Balancing jobs and health in coronavirus fight

Reuters

As the coronavirus pandemic throws millions out of work and devastates economies worldwide, governments are struggling with the dilemma between keeping people safe from a highly contagious virus and ensuring they can still make a living.

Workers in some non-essential industries were returning to their jobs yesterday in Spain, one of the hardest hit countries, while in South Korea, officials were warning that hard-earned progress fighting the virus could be eroded by new infections as restrictions ease.

The decisions are more complicated because each nation is on its own coronavirus arc, with places like Britain, Japan and parts of the United States still seeing increasing deaths or infections; France and New York hoping they are stabilizing at a high plateau of deaths; and hard-hit nations like Italy and Spain seeing declines in the rates of new deaths and infections.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government must balance its response to the virus crisis that “threatens to destroy lives and at the same time destroy the economic and social fabric of our country.”

Seeking to restart manufacturing sector, Spain’s government is allowing workers to return to some factory and construction jobs. Retail stores and services remain closed and Spanish office workers are strongly encouraged to continue working from home. A ban on people leaving home for anything other than groceries and medicine will remain for at least two weeks under the country’s state of emergency.

“(Spain’s) economy is more vulnerable to the crisis since it relies on services like tourism that have been severely harmed by the pandemic. That means the country will likely have a deeper recession,” said European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos.

Yet some health experts and politicians argue it is premature to ease the lockdown in a nation that has suffered 17,489 deaths and recorded 169,496 infections, second only to the 557,000 infections tallied in the United States. But Spain yesterday reported its lowest daily growth in infections in three weeks.

In Madrid, José Pardinas took one of the masks being handed out by police as he walked to work at a moving company that was restarting operations after a three-week halt.

“The company hasn’t given us any protective equipment. I’m quite nervous about contracting the virus because my family can’t afford more time without an income,” Pardinas said.

In South Korea, Prime Minster Chung Sye-kyun said officials were discussing exit strategies that would allow for “certain levels of economic and social activity” while also maintaining distance to slow the virus’ spread.

South Korea’s curve has flattened from early March, when it was reporting around 500 new daily cases, but officials have warned of a broader “quiet spread’’ at bars and restaurants, which are still open. President Moon Jae-in vowed yesterday to focus on saving jobs and protecting the economy amid a sharp increase in the number of people seeking unemployment benefits. He said “confidence is growing” that the country will beat the coronavirus.

But South Korea’s vice health minister, Kim Gang-lip, said a quick return to normality was “virtually impossible.”