any kind of reward but from fear of an undesirable outcome. Intrinsic motivation driven by a persons inner inclinations and devotions may, on the contrary, suffer as the result of stress. In some situations, even if a person sincerely wants to excel in their job, it might prove to be challenging to concentrate when they are under a significant amount of pressure.

Reference List

Cox, J., Jobless Claims Total 2.4 million, Still Elevated Levels But a Declining Pace From Previous Weeks, CNBC, 2020.

Herhold, K., Working from Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic: The State of Remote Work, Clutch, 2020.

Wronski, L., CNBC|SurveyMonkey Workforce Happiness Index: 2020, Survey Monkey, 2020.

Footnotes

1. K. Herhold, Working from Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic: The State of Remote Work, Clutch. Web.
2. Ibid.
3. L. Wronski, CNBC|SurveyMonkey Workforce Happiness Index: 2020, Survey Monkey. Web.
4. Ibid.
5. J. Cox, Jobless Claims Total 2.4 million, Still Elevated Levels But a Declining Pace From Previous Weeks, CNBC, 2020. Web.

The 2019 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is both a health and an economic crisis across the globe. For the past two decades, the level of extreme poverty has experienced a rise worldwide. Before the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, approximately 88 million adults lived in the US under poverty line (Bargain & Ulugbek, 2020). Furthermore, the unemployment rate has experienced a rise since the beginning of the pandemic. This has been associated with the pandemics economic impact, forcing companies and organizations to minimize costs by reducing the workforce. As the poverty level rises, food deficiency and homelessness are increasing significantly. This paper is a research on how unemployment resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic has left many homeless in the United States.

Many studies reveal that the number of people living below the poverty line is expected to rise by significant values by the end of 2020. According to the World Bank Group (2020), this number is expected to rise further to as many as over 150 million in 2021. Individuals living on less than $1.90 per day are said to be living below the poverty line (World Bank Group, 2020). Research conducted by the World bank in 2017 had indicated that the extreme poverty level was to decrease to 7.9% this year (World Bank Group, 2020). However, due to the pandemic, this level is expected to rise significantly. The world anticipates the worst economic decline since the Great Depression as more people shift to extreme poverty. This has raised concerns about the need to develop a system that protects the vulnerable members of society. In other words, the pandemic is a reminder to government institutions on the importance of the development of effective emergency preparedness. As such, states should be ready to contain future pandemics and other disasters, such as floods, drought, and landslides.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is more intense in countries with existing records of high poverty rates. As a result, the countrys poorest populations income growth, also known as shared prosperity, has declined (Han et al., 2020). This is an indication of the possibility of income inequality in the coming years. Although anyone can be infected by the virus regardless of gender, race, and wealth, the poor are mostly affected. This is due to the low wages imposed on them, the increased cost of healthcare, and reduced economic mobility. Apart from the low wages, unemployment is also a major concern resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Over 80% of individuals who have lost their job in 2020 are those be who were sacked to reduce the number of employees in an organization (Han et al., 2020). Therefore, the Covid-19 has made a considerable contribution to unemployment resulting to increased poverty.

Like in other countries across the world, unemployment results in poverty, leaving the victims with a strenuous budget. Global reports show that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in underemployment and unemployment (World Bank Group, 2020). The low employment period translates to a rise in the number of homeless citizens in America (Coughlin et al., 2020). Even before the entry of the virus in America, the nation has experienced an increase in the homeless for the past three years. A significant number of homeless resulted from a rise in the marginalized group. In the health crisis, more than half a million lacked shelter to screen for the virus, test, quarantine, and eve social distance (Coughlin et al., 2020). This has exposed a majority, especially the poor, to the risk of contracting the virus. However, little can be done at this time as there is still no proven vaccine that can prevent the virus. The longer the pandemic takes, the higher the rate of unemployment, resulting in increased poverty and homelessness.

In America, homelessness is a common characteristic among marginalized groups, including ethnic and racial minorities. As people suffer from homelessness, the lockdown imposed in an attempt to curb the virus means more problems. This is especially for young people who cannot afford or find a place to settle and quarantine (Moses, 2020). Another factor resulting in homelessness among the youth during the pandemic is the breakup of families, as a result of work termination, which other partners cannot persevere. Additionally, many comfortable houses in the US are not affordable to low-income earners. Apart from low wages in America, people who have lost their jobs during this pandemic are more likely to become homeless. This exposes them to the risk of contracting the virus.

Conclusion

The Covid-19 has been viewed as an economic problem due to the homelessness resulting from low wages and lack of affordable housing facilities. The major cause of homelessness among the youths in America can be linked to lack of family support, the inexistence of an emergency system, and less housing options. Limited housing facilities act as barriers to acquiring accommodation. Strong and effective protection systems should be embraced to prevent people from falling into poverty in cases of a pandemic or other crisis. The Covid-19 pandemics impact socially and economically is an indication of global unpreparedness for such occurrences.

References

Bargain, O., & Ulugbek, A. (2020). Poverty and Covid-19 in developing countries. Bordeaux University. Web.

Coughlin, C. G., Sandel, M., & Stewart, A. M. (2020). Homelessness, children, and COVID-19: A looming crisis. Pediatrics, 146(2). Web.

Han, J., Meyer, B. D., & Sullivan, J. X. (2020). Income and poverty in the covid-19 pandemic. Web.

Moses, J. (2020). Covid-19 and the State of homelessness. National Alliance to end Homelessness. Web.

World Bank Group. (2020). COVID-19 to add as many as 150 million extreme poor by 2021. Web.

Bargain, O., & Ulugbek, A. (2020). Poverty and Covid-19 in developing countries (Working paper). Bordeaux University. Web. 

This article primarily discusses poverty and Covid-19 in developing countries. In response to the pandemic, countries recommended and enforced policies on social distancing and shelter-in-place. However, these rules were only adhered to in developed countries, but not in low-income countries. In third-world nations, a majority of the population continued to engage in income generating activities in fear of hunger and poverty exposing them to a higher risk of contracting the disease. This article will be helpful in research because it examines the trade-off between the increased risk of contracting corona virus and suffering from poverty. The authors used regional mobility of jobs and poverty in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Latin America (Bargain & Ulugbek, 2020). The degree of work mobility decreases with the intensity of poverty, and human movement differs with levels of destitution.

The way in which authors incorporated sources is instrumental in enlightening me on how to conduct intensive research in the future project. They analyzed poverty implications on the spread of Covid-19 using various data types, including google mobility index, information on poverty across diverse sources, and data on daily cases of new infections. Apart from the research coverage, the article also plays a significant role in informing readers on how to conduct and present health-related research. The article considered the translation of Covid-19 through the network of work mobility, but failed to recognize the role of personal responsibility in compliance to the policies. I will use this article to support the essay by showing that compliance with social distancing rules is significantly influenced by poverty and income levels.

Coughlin, C. G., Sandel, M., & Stewart, A. M. (2020). Homelessness, children, and Covid-19: A looming crisis. Pediatrics, 146(2). Web. 

This source focuses on how COVID-19 is associated with homelessness, and the risks exposed to children in contracting the disease due to lack of shelter. Numerous changes, occurring in diverse societies in response to the pandemic, call for stay-at-home adherence, apart from social distancing to contain the pandemic. However, this is only possible if a person has a home, can afford hygiene supplies and is able to control movement. Not everyone across the world has an opportunity to work from home, stock necessities, especially food, and avoid public places and transport. The article is relevant because it explores the two sides of the pandemic; that is, how it has caused homelessness, and how lacking a residential place exposes people and the society at large to a higher risk of contracting Covid-19. I will use the article to defend the essay by portraying the relationship between the pandemic, housing and child health.

Han, J., Meyer, B. D., & Sullivan, J. X. (2020). Income and poverty in the covid-19 pandemic (Working paper). National Bureau of Economic Research. 

This source examines the economic impacts of Covid-19, especially on the people, income, and poverty levels. The counter measures that were imposed by governments to reduce the spread of the pandemic affected peoples income because many employees were terminated from work due to closed markets. However, the government intervened to reduce poverty by assisting those who lost their jobs by offering unemployment insurance benefits and other programs such as Economic Impact Payments (EIP). Although the aid is unequally distributed and not all who deserve receive it, poverty level has reduced. This article is instrumental in my project because it offers a different approach on the impacts of the pandemic. I will use the article to support the essay by illustrating how poverty levels have fallen during the pandemic despite the rise in unemployment and reduction in income. This article will justify that poverty has not increased due to Covid-19, rather, it has decreased following government intervention.

Bartscher, Alina Kristin, Danmarks Nationalbank, Sebastian Seitz, Sebastian Siegloch, Michaela Slotwinski, and Nils Wehrhöfer. Social capital and the spread of Covid-19: Insights from European countries. Journal of Health Economics (2021): 102531.

Keywords: COVID-19, social capital, health, and Europe.

The article investigates the relationship between social capital and the COVID-19. Contrary to the investigation conducted by Pitas and Colin, which only focuses on one country, the USA,¹ Bartscher et al. introduce a unique aspect of geographical variation within countries. As a result, the study offers a broader view of the relationship between social capital and COVID-19 cases. In their submission, the authors conclude that there is a positive relation between social capital and COVID-19 cases. This is supported by their work, which demonstrates that an increase in social capital reduces COVID-19; thus, it creates a positive health return. The article can be helpful to the Caribbean researchers by introducing the aspect of geographical variations in handling COVID-19 pandemics.

Moore, Spencer, and Ichiro Kawachi. Twenty years of social capital and health research: a glossary. J Epidemiol Community Health 71, no. 5 (2017): 513-517.

Keywords: Social, capital, health, and research.

The source provides a unique definition of social capital and defines the topics history for the past twenty years. The research aimed to determine the inequalities and the biases that have been indicated by the previous studies and it determines the link between social capital and health issues. The article justifies the authors conclusions by providing a detailed history of issues being investigated. As opposed to a specific problem addressed by Pitas and Colin in their study,² Moore and Ichiro provide a general overview of social capital and health issues, and this offers a bipartisan approach to the topic. As a result, the study is helpful to the students in the Caribbean since it provides a neutral opinion and a 20-year detailed history.

Pitas, Nicholas, and Colin Ehmer. Social Capital in the Response to COVID-19. American Journal of Health Promotion 34, no. 8 (2020): 942-944.

Keywords: Social, capital, response, and COVID-19

In the journal, the authors illustrate the importance of social capital during a pandemic and also the intensity of resources needed in a crisis to achieve sustainable recovery. Although the authors idea is to establish the relevance of social capital in the current crisis, the journal provides an insight into previous pandemics such as H1N1.³ As a result, it offers more insight into COVID-19 than the general illustrations provided by Moore and Ichiro.⁴ Pitas and Colins conclusion is justified by their work which the illustration that COVID-19 requires an integrated approach and robust maintenance of the social ties. The journal is helpful for researchers in the Caribbean since it provides a global perspective of integrating social capital and pandemics.

Wu, Cary. Social capital and COVID-19: a multidimensional and multilevel approach. Chinese Sociological Review 53, no. 1 (2021): 27-54.

Keywords: COVID-19, social capital, community, and multidimensional.

The research supports the previous study conducted by Bartscher et al., which indicated that there is a positive relationship between COVID-19 and social capital.⁵ However, Wu investigates the effects of the social capital channels in the community. The author illustrates that social outcomes can be affected by different social capital forms and levels.⁶ The authors conclusion is justified by demonstrating that social capital can create trust which promotes compliance with control measures. Furthermore, the Caribbean policymakers can use the research to show that community members are essential in fostering social capital.

Bibliography

Bartscher, Alina Kristin, Danmarks Nationalbank, Sebastian Seitz, Sebastian Siegloch, Michaela Slotwinski, and Nils Wehrhöfer. Social capital and the spread of Covid-19: Insights from European countries. Journal of Health Economics (2021): 102531.

Moore, Spencer, and Ichiro Kawachi. Twenty years of social capital and health research: a glossary. J Epidemiol Community Health 71, no. 5 (2017): 513-517.

Pitas, Nicholas, and Colin Ehmer. Social Capital in the Response to COVID-19. American Journal of Health Promotion 34, no. 8 (2020): 942-944.

Wu, Cary. Social capital and COVID-19: a multidimensional and multilevel approach. Chinese Sociological Review 53, no. 1 (2021): 27-54.

Footnotes

1. Nicholas Pitas and Colin Ehmer, Social Capital in the Response to COVID-19. American Journal of Health Promotion 34, no. 8 (2020): 942-944.
2. Nicholas Pitas and Colin Ehmer, Social Capital in the Response to COVID-19. American Journal of Health Promotion 34, no. 8 (2020): 942-944.
3. Nicholas Pitas and Colin Ehmer, Social Capital in the Response to COVID-19. American Journal of Health Promotion 34, no. 8 (2020): 942-944
4. Ibid.
5. Alina Kristin Bartscher, Danmarks Nationalbank, Sebastian Seitz, Sebastian Siegloch, Michaela Slotwinski, and Nils Wehrhöfer. Social capital and the spread of Covid-19: Insights from European countries. Journal of Health Economics (2021): 102531.
6. Cary Wu,Social capital and COVID-19: a multidimensional and multilevel approach. Chinese Sociological Review 53, no. 1 (2021): 27-54.

As the number of people infected by COVID-19 grows, the issue of vaccination becomes more and more vital for every country. However, vaccine doses are distributed unevenly among people of different countries end ethnicities. The hypothesis for the present research is that even in developed countries, vaccine doses may be distributed unequally among white people and racial minorities. The population of interest for the study is ethnical minorities.

Variables concern the number of white people getting vaccinated in comparison with the number of people from ethnic minorities who are eager to get their doses of the vaccine. These two variables will be the independent ones since the main aim of the researcher, in that case, is to establish whether race and ethnicity influence the process of getting COVID-19 vaccines. When speaking about the dependent variables, they will be the number of vaccines for white people and ethnic minorities. The direction of the research will be to establish the differences in the proportion of COVID-19 vaccine doses available for ethnic minorities to the number of people who want to get vaccinated. Finally, these numbers will be compared with the numbers obtained from the analysis of the same indicators that concern white people. It will help establish whether there is social injustice in the sphere.

The research article by Grumbach et al. relates to the same concept and studies the connection of likeness of COVID-19 vaccine uptake with race and ethnicity among the citizens of San-Francisco. The possible hypothesis of the research may be the fact that race and ethnicity impact the probability of getting vaccinated (Grumbach et al., 2021). The authors also took into account peoples intentions to vaccinate and related them to the racial factor.

Reference

Grumbach, K., Judson, T., Desai, M., Jain, V., Lindan, K., Doernberg, S. B. & Holubar, M. (2021). Association of race/ethnicity with likeness of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among health workers and the general population in the San Francisco Bay Area. JAMA Internal Medicine, 181(7).

From a legal point of view, freedom is the possibility of a certain human behavior enshrined in law, from the point of view of politics  the absence of interference or hindrances. In philosophy, it is considered that freedom is the possibility of an individual expressing his will. True freedom is always limited by external factors (laws, circumstances, other people) and internal (moral principles, duty, conscience) (Campbell 86). Without the protection and restriction of laws, freedom often leads to the oppression of the strong over the weak and slavery. However, having complete economic and social freedom, USA citizens have taken their freedoms for granted, which now becomes evident as the government limits the natural rights amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new coronavirus infection began to spread very quickly around the world. In the first half of January 2020, it became known that it had gone beyond China; cases of the disease were recorded in other countries of the world (Farina and Lavazza). The crucial role of the governmental authorities became evident in this scenario, as these officials were tasked with preserving the nations health and governing the peoples safety (Giones et al.). In this regard, the US government decided to issue a decree on a two-week quarantine, where people were not allowed to leave the house without an important need. On the one hand, this is the intersection of fundamental human rights, but on the other hand, the government tried to protect citizens from disease.

During the coronavirus pandemic, a mask regime and mandatory vaccination were introduced almost all over the world, limiting the freedoms of numerous people. It is possible that our founders had not expected our natural rights to be assailed in this way, hoping that even in times of crisis, these fundamental notions would be preserved (Campbell 86). Rather than relying on governmental support, society should understand its responsibility during such challenging times (Farina and Lavazza). From this perspective, the communities fulfilling their social duties and properly following the medical requirements could have diminished the impact of the COVID-19 virus.

Nevertheless, there is a significant controversy to be addressed when discussing this topic. While freedom of association and movement allow individuals to freely travel and socialize, they also impede the resolution of the pandemic by transmitting the virus (Farina and Lavazza). In this regard, when these freedoms are not used properly, they can adversely affect the welfare of other citizens due to the contagious nature of COVID-19. Although infected individuals still possess the natural rights to move and socialize, such practices result in higher rates of infection and disease spread, reducing the well-being of numerous populations.

Given the present controversy, it is critical to establish mitigation pathways. As such, the Federal Government is responsible for influencing the economic situation through monetary and fiscal policy, which refers to decisions regarding the overall level of public procurement or taxes (Giones et al.). Since monetary and fiscal policies can impact the amount of aggregate demand, the government sometimes uses its tools in an attempt to stabilize the economy. Despite the introduction of credit holidays, many entrepreneurs were still forced to pay on loans and could not fulfill their credit obligations (Giones et al.). In addition, rarely did any companies own premises, most of them were forced to rent space used in commercial activities (Farina and Lavazza). Subsequently emerged the inability to fulfill obligations to pay utility bills, salaries to employees, and insurance premiums, which put a tremendous financial toll on the entrepreneurs.

However, as small and medium-sized businesses largely support the countrys economy, they should receive at least partial compensation for income lost due to government isolation measures. Only a few such firms can survive without earnings until the end of restrictive measures (Giones et al.). Besides, it is unknown how much time the organizations will need to recover from the negative consequences of the prohibitions. Therefore, the businesses should be offered compensation, for example, similar to the insurance paid after a natural disaster. Otherwise, the business will be under the burden of additional debts, significantly slowing down the economic recovery.

Despite the relatively high degree of adaptability inherent in small business entities, in crises, entire groups of economic entities, especially in certain industries and the field of small business, become very vulnerable. In these cases, only systemically focused assistance of governmental structures and correct tools can contribute to the preservation of business and provide a basis for its further development. When the Federal Government forcefully restricts a business from functioning, even during a public emergency, the situation becomes similar to eminent domain. Although the government attempts to preserve public safety, it also impedes the affected companies growth, leading to bankruptcy and economic failure (Giones et al.). It could be proposed that the Founders did not intend for the government entities to yield such powers, as they directly negate the freedoms possessed by the countrys citizens.

In conclusion, it is important to note that the coronavirus pandemic is inextricably linked with forced human restrictions. Restrictions apply to individuals and legal entities: for example, small and medium-sized businesses. The state supports and helps by issuing decrees and orders on proper behavior during a crisis. On the one hand, capitalism defends the rights and freedoms of the individual before the interests of national states and supranational communities. On the other hand, the state also seeks to protect the individual as a citizen, not a consumer, from the power of the market.

Works Cited

Campbell, Jud. Republicanism and Natural Rights at the Founding. Constitutional Commentary, vol. 32, no. 1, 2017, p. 85112.

Farina, Mirko, and Andrea Lavazza. The Meaning of Freedom after Covid-19. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, vol. 43, no. 1, 2021. Web.

Giones, Ferran, et al. Revising Entrepreneurial Action in Response to Exogenous Shocks: Considering the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, vol. 14, 2020. Web.

Introduction

The coronavirus pandemic (henceforth COVID-19) has had a devastating effect on global economies. Pandemics are known to be large scale outbreaks of infectious illnesses that significantly raise the mortality over wide geographical areas causing social, political, and economic disruption (Sun, et al., 2020). COVID-19 has been an international pandemic affecting almost all countries across the planet. Long distance travels and contacts can be blamed for the massive scale of the virus. Scholars and observers have continually examined the implications of the virus on various aspects of human life. More emphasis has been on public health and the economy as the main areas where the effects have been felt. However, there are other serious areas affected by the pandemic, including human trafficking. Besides the risks of death and the massive disruption of economic and political activities, there seems to be other issues that can almost go unnoticed. Fortunately, international bodies and agencies such as the United Nations (UN) and Hope for Justice have been on the lookout. With regard to human trafficking, the question that needs to be addressed is how the pandemic affects the vice.

This paper presents and supports the argument that the COVID-19 has led to an increase in human trafficking activities. Some authors express that the concept of human trafficking is not new as slavery has existed for several centuries. However, it is the modern form and context of trafficking that is not fully understood. By definition, human trafficking entails the exploitation of people, either sexually or other forms of labor, for financial gains of a third party (Preble, et al., 2016). Three characteristics of human trafficking as described by the Trafficking Victims Protection (TVP) are fraud, force, and coercion. Human traffickers are opportunists who target the vulnerable people in the society. As such, the emergence of a pandemic that renders people jobless and some homeless can be seen as a perfect opportunity for the traffickers to strike.

This paper seeks to address the question of how the COVID-19 affects human trafficking. To do so, the current reports and observations of the bodies and agencies working to address the issue examined for evidence and patterns of human trafficking. The argument supported here is that the pandemic has increased the rate of human trafficking given that many people have become more vulnerable. Considering the seriousness of the problem, the paper will also seek to highlight some of the most useful solutions to human trafficking. Many strategies have been proposed to help solve the problem. In this paper, it is hypothesized that the capabilities offered by technology should help develop the ultimate tool for tracking and stopping human trafficking.

Covid-19 and Human Trafficking

The link between COVID-19 and human trafficking may be hard to discern considering that governments across the planet have effected movement restrictions that should hamper most economic and criminal activities. However, the evidence from bodies such as UN reveals that there is indeed a way that the pandemic is contributing towards increased human trafficking. Recent findings by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC, 2020) reveal that even though the lockdowns, curfews, and restricted travel should dissuade crime, they may be driving the crime further underground making it harder to address. Additionally, the constrained movements are also making harder for the concerned agencies to effectively offer the assistance needed by the victims. The most important point to note is that the difficulty in tacking the victims emanates from the fact that the victims are exploited in informal, unregulated, or illegal sectors where organized crime has the capacity to hide operations in plain sight. The reduced oversight caused by the pandemic, therefore, only makes it easier for the underground crime world to run undetected.

Arguments have been made supporting the observation that the pandemic makes more people vulnerable to trafficking and hence the increase in trafficking activities. The Anti-Trafficking team of the Global Protection Cluster (2020) backs this argument with findings showing that people who were previously not at risk have now become trafficking victims. The measures enforced to control the spread of COVID-19 have led to the displacement of some people due to the economic downturn, loss of employment and capacity for self-reliance. In some countries, physical and economic access to essential services and food (or sustenance) has been curtailed thus giving rise to further displacements and exposures. Most importantly, the disruption of education and with adults contracting COVID-19, there are increased chances that children are left unattended and sometimes unknowingly left at the hands of traffickers promising care, education, or forms of aid. Besides making it harder to track the victims, the pandemic has created opportunities for the traffickers to exploit.

Human trafficking has always sought to exploit crises brought about by pandemics. Observers have identified that the COVID-19 pandemic increases the incidences of human trafficking for both sexual and other labor exploitations. According to Konrad (2020), those pandemics that have a negative effect on poverty, social insecurity, and marginalization offer among the greatest vulnerabilities for trafficking. The author suggests that COVID-19 is a crisis because of the resulting unemployment and the threats of an economic recession. Following the three main characteristics of human trafficking offered by Preble (2016), the pandemic makes it easier to coerce people into false promises after which they become victims. Observers have indicated that the children and youth are at particularly greater risk. Konrad (2020) estimates that at least one in four cases of human trafficking involve minors. In this case, the same trends would be expected to continue and the youth to remain the prime targets for the traffickers.

The fact that the vulnerabilities during a crisis tends to be more acute seems to be the consensus in almost all the available publications on how COVID-19 affects human trafficking. A report by the Hope for Justice (2020) reveals that the same way individuals are targeted, individual communities can also be targeted based, especially those with lower incomes and higher levels of poverty. The communities are targeted majorly because of the current trends in the global economy resulting from the pandemic. People seeking employment in foreign countries could become victims of traffickers claiming to be recruiters. It can be seen with the evidence presented by various agencies that the economic consequences of the pandemic are responsible for exposing people to traffickers. Besides food and housing, medical supplies and/or access and unavailability of social security systems such as unemployment benefits increase the susceptibility to criminal activities.

There are also fears that new forms of exploitation will emerge as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Wagner and Hoang (2020), the pandemic does not only create opportunities for more trafficking but also for alternative types of exploitation. Additionally, the criminals may also get a chance to adjust their modus operandi as well as recruit more criminals into the trafficking business. Wagner and Hoang (2020) also notice that there exists a degree of inequality in how the victims are targeted. The socioeconomic outcomes of the pandemic affect the lower income earners more than the higher income earners. As such, the former social class is characterized by children dropping out of school and girls being forcefully married. These findings, it should be noted, only serve to support the thesis that the COVID-19 has the effect of increasing the vulnerability to human trafficking.

The alternative types of trafficking have included the use of internet to lure people into the traffickers traps. According to Stein (2020), the social distancing requirements have meant that physical interactions are limited. The traffickers have opted to utilize the technology because people now tend to spend more time on their phones surfing the internet. The social media and the dating apps have become the primary tool for traffickers to engage with their victims. The internet safety of the children, teenagers, and youths is not guaranteed. With the pandemic, the already trafficked individuals are expected to suffer. The increasing consumption of online content such as pornography also features trafficked individuals and not just people who have given their consent. The abuse, brutality, and prevalence of sexual exploitation to satiate the growing number of viewers will make things worse for the current victims.

A story of Latin Americans that featured in The Guardian is perhaps the best example of the growing vulnerability to trafficking. The story explains that the poor in Latin America have been left with an impossible choice of either staying home or feeding their families. The parents are more worried about the children going hungry than they are about getting infected by the virus. Consider, for example, instructing a single mother of six children to stay at home without food for her children (Phillips, et al., 2020). Sustenance for the family is only obtained through labor and some parents complain that their children have not eaten properly since quarantine began. There are efforts by the governments to support the families, for example, Brazil offering over 45 million people an emergency stipend of about $113. The Brazilian president warns that such support cannot last long which should a worry. This story is the embodiment of how the pandemic creates fear and chaos among the poor, which is seen as the perfect recipe for trafficking vulnerability.

From the evidence presented above, it has emerged that the general agreement is that the pandemic makes it easier for traffickers to do their business. The relationship between the virus and human trafficking is mapped using the various antecedents of human trafficking, including the affected socioeconomic status. One statement that sums up all the evidence, as expressed by Armitage and Nellums (2020), is that current socio-economic inequalities disproportionately affect the most vulnerable groups in the society. In other words, all signs indicate that the pandemic will be exploited by traffickers to boost their criminal activity.

Evidently, there are no statistics or data availed by all the publications examined to indicate that the rates of trafficking have gone up. Such data may be available once the relevant agencies have been given the freedom to collect the data after the movement restrictions are lifted. Additionally, it can be argued that the pandemic has acted as a form of blackout where it can only be estimated and speculated regarding how the human trafficking is progressing with the pandemic. The only data available is the socioeconomic data as expressed by authors such as Wagner and Hoang (2020). Such data has been used as evidence of increased susceptibility to trafficking but does not offer conclusive remarks on how much societies are affected. In other words, only quantitative data can help estimate the rates of trafficking have changed as a result of the pandemic. However, the evidence presented here cannot be dismissed as baseless considering that scientific research has proved the relationships between the various antecedents of human trafficking. As all pandemics have been known to do, the COVID-19 crisis will raise the levels of human trafficking globally.

Some of the available data on human trafficking involve sexual exploitation, specifically through pornography. However, even that data only illustrates an increased viewership of pornographic material which could be an indication of easy access to the material rather than sexual exploitation. Free access promoted by some sites could also be the reason for the growing viewership. However, an 11.6% increase in recording after the coronavirus struck insinuates an increase in the activity. The highest increase in the volume of recording is seen in India and Italy with 95% and 57% respectively (Bottani, 2020). In some countries like Mexico, crime has been reported to continue despite the pandemic. The trafficking crimes have involved repatriating Mexican women to work as prostitutes in the United States. Such reports, however, have not been backed by statistical figures to illustrate the extent to which the rates of trafficking crimes have increased with the pandemic. The bottom line, however, is that besides the expert speculations, there are some real indications of growing trafficking crime.

Sexual exploitation, from the evidence examined above, appears to be the area most exploited by traffickers during the pandemic. With pornography in Italy and India and prostitution in Mexico and United States, it can be inferred that sex trafficking has peaked in those countries (Bottani, 2020). An examination of the vulnerabilities of young women and girls should, therefore, be made a priority alongside heightened efforts to curb the problem. Understandably, with many businesses in lockdown, other types of forced labor and exploitation may have gone down leaving sexual exploitation as the main business among the traffickers. The rising unemployment affects the poor families more than they affect the rich as explained in the Latin American story by Phillips et al. (2020). With the root causes of the increase in trafficking identified, it should be easy for the policy-makers and law enforcement agencies to attempt to curtail the trafficking practices. The ideal solutions, as will be explained later, are those that address the vulnerabilities.

Efficacy of Current Strategies and Solutions

An examination of the efficacy of the current and proposed solutions is considering that restricted movements due to the pandemic make it harder for enforcement units and protections agencies to operate. In essence, solutions that require high mobility may be deemed as inadequate. The current state of affairs of human trafficking, including their capacity to operate in plain sight without detection, should be evidence of the fact that new approaches may be needed. UNODC (2020) describes its responses to human trafficking with initiatives such as the development of rapid assessment tools for evaluating the impact of the pandemic on the essential services for the victims. The agency also provides grants to the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) through the United Nations Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking that can be used to offer services to trafficking victims. Other responses include supporting anti-trafficking units, facilitating cross-border cooperation, and offering courses on human trafficking through e-learning platforms.

A critique of the UNODCs responses could focus on the fact that most of the initiatives are intended to cater for the victims of trafficking. However, addressing the issue of how trafficking should be stopped only include courses, cross-border cooperation, and supporting anti-trafficking units (UNODC, 2020). Considering the seriousness of issues such as pornography or repatriated prostitution between Mexico and USA as described by Bottani (2020), it can be argued that the services offered will not heal the victims wounds. The evidence examined earlier indicates that major concern is the vulnerability of certain groups of people. The UNODC responses are generic and not specifically tuned to address the new challenges brought about by COVID-19.

Risk mitigation efforts could be considered as better approaches as they seek to reduce those opportunities exploited by the traffickers. Such as approach is recommended by Global Protection Cluster (2020) where the key areas for action include alertness and threat assessment practices to identify areas of exposure. A gender-responsive risk mitigation initiatives, including targeted interventions for livelihoods, supporting access to learning, and incentives for food and sustenance work towards reducing the number of defenseless groups and thus reducing potential increase in human trafficking. These initiatives, it should be noted, are recommended actions meaning they have not been implemented. However, their efficacy is rationalized by the fact they seek to deny traffickers the opportunity to strike as opposed to offering the victims solace.

A risk-based approach is also adopted by several authors and agencies seeking to address the new face of human trafficking under the coronavirus crisis. According to Konrad (2020), gathering timely and clear information can help identify and prevent trafficking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, efforts to wipe out the demand for trafficked labor and commercial sex will diminish the trafficking efforts considerably. Simple solutions such as offering and other sustenance can reduce the chances of the poor falling victims to the traffickers. Lastly, Konrad (2020) proposes a collaboration between homeless service systems and public health authorities to help safeguard the groups in need. Such efforts will help stop human trafficking from taking place.

The overall efficacy of the recommended strategies can only be examined once they have been implemented where an objective assessment of the outcomes would determine the extent of their success. Many of the solutions already implemented have failed to produce positive results considering that trafficking activities still exist. An explanation of why that is the case has been offered by Davy (2016) who explains that the solutions are based on unreliable estimates of human trafficking. The argument from the author is that the true extent of human trafficking remains unknown meaning the ultimate solutions cannot be devised. Additionally, the design and quality evaluation of the anti-trafficking programs tend to be too broad such that they fail to address the real issues. The generic strategies only offer an overall framework without effective courses of actions for specific scenarios. Such an observation can also be interpreted to mean that human trafficking has not received the attention it deserves, especially by the governments. The current efforts as examined in the above section are largely initiatives of the non-governmental organizations such as the UN and Hope for Justice among others.

The usefulness of the current solutions, including the programs serving the trafficked cannot be dismissed. Their contributions in rehabilitating the victims offer what can be considered the best alternative to prevention. The efficacy of such programs can be examined in terms of how many people get help as well as the extent to which they help reduce the vulnerabilities outlined earlier on. One example of a counter-trafficking program is the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health center that serves youth between ages 10 and 24 and their children (Diaz, et al., 2020). In 2018, the program, which is based in New York, helped over 12000 people, including 186 survivors of sex trafficking. To illustrate the effects of unequal vulnerability, statistics from this program show that 87% of those served are Latino and African America. The white comprise 10%, Asians 2%, and the Native Americans the remainder 1%. These statistics show that indeed who communities can be targeted by the traffickers.

Another program that can be appreciated for supporting the fight against human trafficking is Relentless. Founded in 2011, Relentless seeks to provide informed healthcare for trafficking victims, both children and adults. The program is based in berlin and works with other agencies that serve the trafficked, abused, and exploited people (Welch, 2020). Besides focusing on the victims, Relentless also engages in practices that seek to prevent the occurrence of human trafficking. Evidently, Relentless should be the embodiment of anti-trafficking efforts, even though the data regarding the success of the program is not readily available. The key point to note that both of the programs highlighted here are not funded by the government. The involvement of the government is perhaps restricted to the law enforcement aspects and prosecution of any cases of human trafficking. The lack of a proactive approach by any government in the word is an indication that the governments have failed to regard human trafficking as a serious public safety issue.

Use of Modern technology

The current solutions and programs to curb human trafficking are inadequate and inefficient to achieve the ultimate success. Additionally, they have largely failed to address the root causes of the problem and attempt to implement generic strategies that show little progress. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that the traffickers have switched operations online, the focus should be turned to the use of internet and other technologies to solve the human trafficking. The idea of using technology in fighting against human trafficking is starting to take root with agencies such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) seeking to leverage it to improve the outcomes of the anti-trafficking efforts. A report by OSCE (2020) that tracking technolgies can be used to map the human trafficking activities globally to help identify the regions most afefcted and even the criminals involved. However, the fact that trafficking is conducted in the dark web could pose a challenge.

Besides the use of the dark web, there exist certain issues with technology that would need to be addressed if the tools are to work seamlessly. One such obstacle is the prvacy concerns where individuals desire personal privacy even when surfing the internet. human trafficking, accordig to Gerry et al. ( 2016), only becomes successful because of the privacy and data protection meaning ditital tracking and monitoring are not easy. An effective tool for prevention would be expected to identify incidences and interactions likely to result in trafficking. To do so, the tools may be required to monitor the online interactions, including private conversations. The current perceptions regarding privacy, however, would work against such initiatives. The qiestion remains, therefore, of how else technology can contribute in combating human tafficking.

Technology could, however, be useful in detecting potential cases trafficking. If the traffickers can use the dark web to conduct their operations, the agencies can also use the dark web to trap the culprits. The social media, as explained by Stein (2020), has been used to lure victims into trafficking. As a recommendation, the social media companies should develop an algorithm that can detect trafficking without invading the privacy of the individuals used. However, a cooperation with the government would be deemed necessary as such an investment could prove to be costly for the companies. The bottom line is that even the technology itself would face the same challenge other solutions face and, unless the barriers are eliminated, the technology will remain to offer a perfect hiding place for the criminals.

An awareness on the proper use of the internet may offer a lifeline for the fight against trafficking, especially those cases that occur online. Even though the objectives of the current programs have been described by Davy (2016) as unrealistic, creatign awareness campaigns over the internet and social media would make people more careful when interacting with strangers. The youth could be taught how to avoid becoming victims by following selected safety procedures. However, such measures do not eliminate the vulnerability meaning there will still be people to target. Prevention, it can be inferred from the analysis presented here, may prove to be extremely difficult if those people targeted for lack of sustenance are not offered alternative means of earning a living. Even with apparent dangers, such groups would take extreme risks in an effort to survive.

Conclusion

Human trafficking is a problem that is yet to be fully understood. People have been exploited foe sex or other forms of labor that harm their health and wellbeing. The research presented here confirms that the coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase human trafficking. Traffickers are known to exploit crises that make more people vulnerable. COVID-19 has led to job losses and homelessness, as well as keeping children from poorer backgrounds out of the school system. The current measures have been deemed too broad and generic to be effective. The use of technology is recommended as the best tool to combat trafficking through the internet. However, even such a strategy faces challenges due to privacy concerns.

References

Armitage, R., & Nellums, L. (2020). COVID-19: Compounding the health-related harms of human trafficking. EClinical Medicine, 24, 100409. Web.

Bottani, G. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 on human trafficking. Talitha Kum.

Davy, D. (2016). Antihuman trafficking interventions: How do we know if they are working? American Journal of Evaluation, 37(4), 1-19. Web.

Diaz, A., Arden, M., Blaustein, S., Nucci-Sack, A., Sanders, L., & Steever, J. (2020). Featured counter trafficking program: Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. Child Abuse & Neglect, 100, 104129. Web.

Gerry, F., Muraszkiewicz, J., & Vavoula, N. (2016). The role of technology in the fight against human trafficking: Reflections on privacy and data protection concerns. Computer Law & Security Review, 32, 205-217. Web.

Global Protection Cluster. (2020). (TIP) considerations in internal displacement contexts [PDF Document]. Web.

Hope for Justice. (2020). Covid-19 and potential implications on human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery internationally [PDF Document]. Web.

Konrad, R. (2020). COVID-19: Human trafficking and exploitation [PDF Document].

OSCE. (2020). Leveraging innovation to fight trafficking in human beings: A comprehensive analysis of technology tools. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Phillips, T., Goni, U., Becerra, C., Parra, L., Daniels, J., & Agren, D. (2020). Lockdowns leave poor Latin Americans with impossible choice: stay home or feed families. The Guardian. 

Preble, K., Basham, R., Mengo, C., & Richards, T. (2016). Human trafficking: An exploratory review of awareness and training videos. Journal of Human Trafficking, 2(3), 221-234. Web.

Stein, H. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on human trafficking.

Sun, Z., Di, L., Sprigg, W., Tong, D., & Casal, M. (2020). Community venue exposure risk estimator for the COVID-19 pandemic. Health & Place, 102450. Web.

UNODC. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trafficking in persons [PDF Document].

Wagner, L., & Hoang, T. (2020). Aggravating circumstances: How coronavirus impacts human trafficking. Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime.

Welch, K. (2020). Featured counter-trafficking programs: Relentless. Child Abuse & Neglect, 100, 104140. Web.

The Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the entire planet, and no corner of the world remained untouched. In order to mitigate the consequences of the outbreak, governments implemented strict lockdown protocols in multiple areas. As a result, millions of people remained confined in their homes with little socialization. Older generations have been a particularly vulnerable age group in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why their confinement has generally been stricter. Having to spend most of their time at home, older adults have demonstrated a significant increase in the use of streaming services. However, it is discussed whether this type of content shows sufficient accessibility to this particular age group. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of streaming on the elderly in the course of the Covid-19 lockdown.

In general, the pandemic forced governments around the globe to take drastic measures and impose lockdown protocols on numerous communities. Accordingly, people had to look for new ways of spending time in confinement in terms of communication and entertainment. Seetharaman (2020) states that the pandemic, namely restrictions imposed by it, accelerated the shift toward online means of service and product distribution. In other words, the lockdown emphasized the necessity of digitalization in the modern world. Indeed, todays technological advancements enable access to countless forms of media and entertainment via the Internet connection. Therefore, online services, including content streaming, have become an effective instrument of reducing boredom and depression caused by the lockdown and inability to socialize.

The discussed issue has been particularly topical in the context of older adults. This tendency had been observed long before the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the year 2020, which is why it is possible to state that lockdown has aggravated a pre-existing problem. However, Beck et al. (2020) note that the Covid-19 situation disrupted the traditional order for millions of households, and many people reported increased anxiety, as well as sleeping disorders. Indeed, confinement is likely to have a detrimental effect on ones mental condition due to the lack of familiar means of entertainment and communication.

On the other hand, modern online services offer a variety of pastime options, which would be an obvious choice for younger generations. At the same time, older adults may not be as familiar with this type of entertainment. However, streaming services have seen an increase in popularity in recent years due to their competitive advantages in comparison to traditional forms of media and content. Tefertiller (2020) states content streaming has made numerous users opt for it instead of television, and lack of advertising combined with a broader choice played a crucial role. The list of other advantages includes high interactivity, a larger content database, and the lack of fixed broadcasting schedules.

Historically, older adults were considered to be in favor of conventional media types, which is why younger generations served as the primary target audience for streaming services. Nevertheless, studies have shown a moderate increase in older adults use of streaming services. 33% of all adults between ages 55 to 64 and 15% of people over 65 years used streaming services during the lockdown, up from 25% and 12%, respectively, prior to the pandemic (Lockdown leads to a surge in TV screen time and streaming, 2020). The tendency demonstrates this form of media has significant potential, as far as the discussed age groups are concerned. Furthermore, streaming services have relevant content for older audiences and remain accessible to them. Middleton (2020) states that UK adults doubled the amount of time spent on streamers during the peak of the Covid-19 lockdown, adding that older viewers were a key component of that uptick. (para. 4). Older people are able to use streaming services as an alternative past-time activity. Since this type of entertainment is already popular, they can benefit from learning how to use this technology to cope with loneliness and boredom.

On the other hand, the use of information technology by older adults is often associated with particular problems. First of all, many of them are not familiar with modern advancements and find it difficult to learn. In addition, quality streaming requires a stable broadband connection, which is not universally available. The Conversation (2020) writes that around 53,000 homes in the UK are unable to access either a decent fixed broadband service or good 4G coverage. This issue is not exclusive to Great Britain and remains global in nature despite modern opinions regarding the Internets status as one of the basic necessities. However, Governments who are working with broadcasting companies are able to negate the impact of this disparity. OConnor (2020) states that, in the United Kingdom, all stakeholders have agreed on a set of commitments to support and protect vulnerable consumers and those who may become vulnerable due to circumstances arising from Coronavirus. Therefore, nowadays, there is a tendency to dictate the availability of online content for all communities.

In conclusion, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on peoples lives, which was particularly grave in the case of older adults. Having been confined to their homes, such people had to find new ways of entertainment. Statistics have reported an increased interest of this age group toward content streaming, despite reasonable concerns of such services unavailability for the elderly. Overall, it is possible to say that streaming is a rapidly growing market segment, and the pandemic has contributed to its development by allowing it to encompass new age groups.

References

Beck, F., Leger, D., Fressard, L., Peretti-Watel, P., Verger, P., & The Coconel Group (2020). Covid19 health crisis and lockdown associated with high level of sleep complaints and hypnotic uptake at the population level. Journal of Sleep Reseach.

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