London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

COVID-19 & your poor neighbour

COVID-19 & your poor neighbour

The pandemic is driving poverty and wealth inequality. Thirty years from today in the 2050s, a new world powered by robotics, artificial intelligence, and quantum physics will be upon us.
In that future, if a person incidentally ventures into a virtual library, looks for a digital history book on the 2020s, the reader will surely come upon a narrative, ‘’ THE GREAT PANDEMIC.’’

The story may describe how people around the world gave a heartwarming welcome to the year 2020. People celebrated the incoming year at squares, parties, and cathedrals, in New York, London, Lagos, Cape Town, Sydney, and Tokyo. 2020 arrived peaceably and joyfully on January 1 in most countries.

However, on that January 1st early morn an uninvited and invisible guest tightly stuck to the New Year. This was a highly contagious, toxic, and dangerous parasite: a deadly virus. It clung to its hosts unwilling to leave. The name given to the virus was COVID- 19.

The virus brought on respiratory infections and physical anomalies in humans. It was transferred to humans from animals. The virus killed millions and infected many more millions.

COVID-19 eventually and negatively impacted the world economy, driving it down to the tune of trillions and trillions of dollars

Now, inequality between rich and poor, powerful and vulnerable, and the people stuck in between, has existed for millennia.

That wealth inequality is overt in a society such as these Virgin Islands. The spectrum ranges from the likes of the super-wealthy like Sir Richard Branson, Henri Jarecki, and Larry Page, who live invisibly on these islands; to the poor who live hand to mouth, on handouts from charity, family, and friends.

The world went into lockdown in March 2020 when it was clear that shutting down society was the one sure way of controlling the spread of the contagion. That shutdown was complete in most places, eerily turning great cities of the world into ‘ghost towns.’

The lockdown period changed the lives of millions. The better-off were able to spend time with family. These did not feel the pinch of lost income.

People, especially workers in travel and tourism, a mainstay for employment in the BVI and elsewhere lost jobs and livelihoods. They were unable to earn the accustomed income.

It was certainly not well for the poor and unemployed who lost income, jobs, and homes, and faced a brutal setback.

Lockdown forced residents to stay at home. Businesses went under and shut for good.

The people at the top of the wealth pyramid were unscathed. In fact, by some cruel trick, billionaires and stockholders in technology became wealthier as the world became a virtual marketplace as a result of COVID.

Towards the bottom of the pyramid, the adversity and suffering increased greatly.

Migrant workers, daily wage earners, waitresses, barmen, small businessmen and women, cleaners, taxi drivers, and so on and so forth, were severely impacted. These workers were driven into poverty and great suffering.

The people at the middle of the pyramid, for example, government workers, and middle managers in private firms, were affected, but not as drastically as those at the bottom of the pyramid.

OK. The world of pandemic recession will get worse, sadly.

Employment is a lagging indicator of economic recovery. So when the world begins to recover, probably in early 2022, after a vaccine for COVID is widely available, only then will investor and business confidence return.

Consumer confidence appears after investor and business confidence increases. When people start to spend- aggregate demand increases- then shut businesses will reopen, and managers and business owners will begin to invest in equipment and stock and hire workers again.

The world economy will resume normality and growth. When that will happen? Only God knows.

Connect with Dickson Igwe on Facebook and Twitter
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×