Economy vs Citizens
Just a few days ago, Korea’s government lowered social distancing level from 2.5 to 1. As social distancing level got lower, the restaurants had reopened. Shilla Hotel buffet’s 2 weeks of reservation were fully booked in one day, and Songchugamago’s gross had increased 30%. Also, the government is now giving coupons to 10 million citizens, which encourages then to go out and enjoy outdoor activities. The reason why the government is taking a risk of mass infection is because the government wants our country’s GDP to get higher. The government should think of citizen’s safety first, instead of economy.
If the social distancing level gets lower, people’s awareness of COVID-19 will also get lower. We need to remind ourselves that COVID-19 has not calmed yet. Confirmed cases had reached 155, and it has been the highest number in 42 days. Same thing is happening in Japan and China.
There was a suspicion of Japan concealing the confirmed cases of COVID-19. The strongest evidence is Tokyo Olympics, which is postponed now. If the Tokyo Olympics was canceled, the loss would be 90 trillion and 200 billion, and since it’s delayed, the loss is 6.9 trillion to 8 trillion won. The loss had caused a huge damage to Japan’s economy. Japan’s government didn’t test COVID-19 confirmation to citizens, and there are many deaths caused by it.
In China, there was a declarement that COVID-19 had ended, but 5 people who came from China to Korea are infected. Also, China’s government didn’t include asymptomatic patients in that declarement, which can lead to more infections. Factories are running again for economy.
Government in many countries ignored, hided, or even lied for economy’s development. I think human’s safety is most important. Is sacrifices of citizens needed to develop country’s economy?
