On 27th March 2020, the US surpassed China to become the country with the largest number of COVID-19 cases. It made me wonder: how can the most powerful nation in the world with one of the best healthcare facilities, fail to control this pandemic? If I look at the trends, the number of cases in China on 15th February was 68,500 while just 15 in the US. This has taken a completely new face with the present 85,000+ cases in the US surpassing China with 81,000+ cases.
The answer to such a freaking trend lies within the the US economy itself. It wouldn’t be wrong if I consider the dilemma that the nation faced while choosing between health of its citizens and health of its economy, which has weekend the world’s strongest nation in front of the pandemic.
Since we started talking about the US economy in comparison to that of the Chinese, let me state the various factors that exaggerated the pandemic situation. Firstly, the US economy follows very strict regulations with regards to its workforce with no availability of paid sick leaves. Even healthcare coverage is not as wide as in China. Such factors restrained the employees from staying at home amid the presence of COVID-19.
Secondly, the US economy is largely dominated by face-to-face service industries. For instance, American citizens spend 10 times more in sports than Chinese citizens. On average, around 30 million people go to the gym in comparison to just around 6 million people in China. Another area of difference in consumer spending behaviour between the US and China is travelling. An average American takes three flights a year while an average Chinese take less than half flight a year. All these show a high level of one-on-one interactions among the people in the US, which has contributed to the sudden jump in the number of positive cases.
The speed with which the COVID-19 has increased in the US also reflects the level of urbanization. Around 41% of the Chinese population lives outside the urban areas, which is two times less in the US. Seeing the trends around various countries, it has been obvious that the spread of such a virus is faster in urban areas.
The nature of leadership, as well as polity persisting in the US, has also contributed to the present situation. The recent statement by the US President comparing the cases of deaths due to COVID-19 with the deaths due to automobile accidents is surely not a welcome statement. Besides this, for an authoritarian government like that of China, it would be easier to go for a complete quarantine which might not be same for a liberal country like the US.