TITLE:
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Exploring the Unprecedented Challenges and Possibilities
AUTHORS:
Morvyn N. Nyakudya, Unity N. Nyakudya, Ruramayi Tadu, Lovemore Thusabantu
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Coronavirus, Botswana, Lockdown
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.8 No.9,
September
29,
2020
ABSTRACT: It
appears that the coronavirus disease has brought far reaching life and economic
consequences across the globe. This disease has rapidly spread throughout the
world ravaging the lives of people and economies with impunity. In attempts to
control its spread, different countries embarked on lengthy lockdowns in which
their economies virtually ground to a halt due to employees’ incapacity as a
result of extreme illness or death. As the lockdowns are being eased to
resuscitate the countries’ economies, there is a high likelihood of massive
reductions in sales revenue, jobs and income as well as a sharp increase in
innovative ways of transacting in business including online platforms. This is
envisaged to affect all countries including Botswana. This
study explores the several and often rapid transformations that businesses are
likely to experience in the post-COVID-19
era. The findings are still unfolding but the obvious ones are: jobs are being
cut; sales revenues are reducing due to non-productivity; there is a rapid proliferation
of online platforms used by especially workers and students; companies are
cutting salaries and countries are introducing initiatives to address the
challenges presented by COVID-19 such
as, among others, cash transfers; wage subsidies; in-kind food/vouchers schemes
and unemployment benefit.