Socio-economic Instability and Attempts to Exit the "Coronavirus"

Labyrinth: Russian and Foreign Experience

Alexander Vladimirovich Grigoriev

Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Keywords: Coronavirus Infection, Socio-economic Instability, Crisis, Social Distancing, QR Code.

Abstract: The world was practically paralyzed in March of 2020 when the WHO declared a global coronavirus

pandemic and the public realized that COVID-19 is not a distant threat shown in the news, but a real deadly

virus. In modern conditions, the high rates of development of the COVID-19 pandemic have a negative impact

on all aspects of social life and economic order, from the welfare of households and individual consumers to

the economy of individual states. In this regard, given the lack of accurate forecasts for the future, researchers

are trying to find tools and methods to reduce social tension, exchange experiences and analyze the

shortcomings of certain measures. The presented study analyzes the causes and conditions for the formation

of factors of socio-economic instability, and also examines the options for getting out of the so-called

"coronavirus" labyrinth offered by both Russian and foreign authors.

1 INTRODUCTION

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization

(WHO) officially declared the SARS-CoV-2

outbreak a public health emergency of international

concern and a global pandemic. On March 11, 2020,

WHO called on countries to quarantine, establish

social distancing rules, and take other measures to

prevent the spread of the virus and protect public

health. Despite efforts by all countries to contain the

spread of infection, SARS-CoV2 has spread to 213

countries, resulting in more than 248 million cases of

disease worldwide since its official detection in the

Chinese city of Wuhan in December of 2019, and the

number of deaths exceeded 5 million cases.

At the very beginning of the development of the

pandemic, borders between states were closed, and

this caused a number of problems in various sectors

of the economy. Tourism has been seriously affected,

and the volume of international traffic has practically

fallen to its minimum values. Against the backdrop of

declining production and sales in large companies,

even the oil industry experienced significant

difficulties, as the world saw a record decline in fuel

demand.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0871-2304

All of the above factors could not but affect the

well-being of citizens of different countries, who

were at the epicenter of events. The negative impact

of various restraining measures led to an increase in

unemployment, a reduction in wages, a decrease in

the effect of social programs in individual countries

(although the volume of government injections into

the social sphere has grown significantly), as well as

a decrease in the birth rate. In addition, it shall be

noted that medicine all over the world, despite the

constant development and introduction of high

technologies and implementation of innovative

developments, was not ready to fight the disease

under consideration: throughout the world in the first

months of the development of the pandemic there was

an acute shortage of personal protective equipment,

devices mechanical ventilation, and medical

protocols for treating coronavirus infection were

imperfect and ineffective.

Later, some of the problems in the field of

medicine were solved, in addition, the largest

pharmaceutical organizations in the world have

created various vaccine options against the new

coronavirus infection. More than 20 of these vaccines

are already actively used today. However, the

undulating development of the disease under

consideration continues to cause various crisis

280

Grigoriev, A.

Socio-economic Instability and Attempts to Exit the "Coronavirus" Labyrinth: Russian and Foreign Experience.

DOI: 10.5220/0011119200003439

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference "COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" (RTCOV 2021), pages 280-284

ISBN: 978-989-758-617-0

phenomena both in medicine and in the economy as a

whole. Namely, in Russia today, during the 4th wave

of the development of infection, there is a sharp

increase in cases of the disease, which entails a

shortage of places in specialized medical institutions,

an increase in the time of medical care at home, as a

result, a decrease in the number of employees at

enterprises of various fields due to their being on sick

leave and a decrease in labor productivity in various

companies.

The pandemic and social constraints have affected

the delivery of medicines to pharmacies and

individual patients. In many countries, drug shortages

in pharmacies have been monitored, restrictions have

been imposed on the purchase of certain essential

drugs and subsidized prices for them, and the system

of online sales and delivery of drugs to patients has

been improved (Durnov, Grigoriev, Sorgutov,

Halimzyanova, Mikhailovna, Volyanskay, 2021).

The introduced social restrictions, the use of the

QR code system to check whether citizens have a

vaccination certificate, which acts as a factor

restricting the freedom of unvaccinated citizens to

exercise their individual rights, the rise in prices for

food and non-food products caused by the "container"

crisis and other negative factors, and the prohibition

or significant restrictions on the work of a number of

enterprises, especially in the field of small and

medium-sized businesses – all these are factors that

form the actual socio-economic instability in society.

Since the influence of these factors is increasing

every day, it is necessary to intensify the search for

ways out of the so-called “coronavirus labyrinth”,

both for the economy and for individual citizens,

otherwise the current situation may have fatal

consequences in the future.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the process of writing the study, an analysis was

carried out of individual publications by Russian and

foreign authors published from the 3rd quarter of

2020 to the 3rd quarter of 2021 and covering the

socio-economic and medical problems associated

with the spread of coronavirus infection in the world.

The opinions and data presented in the articles were

summarized and analyzed using the comparative

method. In addition, the author's point of view on the

problem under study was formulated.

3 RESULTS

Socio-economic instability has become widespread in

the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. The

global impact of the pandemic on the world economy

was reflected in almost all sectors of the economy.

As a result of the global collapse in demand in

hotels and restaurants, prices for agricultural products

fell by 20 %, which negatively affected the

development of agriculture. Companies producing

agricultural products suffered significant losses due

to the closure of points of sale in the markets and the

need to dispose of perishable products. Problems with

product imports and staff shortages have become key

problems for enterprises due to supply chain

disruptions and self-isolation policies.

COVID-19 has affected all levels of the education

system from preschool to higher one. More than 100

countries have introduced school closures across the

country. According to UNESCO estimates, the

closure of educational institutions affected about 900

million students.

Beyond the impact on higher education, there is a

significant impact on the postgraduate research

community as research on many non-COVID topics

is suspended. In the United Kingdom, the national

health research funding organization has suspended

all non-COVID research to allow clinically trained

personnel who are primarily involved in research to

return to the front lines. In the United States, similar

actions have been taken by the National Institutes of

Health to free up staff and resources for "critical"

research. In addition to medical research, scientific

institutions have suspended research in areas such as

the humanities and social sciences, for example,

Harvard University closed all laboratories in the

Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences.

In addition, concerns have been raised about the

number of canceled or postponed scientific

conferences. These conferences are the key to

research across many disciplines, allowing the

dissemination of research results as well as

networking opportunities for collaboration and job

search. Many conferences have moved to the Internet,

but these "virtual conferences" are often not so

convenient for informal means of scientific

communication (Impey, 2020).

The COVID-19 pandemic has become an

unprecedented challenge to health systems around the

world. Namely, the risk to healthcare workers is one

of the most serious vulnerabilities in healthcare

systems worldwide. High health care costs, a shortage

of protective equipment, including respirators, and a

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281

small number of beds and ventilators ultimately

highlighted weaknesses in patient care.

In the light of all of the above, it was important,

first of all, to reduce the rate of spread of the virus

among the population as much as possible. Since the

beginning of the spread of the pandemic, measures of

social isolation have become one of the main ways of

limiting social contacts, contributing to an increase in

the level of infection of the population.

Many studies have confirmed the infectiousness

of SARS-CoV-2 in the pre-symptomatic stage.

Therefore, social distancing is essential for gaining

control over the pandemic. The governments of

different countries have suspended all types of

religious, cultural, social, scientific, sports and

political mass events in different parts of the world. It

was determined that limiting mass gatherings could

serve as the basis for the prevention of COVID-19.

The governments of most countries of the world

have adopted the relevant regulatory documents

restricting the work of enterprises, organizations and

institutions and prescribing restrictions on the

movement of citizens. Namely, in Russia, such

documents were the Decree of the President of the

Russian Federation of March 25, 2020 "On the

Announcement of Non-Working Days in the Russian

Federation", as well as Decree of the President of the

Russian Federation of April 2, 2020 No. 239 "On

Measures to Ensure the Sanitary and Epidemiological

Well-Being of the Population in the Territory of the

Russian Federation in Connection with the Spread of

a New Coronavirus Infection (COVID- 19)”.

Restrictions on social contacts minimized the

rapid spread of infection at the considered time stage,

but such restrictions also had a number of negative

consequences, for example, in the field of the

emotional state of people. Whole families were

forced to spend 24 hours a day alone with each other

in confined spaces, often quite cramped, since

everyone's living conditions are different. In addition,

part of the world's population live alone, and they had

to be left alone with themselves for an indefinite

period of time.

The need for physical isolation, especially of

people in quarantine, has contributed to the wider use

of social networks on the Internet, such as Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram, Odnoklassniki, etc., to keep in

touch with family members living separately, as well

as with friends. A. Depoux and his co-authors noted

that this type of communication for people in the

period under review became the practical only

possible way of communication (Depoux, A., Martin,

S., Karafillakis, E., Bsd, R.P., Wilder-Smith, A. and

Larson, H., 2020). G. Pennycook and his team of

authors noted that the population also used social

media to get updated information on the current

situation with COVID-19 (Pennycook, G.,

McPhetres, J., Zhang, Y., Lu, J.G., Rand, D.G.,

2020). However, it has been determined that intensive

use of social networks can contribute to the

development of the need to constantly remain in the

social network (Twenge, J.M., Campbell, W.K.,

2019). However, social distancing has brought not

only a threat to the emotional state of people, their

immunity is also endangered (Marino, C., Gini, G.,

Vieno, A., Spada, M.M., 2018).

Therefore, in the context of the Covid-19

pandemic, the increase in stress makes questions

regarding the proper functioning of the immune

system even more pressing. A stressor is defined as a

threat or perceived threat to the body's homeostasis.

The body responds to stressors by activating

conservative behavioral and physiological responses

to stress in an attempt to restore homeostasis

(Bonanno, G.A., Brewin, C.R., Kaniasty, K., La

Greca, A.M., 2010). Social stress is defined as the

feeling of discomfort or anxiety people may

experience in social situations and the associated

tendency to avoid potentially stressful social

situations. Some researchers point out that breaking

social ties is a powerful emotional stress.

D.P. Petrenko noted that people have to

completely change their usual lifestyle, and this,

undoubtedly, affects their psychological state. They

experience uncertainty, panic, fear of getting infected

themselves and fear of infecting their loved ones, a

sense of hopelessness and many other feelings that

relate to the so-called stressogens (Petrenko, D.P.,

2021).

From social and economic changes, ambiguity,

uncertainty, people accumulate tremendous fatigue.

Uncertainty keeps people in a state of constant

tension. It is necessary to relieve this tension so that

it does not accumulate and does not lead to mental,

spiritual and mental distress. We need to understand

what specific pandemic challenges each of us with

which we need to cope. Any crisis provides

opportunities for changing ourselves for the better.

Being deprived of your usual lifestyle and schedule

and switching to a distance lifestyle is a difficult test,

but it gives you the opportunity to discipline yourself

and therefore you need to treat the crisis not as a

tragedy, but as new opportunities for self-fulfillment

and caring for others.

Another negative factor was the decrease in the

physical activity of citizens. It is a well-known fact

that regular physical activity affects the immune

system, which is able to resist the spread of infection.

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In addition, physical activity can be a powerful

counterbalance to psychological stress (Seledcov,

A.M., Akimenko, G.V. and Kirina, Yu.Yu., 2020).

During the development of the pandemic, especially

at the very beginning, severe depressive symptoms

were associated with a decrease in physical activity.

Even so, the researchers noted that short-term

recovery to physical activity did not improve

psychological health, highlighting the importance of

maintaining continuous physical activity during the

pandemic (Fedosenko, E.V., 2020).

However, it shall be noted that the global

catastrophe caused by COVID-19 had a positive

impact on the environment (Rume, T., Didar, S.M.,

2020). Due to COVID-19, governments have

imposed restrictions on movement of vehicles and

people and there has been a decrease in industrial

production. Movement restrictions have resulted in a

significant decline in social and financial activity, and

urban air quality has improved (Shakil, M.H.,

Munim, Z.H., Tasnia, M., Sarowar, S., 2020.). The

decrease in tourist activity due to the pandemic has

led to an improvement in the environmental situation

on many sea coasts around the world. Social

constraints have also helped to reduce environmental

noise levels (Zambrano-Monserrate, M.A., Ruano,

M.A., Sanchez-Alcalde, L., 2020). However, taking

into account these positive effects, it cannot be denied

that today the world is in a kind of "pandemic chaos",

the search for a way out of which is a difficult task,

the solution to which must be found in the near future.

4 DISCUSSION

At the moment, all over the world, vaccination

promotion is deployed on a significant scale. To

increase the motivation of citizens to obtain a

vaccination certificate in different countries,

measures have been taken to restrict access for

unvaccinated citizens to various institutions, catering

establishments, museums, concert halls, and etc.

There have also been attempts at positive motivation

(for example, the drawing of cash prizes according to

the numbers of vaccination certificates in Russia with

the posting of the results on the website of public

services).

However, the work of governments of different

countries to arrange a vaccination company is faced

with obstacles associated with the rejection of

compulsory vaccination by many citizens in different

countries and the activity of opponents of vaccination

in social networks and in the media. The activity of

opponents of vaccination, as well as the possibility of

falsifying test results by purchasing a certificate on

the Internet, reduce the rate of vaccination.

Understanding the degree of effectiveness and

risks of vaccination is the most important factor that

shall be taken into account when arranging the

vaccination company. Lack of information on the

safety and efficacy of new vaccines is not helping to

increase the rate of vaccination. For this reason, it is

very important, in our opinion, to conduct

explanatory work among the population not only

through social advertising, which encourages not to

pay for an excursion to the hospital with your life, but

also through the creation of accessible video reviews

or conducting personal conversations at enterprises or

in student audiences explaining mechanism of action

of various vaccines. It is also important to pay

attention to helping those people who experience

adverse reactions from the vaccine, since the risks of

side effects are very frightening for people. Many

potential vaccinators refused to receive the vaccine

because their acquaintances suffered the vaccine with

side effects. All people wishing to be vaccinated shall

have the opportunity to consult in detail with a

specialist about the possible side effects of

vaccination before they receive the first dose of the

coronavirus vaccine. Any of us shall be fully

informed of what we can do in the event of side

effects from the vaccine.

Also, in our opinion, there shall be a hotline for

those who have been vaccinated against coronavirus,

so that such people have the opportunity to call a

specialist at any time in case of certain symptoms and

get the necessary help, either advisory, or, if

necessary, help of a doctor who will be referred to the

patient by the specialist of the support center. In this

case, the priority of those vaccinated will also be

indicated by the possibility of timely and prompt

assistance from medical workers, which will also

raise the credibility of the vaccination campaign.

In addition to vaccinations, there are other safety

measures that every person shall take on board in a

pandemic. COVID-19 has forced the vast majority of

us to pay close attention to every available surface

that can transmit infection; therefore, instead of touch

screens, priority is now given to voice and machine

vision interfaces.

To reduce attendance at medical clinics and other

healthcare facilities, many hospitals have started

video consultations, and this is expected to continue

in the future. Store owners, who were unable to sell

their wares online prior to the pandemic, were forced

to move to online sales to support their industry. An

increase in dependence on robots is expected, which

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can be used in any industry and will reduce the

contact of sick people with healthy people.

Of course, social restrictions will exist for a long

time, but they shall not be excessively tough, as this

will negatively affect the development of the

economy. In contrast to the previously applied stricter

locks, which led to a complete halt of the global

economy in various European countries, now a

number of countries choose reasonable or selective

social restrictions in those localities where the largest

number of covid cases are detected.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The world will never be the same as it was before the

pandemic – everyone without exception understands

this, but it is also necessary to understand what

strategy shall be followed in the future so that the

economy can recover as quickly as possible, and

people can work, communicate and move freely

around the world. First of all, it is necessary for each

of us to realize the importance of applying anti-

epidemiological rules in the modern period and to

observe them strictly. This shall include the creation

of effective and safe vaccines, effective treatments for

covid, increased attention to hygiene, use of personal

protective equipment, and etc.

Further, national governments need to implement

a policy of optimal restrictions on the operation of

large, medium and small enterprises, which suffer

significant losses during a pandemic. These

enterprises play a significant role in the formation of

the GDP of any country, therefore, a decrease in their

activity will have a negative impact on the economy.

In general, understanding and awareness of any

negative situation is already the beginning of the

search for a way out of it. However, unfortunately,

there are still people who believe that the coronavirus

does not exist and that you can live as before.

Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. How much

more people must die in the world for such people to

recognize the existence of the coronavirus remains

unknown.

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