social impact of covid 19 essay in hindi

• Photogallery
• औंधे मुंह गिरे सोने के भाव
• चुपचाप चीन पहुंचे एलन मस्क
• जानिए कैसी रह सकती है मार्केट की चाल
• कम पैसे जमा कर रहे लोग
• Business dictionary
• Explained: How Did Covid-19 Affect The Indian Economy

Explained: कोविड-19 ने भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था को कैसे प्रभावित किया

कोरोनावायरस (coronavirus) के तेजी से प्रसार को देखते हुए, पूरी दुनिया इसके प्रभावों का सामना कर रही है। कोविड-19 (covid-19) को महामारी (pandemic) घोषित हुए 10 महीने हो चुके हैं। हमें अब भी दुनियाभर में टीका (corona vaccine) लगाने का इंतजार है और यह देखना शेष है कि वे यथास्थिति को बदलने में कितने प्रभावी हैं।.

फ्री मूवमेंट पार पाबंदी से सर्विस सेक्टर प्रभावित

वायरस (Corona Virus) फैलने के बाद से राज्य सरकारों ने लॉकडाउन लगाए और इससे फ्री-मूवमेंट पर पाबंदी लग गई। इसका सबसे बड़ा असर सेवा क्षेत्र पर पड़ा है। इसने बेरोजगारी बढ़ाई है क्योंकि लोग सार्वजनिक परिवहन के माध्यम से अपने कार्य क्षेत्र तक यात्रा नहीं कर पा रहे थे। इसके अलावा, भारत में रोजगार का एक बड़ा हिस्सा असंगठित क्षेत्र में काम करता है, लॉकडाउन की वजह से काम की कमी ने प्रवासी मजदूरों को अपने गांव-शहर यानी गृह नगर लौटने को मजबूर किया। पर्यटन, रिटेल और आतिथ्य क्षेत्रों पर प्रतिकूल प्रभाव पड़ा है। अच्छी बात यह रही कि अनलॉक ने स्थिति में सुधार किया और मांग को काफी हद तक वापस लाया। कॉन्फेडरेशन ऑफ ऑल इंडिया ट्रेडर्स (सीएआईटी) के अनुसार, दिवाली के सीजन में मांग में 10.8% की बढ़ोतरी देखी गई और बाजार में तेजी का रुख बना हुआ है।

वर्क फ्रॉम होल कल्चर विकसित

अन्य मुद्दे उन संरचनात्मक परिवर्तनों की बात करते हैं जिन्हें कंपनियों को अपने संचालन में करना पड़ा। इस प्रकोप के कारण ‘घर से काम’ (Work from home) और ‘कहीं से भी काम करने’ (Work from any where) के तरीके विकसित हुए जिससे सोशल डिस्टेंसिंग (social distance) के मानदंड में बदलाव हुआ। यह कोविड-19 से पहले अकल्पनीय था, क्योंकि लोगों को काम करने के लिए शारीरिक रूप से रिपोर्ट करना पड़ता था। यह संगठनों और कर्मचारियों, दोनों के लिए पॉजिटिव रहा क्योंकि इसने कंपनियों को अपने फिक्स ओवरहेड्स को कम करने की अनुमति दी है, जबकि इससे कर्मचारियों को समय बचाने में मदद मिली। कर्मचारी भी लागत बचाने में सक्षम हुए क्योंकि वे अब अपने गृहनगर में रह रहे हैं। दूसरी ओर, कंपनियां रियल एस्टेट और अन्य ओवरहेड्स पर खर्च कम कर रही हैं। वे अब सक्रिय रूप से टियर-3 और टियर-4 शहरों से काम पर रख रहे हैं, क्योंकि कर्मचारियों को रीलोकेट करने की आवश्यकता नहीं है।

हेल्थ और फार्मा क्षेत्र में भी इनोवेशन

हेल्थ सेक्टर (Health sector) में भी स्थिति इसी तरह की बनी है। हेल्थ और फार्मा क्षेत्रों में स्टॉक की कीमतों में वृद्धि देखी गई क्योंकि कंपनियां बड़ी मात्रा में बिक्री हासिल करने में सक्षम थीं। फार्मा और हेल्थ टेक कंपनियां डिजिटल स्पेस (Digital Space) का अधिकाधिक इस्तेमाल कर रही हैं क्योंकि ग्राहक मौजूदा स्वास्थ्य संकट के दौरान अपनी दवाओं और स्वास्थ्य योजनाओं के लिए डॉक्टरों से परामर्श करने के लिए मोबाइल ऐप का उपयोग कर रहे हैं। वायरस के फैलने से पहले ही उद्योग विकास की गति पर था। कोविड-19 ने विकास को और तेज किया।

एफआईआई का प्रवाह बढ़ा

कोविड-19 (Covid-19) संकट को सरकारों और केंद्रीय बैंकों ने मौद्रिक और राजकोषीय उपायों (Fiscal stimulus) के साथ जवाब दिया है जो वैश्विक वित्तीय संकट के चरम के दौरान घोषित की गई थी। इसके कारण विकसित अर्थव्यवस्थाओं में ब्याज दरें शून्य के करीब है। इससे वैश्विक तरलता में वृद्धि हुई, जिसके परिणामस्वरूप भारत सहित बड़े उभरते बाजारों में एफआईआई का प्रवाह आया, क्योंकि हमें वित्त वर्ष 2021 में अब तक 2 लाख करोड़ रुपए से अधिक का प्रवाह प्राप्त हुआ है। इसने शेयर बाजारों में अपने ऑलटाइम हाई पर बेंचमार्क इंडेक्स ट्रेडिंग के साथ मजबूत बुलिश ट्रेंड का भी नेतृत्व किया है। बाजार में रिकवरी की प्रमुख विशेषताओं में से एक खुदरा बिक्री में उल्लेखनीय वृद्धि हुई है क्योंकि निवेशकों ने बाजारों में प्रवेश करने के लिए सस्ते मूल्यांकन का लाभ उठाया।

वित्तीय समझदारी का गुण सीखे

महामारी ने हमें वित्तीय समझदारी (Financial smartness) के गुण सिखाए हैं। यदि आप नियमित निवेश (Investment) और लिक्विड फंड्स के साथ वित्तीय योजना बनाते हैं, तो वे अंततः ऐसे संकट काल में आपकी मदद करते हैं। न केवल वे आपको उनके साथ बेहतर तरीके से सामना करने के लिए सशक्त बनाते हैं, बल्कि बाजार में कोई अवसर सामने दिखने पर उसका लाभ उठाने में भी मदद करते हैं। इन सबसे ऊपर, यह आय का एक अतिरिक्त स्रोत बनकर उभरा है और आपको मुद्रास्फीति को हराने में मदद करता है।

रेकमेंडेड खबरें

• Bihar Board

SRM University

Hpbose 12th result.

• HP Board Result 2024
• Punjab Board Result 2024
• JAC Board Result 2024
• WB Board Result 2024
• UK Board Result 2024
• Karnataka Board Result 2024
• Shiv Khera Special
• Education News
• Web Stories
• Current Affairs
• नए भारत का नया उत्तर प्रदेश
• School & Boards
• College Admission
• Govt Jobs Alert & Prep
• GK & Aptitude
• general knowledge in hindi
• समसामयिक सामान्य ज्ञान

COVID-19: भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था पर कोरोना वायरस का क्या प्रभाव होगा?

भारत ने covid-19 को रोकने के लिए कई उपाय किए हैं और इसके लिए 21 दिन का लॉकडाउन भी जारी है. ऐसे में सवाल उठता है कि covid-19 का भारत की अर्थव्यवस्था पर क्या प्रभाव होगा आइये इस लेख के माध्यम से अध्ययन करते हैं..

कोरोना वायरस वायरस का प्रकोप सबसे पहले 31 दिसंबर, 2019 को वुहान, चीन में हुआ था. अर्थव्यवस्था पर प्रभाव के बारे में विस्तार से पढ़ने से पहले, सबसे पहले कोरोना वायरस के बारे में जानते हैं.

कोरोना वायरस (CoV) वायरस का एक बड़ा परिवार है जो बीमारी का कारण बनता है. इससे आम सर्दी से लेकर Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) और Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) जैसी गंभीर बीमारियाँ हो सकती हैं. नॉवेल कोरोना वायरस वायरस का एक नया प्रकार है जो कि अभी तक मानव में नहीं पाया गया था.

हम इस तथ्य को नजरअंदाज नहीं कर सकते हैं कि चीन और दुनिया के अन्य देशों में COVID-19 के प्रकोप से वैश्विक स्तर पर आर्थिक मंदी, व्यापार, सप्लाई चैन  का व्यवधान, वस्तुओं और लोजिस्टिक्स सहित अर्थव्यवस्था पर महत्वपूर्ण प्रभाव पड़ने की उम्मीद है.

भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था पर कोरोना वायरस का प्रभाव

आयात में, चीन पर भारत की निर्भरता बहुत बड़ी है. शीर्ष 20 उत्पादों में से (एचएस कोड के दो अंकों में) जो भारत दुनिया से आयात करता है, चीन उनमें से अधिकांश में एक महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सेदारी रखता है.

भारत का कुल इलेक्ट्रॉनिक आयात यानी लगभग 45% चीन पर निर्भर है. लगभग एक-तिहाई मशीनरी और लगभग two-fifth कार्बनिक रसायन जिन्हें भारत दुनिया से खरीदता है, चीन से आते हैं? मोटर वाहन भागों और उर्वरकों के लिए भारत के आयात में चीन की हिस्सेदारी 25% से अधिक है. लगभग 65 से 70% सक्रिय फार्मास्युटिकल सामग्री और लगभग 90% मोबाइल फोन चीन से भारत में आते हैं.

इसलिए, हम कह सकते हैं कि चीन में कोरोना वायरस के प्रकोप के कारण, चीन पर आयात निर्भरता का भारतीय उद्योग पर महत्वपूर्ण प्रभाव पड़ सकता है. परन्तु अब चीन में हालात सुधर रहे हैं तो हो सकता है की आने वाले समय में कुछ बदलाव देखने को मिले.

COVID-19 से लड़ने के लिए वेंटीलेटर महत्वपूर्ण क्यों हैं?

निर्यात के मामले में, चीन भारत का तीसरा सबसे बड़ा निर्यात साझेदार है और लगभग 5% हिस्सेदारी रखता है. इसका असर निम्नलिखित क्षेत्रों में भी हो सकता है जैसे कि जैविक रसायन, प्लास्टिक, मछली उत्पाद, कपास, अयस्कों, इत्यादि.

हम यह भी अनदेखा नहीं कर सकते हैं कि अधिकांश भारतीय कंपनियां चीन के पूर्वी भाग में स्थित हैं. चीन में, भारत की लगभग 72% कंपनियां शंघाई, बीजिंग, ग्वांगदोंग, जियांग्सू और शानदोंग जैसे प्रांतों में स्थित हैं. विभिन्न क्षेत्रों में, ये कंपनियां औद्योगिक निर्माण, विनिर्माण सेवाओं, आईटी और बीपीओ, लॉजिस्टिक्स, रसायन, एयरलाइंस और पर्यटन सहित काम करती हैं. अब वहां पर COVID-19 को लेकर हालात सुधर रहे हैं और चीन फिर से ट्रैक पर आ रहा है तो देखा जाए कुल मिलाकर, उद्योग में कोरोना वायरस का प्रभाव मध्यम होगा.

• कोस डाउन शटर के रूप में आर्थिक गतिविधि का नुकसान.
• लोगों को नौकरी खोने के कारण आय का नुकसान.
• वैश्विक बंद के कारण निर्यात में गिरावट.
• कई क्षेत्रों में उत्पादन में व्यवधान (disruption).
• FY21 की जीडीपी वृद्धि में 1 प्रतिशत की कमी आ सकती है.

डन एंड ब्रैडस्ट्रीट (Dun & Bradstreet) के नवीनतम अर्थव्यवस्था पूर्वानुमान के अनुसार, मंदी की स्थिति में आने वाले देशों और दिवालिया होने वाली कंपनियों में प्रवेश करने की संभावना बढ़ गई है और भारत वैश्विक मंदी से "विघटित" रहने की संभावना नहीं है.

अरुण सिंह, मुख्य अर्थशास्त्री डन और ब्रैडस्ट्रीट इंडिया ने कहा, "चीन के अलावा, अन्य वैश्विक विनिर्माण केंद्रों में भी तालेबंदी की जा रही है, जिससे वैश्विक आपूर्ति श्रृंखला और वैश्विक विकास में कमजोरी बढ़ सकती है".

भारत की आर्थिक वृद्धि पर सिंह ने कहा, "भारत में 21 दिनों के लॉकडाउन को देखते हुए, भारत की जीडीपी वृद्धि हमारे FY20 के लिए 5 प्रतिशत के पहले के अनुमान से आगे मध्यम रहने की उम्मीद है और FY21 के लिए विकास अत्यधिक अनिश्चित रहेगा".

रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, वाणिज्यिक गतिविधियों और लोगों की सभाओं पर तालाबंदी और प्रतिबंध से वैश्विक और घरेलू विकास को जोरदार रूप से प्रभावित करने की संभावना है.

सिंह ने आगे कहा कि आर्थिक वृद्धि का सटीक मात्रात्मक आकलन अलग-अलग होगा और संशोधित होने की उच्च संभावना है क्योंकि प्रकोप की गंभीरता और प्रसार अनिश्चित है.

मूल्य परिदृश्य पर, मांग और उत्पादन गतिविधियों में मंदी, कच्चे तेल की वैश्विक कीमत में तेज गिरावट और अन्य प्रमुख वस्तुओं जैसे ऊर्जा, आधार धातुओं और उर्वरकों में कीमत घट जाएगी, मुद्रास्फीति पर दबाव बढ़ने की उम्मीद है.

भारत के साथ कोरोना वायरस का विशव पर प्रभाव

नवीनतम संयुक्त राष्ट्र व्यापार रिपोर्ट के अनुसार , भारत और चीन के अपवाद के साथ, विश्व अर्थव्यवस्था कोरोनोवायरस महामारी के कारण मंदी में चली जाएगी.

विकासशील देशों में रहने वाले दुनिया के दो-तिहाई लोगों को अभूतपूर्व आर्थिक क्षति का सामना करना पड़ सकता है, व्यापार और विकास पर संयुक्त राष्ट्र सम्मेलन ने अपने नए विश्लेषण में कहा, इन राष्ट्रों के लिए $ 2.5 ट्रिलियन बचाव पैकेज का आह्वान किया.

UNCTAD विश्लेषण के अनुसार, कमोडिटी से भरपूर निर्यातक देशों को अगले दो वर्षों में विदेशों से निवेश में $ 2 - 3 ट्रिलियन की गिरावट का सामना करना पड़ सकता है.

UNCTAD के अनुसार, "फिर भी, विश्व अर्थव्यवस्था इस वर्ष मंदी के दौर में जाएगी, जिससे अरबों-खरबों डॉलर की वैश्विक आय का नुकसान होगा. यह चीन के संभावित अपवाद और भारत के संभावित अपवाद के साथ, विकासशील देशों के लिए गंभीर मुसीबत बन जाएगी". हालाँकि, रिपोर्ट में यह विस्तृत विवरण नहीं दिया गया है कि भारत और चीन अपवाद क्यों और कैसे होंगे.

UNCTAD की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार जिस गति से COVID-19 से विकासशील देशों को आर्थिक झटका लगा है, वह काफी ड्रामेटिक है. UNCTAD के महासचिव मुखिसा (Mukhisa) ने कहा, "सदमे से आर्थिक गिरावट जारी है और भविष्यवाणी करना मुश्किल है, लेकिन स्पष्ट संकेत हैं कि विकासशील अर्थव्यवस्थाओं के लिए चीजें बहुत खराब होंगी."

रिपोर्ट और कुछ विशेषज्ञों, अर्थशास्त्रियों और नीति निर्माताओं के अनुसार विश्व में  कई देशों की अर्थव्यवस्था पर COVID-19 के कारण काफी प्रभाव पड़ने की आशंका है.

COVID-19: भारत और इटली के बीच हेल्थकेयर और अन्य सेक्टर्स की तुलना

सन 1900 के दशक से भारत में महामारियों का इतिहास

आप जागरण जोश पर भारत , विश्व समाचार, खेल के साथ-साथ प्रतियोगी परीक्षाओं की तैयारी के लिए समसामयिक सामान्य ज्ञान , सूची, जीके हिंदी और क्विज प्राप्त कर सकते है. आप यहां से कर्रेंट अफेयर्स ऐप डाउनलोड करें.

• राजस्थान दिवस
• सूर्य ग्रहण 8 अप्रैल 2024
• BCCI Central Contract 2024
• राजस्थान के मुख्यमंत्री
• क्रिकेट वर्ल्ड कप 2027
• Holi Kab Hai
• बीएसईबी बिहार बोर्ड इंटर रिजल्ट
• HP Board 12th Result 2024 Roll Number
• HPBOSE 12th Result 2024
• भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था

Latest Education News

[Today] IPL 2024 Points Table: Team Rankings and Net Run Rate

[Current] Orange Cap and Purple Cap Holders in IPL 2024

Purple Cap in IPL 2024: Top Players List with Most Wickets in TATA IPL

Orange Cap in IPL 2024: Top Players List with Most Runs in TATA IPL

T20 World Cup 2024: कौन-कौन से खिलाड़ी भारतीय स्क्वॉड के है प्रबल दावेदार?

Lok Sabha election 2024: केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री Amit Shah कितनी संपत्ति के मालिक है? देखें पूरी Net Worth

Who Won Yesterday IPL Match: KKR vs DC, Match 47, Check All Details and Latest Points Table

IPL 2024 Stats: आईपीएल में किसने फेंकी थी पहली गेंद, किसने लिया पहला विकेट और किसने जड़ा पहला छक्का

Fastest 50s In IPL History: किसने जड़ा है आईपीएल इतिहास का सबसे तेज़ अर्द्धशतक? देखें पूरी लिस्ट

[Latest] IPL Points Table 2024: आईपीएल 2024 अपडेटेड पॉइंट टेबल यहां देखें, राजस्थान ऑन टॉप

JAC 12th Result 2024 Live: झारखंड बोर्ड 12वीं का रिजल्ट कल सुबह 11 बजे आएगा, रोल नंबर से jac.jharhand.gov.in पर चेक कर सकेंगे छात्र

TS SSC Results 2024 LIVE Updates: Manabadi BSE Telangana 10th Result Tomorrow at 11 AM, Check Website Link

[डायरेक्ट लिंक] hpbose.org, hpbose.org Result.aspx 12th Result 2024 OUT: जारी हुए हिमाचल बोर्ड 12वीं के नतीजे, ये रहा डायरेक्ट डाउनलोड लिंक?

Jharkhand Board 12th Result 2024 Date and Time: जारी हुई जैक 12वीं रिजल्ट की तारीखें, यहाँ देखें परिणाम से जुड़ी सभी जरुरी बातें

JAC 12th Result 2024 LIVE: Jharkhand Board Class 12 Results to be Announced Tomorrow at 11 AM, Check Online by Roll Number

Viral Optical Illusion: Help Tom Find His Gift Box Hidden In This Birthday Party Picture. 7 Seconds Left!

[Official] JAC Board 12th Result 2024 Date and Time Notification Released: Check Notice for Jharkhand Class 12 Results Here

JAC Result 2024 Class 12: Jharkhand Board Class 12th Result Date And Time at jacresults.com

UK Board Result 2024: Uttrakhand Board UBSE Class 10, 12 Result Date And Time at uaresults.nic.in

UK Board Result 2024 Class 12: Uttrakhand Board Class 12th Result Date And Time at ubse.uk.gov.in

कोविड-19 के दौरान स्वास्थ्य और कुशलता

मौजूदा गतिरोध के दरमियान, हम सब के लिए स्वस्थ जीवनशैली कायम रखना बहुत मुश्किल हो गया है। वित्तीय मामलों, बच्चों की देख-भाल, बुजुर्ग माता-पिता, नौकरी की सुरक्षा पर आए संकट आदि से जुड़ी अनिश्चितता और चिंताओं ने हमारी जीवनचर्या, जीवनशैली और मानसिक स्वास्थ्य सभी को अस्त-व्यस्त कर दिया है। भविष्य की अनिश्चितता, अनवरत चल रही न्यूज कवरेज और सोशल मीडिया पर लगातार आते संदेशों की बाढ़ से हमारी चिंता का बढ़ जाना स्वभाविक है। ऐसी स्थितियों में तनाव होना सामान्य है। तनाव से हमारे सोने और खाने-पीने की आदत बदल जाती है, इससे चिड़चिड़ापन या भावनात्मक ज्वार आता है, मानसिक संबल घट जाता है और लोग शराब या दूसरी लत में पड़ने लगते हैं। अगर आप ऐसा कुछ महसूस कर रहे हैं तो मदद हासिल करने से हिचकिचाएं नहीं।* स्वस्थ जीवनशैली अपनाए रखना और अपनी पुरानी जीवनचर्या में लौट आना भी बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है।

तनाव से निपटने और अपने मानसिक, शारीरिक व सामाजिक स्वास्थ्य को कायम रखने के कुछ नुस्खे-

*भारत – राष्ट्रीय मानसिक स्वास्थ्य और तंत्रिका विज्ञान संस्थान (निमहांस)  ने स्वास्थ्य और परिवार कल्याण मंत्रालय के साथ साझेदारी में यह मानसिक-सामाजिक टोल-फ्री हेल्पलाइन नंबर 08046110007 शुरू किया है।

मानसिक स्वास्थ्य

शारीरिक स्वास्थ्य

सामाजिक स्वास्थ्य

• Discussions
• Certificates
• Collab Space
• Course Details
• Announcements

कोरोनवायरस ऐसे वायरस परिवार से है जो सामान्य जुकाम से लेकर गंभीर स्वरूप की बीमारि जैसे की मिडल ईस्ट रिस्पेरेटरी सिंड्रोम कोरोनावायरस (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome- MERS) और सीवियर एक्यूट रिस्पेरेटरी सिंड्रोम कोरोनावायरस (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome- SARS) का कारण बनता है।

नोवल कोरोनावायरस (COVID-19) की पहचान चीन के वुहान में 2019 में हुई थी। यह एक नया कोरोनोवायरस है जिसे मनुष्यों में पहले कभी नहीं देखा गया था।

यह कोर्स COVID-19 और उभरते हुए श्वसन सम्बन्धी वायरस के बारेमें एक सामान्य परिचय प्रदान करता है और सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य पेशेवरों, घटना प्रबंधकों / अधिकारी और संयुक्त राष्ट्र (UN), अंतर्राष्ट्रीय संगठनों और गैर सरकारी संगठनों (NGO) के लिए काम करने वाले कर्मचारियों के लिए अभिप्रेत है।

चूंकि भौतिक निर्माण के बाद आधिकारिक रोग का नाम स्थापित किया गया था, nCoV का कोई भी उल्लेख COVID-19 को संदर्भित करता है, जो हाल ही में खोजे गए कोरोनावायरस के कारण होने वाला संक्रामक रोग है।

कृपया ध्यान दें कि इस पाठ्यक्रम की सामग्री को वर्तमान में नवीनतम मार्गदर्शन को दर्शाने के लिए संशोधित किया जा रहा है। आप निम्न पाठ्यक्रमों में कुछ COVID-19-संबंधित विषयों पर अद्यतन जानकारी प्राप्त कर सकते हैं: टीकाकरण: COVID-19 वैक्सीन चैनल आईपीसी उपाय: * COVID-19 के लिए आईपीसी एंटीजन रैपिड डायग्नोस्टिक टेस्टिंग: 1) SARS-CoV-2 एंटीजन रैपिड डायग्नोस्टिक टेस्टिंग ; 2) SARS-CoV-2 एंटीजन RDT कार्यान्वयन के लिए मुख्य विचार

कृपया ध्यान दें: इन सामग्रियों को 03/03/2020 को लॉन्च किया गया था।

Course contents

मॉड्यूल ए: उभरते श्वसन वायरस का परिचय, covid-19 के सहित:, मॉड्यूल बी: covid-19 सहित उभरते श्वसन वायरस का पता लगाना: निगरानी और प्रयोगशाला जांच:, मॉड्यूल सी: जोखिम की सूचना और सामुदायिक सहभाग :, मॉड्यूल डी: उभरते हुए श्वसन वायरस की रोकथाम और सामना करना, जिसमें covid-19 भी शामिल है:, enroll me for this course, certificate requirements.

• Gain a Record of Achievement by earning at least 80% of the maximum number of points from all graded assignments.

• Reference Manager
• Simple TEXT file

People also looked at

Perspective article, the rise and impact of covid-19 in india.

• 1 School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India
• 2 VIT-BS, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which originated in the city of Wuhan, China, has quickly spread to various countries, with many cases having been reported worldwide. As of May 8th, 2020, in India, 56,342 positive cases have been reported. India, with a population of more than 1.34 billion—the second largest population in the world—will have difficulty in controlling the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 among its population. Multiple strategies would be highly necessary to handle the current outbreak; these include computational modeling, statistical tools, and quantitative analyses to control the spread as well as the rapid development of a new treatment. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has raised awareness about the recent outbreak and has taken necessary actions to control the spread of COVID-19. The central and state governments are taking several measures and formulating several wartime protocols to achieve this goal. Moreover, the Indian government implemented a 55-days lockdown throughout the country that started on March 25th, 2020, to reduce the transmission of the virus. This outbreak is inextricably linked to the economy of the nation, as it has dramatically impeded industrial sectors because people worldwide are currently cautious about engaging in business in the affected regions.

Current Scenario in India

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan city, China, and later spread to many provinces in China. As of May 8th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) had documented 3,759,967 positive COVID-19 cases, and the death toll attributed to COVID-19 had reached 259,474 worldwide ( 1 ). So far, more than 212 countries and territories have confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. On January 30th, 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern ( 2 ). The first SARS-CoV-2 positive case in India was reported in the state of Kerala on January 30th, 2020. Subsequently, the number of cases drastically rose. According to the press release by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on May 8th, 2020, a total of 14,37,788 suspected samples had been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, and a related testing laboratory ( 3 ). Among them, 56,342 cases tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 ( 4 ). A state-wise distribution of positive cases until May 8th, 2020, is listed in Table 1 , and the cases have been depicted on an Indian map ( Figure 1 ). Nearly 197,192 Indians have recently been repatriated from affected regions, and more than 1,393,301 passengers have been screened for SARS-CoV-2 at Indian airports ( 5 ), with 111 positive cases observed among foreign nationals ( 4 , 5 ). As of May 8th, 2020, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Gujarat states were reported to be hotspots for COVID-19 with 17,974, 5,980, and 7,012 confirmed cases, respectively. To date, 16,540 patients have recovered, and 1,886 deaths have been reported in India ( 5 ). To impose social distancing, the “Janata curfew” (14-h lockdown) was ordered on March 22nd, 2020. A further lockdown was initiated for 21 days, starting on March 25th, 2020, and the same was extended until May 3rd, 2020, but, owing to an increasing number of positive cases, the lockdown has been extended for the third time until May 17th, 2020 ( 6 ). Currently, out of 32 states and eight union territories in India, 26 states and six union territories have reported COVID-19 cases. Additionally, the health ministry has identified 130 districts as hotspot zones or red zones, 284 as orange zones (with few SARS-CoV-2 infections), and 319 as green zones (no SARS-CoV-2 infection) as of May 4th, 2020. These hotspot districts have been identified to report more than 80% of the cases across the nation. Nineteen districts in Uttar Pradesh are identified as hotspot districts, and this was followed by 14 and 12 districts in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, respectively ( 7 ). The complete lockdown was implemented in these containment zones to stop/limit community transmission ( 5 ). As of May 8th, 2020, 310 government laboratories and 111 private laboratories across the country were involved in SARS-CoV-2 testing. As per ICMR report, 14,37,788 samples were tested till date, which is 1.04 per thousand people ( 3 ).

Table 1 . Current status of reported positive coronavirus disease cases in India (State-wise).

Figure 1 . State-wise distribution of positive coronavirus disease cases displayed on an Indian geographical map.

COVID-19 and Previous Coronavirus Outbreaks

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 in several countries is similar to the previous outbreaks of SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) that emerged in 2003 and 2012 in China and Saudi Arabia, respectively ( 8 – 10 ). Coronavirus is responsible for both SARS and COVID-19 diseases; they affect the respiratory tract and cause major disease outbreaks worldwide. SARS is caused by SARS-CoV, whereas SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19. So far, there is no particular treatment available to treat SARS or COVID-19. In the current search for a COVID-19 cure, there is some evidence that point to SARS-CoV-2 being similar to human coronavirus HKU1 and 229E strains ( 11 , 12 ) even though they are new coronavirus family members. These reports suggest that humans do not have immunity to this virus, allowing its easy and rapid spread among human populations through contact with an infected person. SARS-CoV-2 is more transmissible than SARS-CoV. The two possible reasons could be (i) the viral load (quantity of virus) tends to be relatively higher in COVID-19-positive patients, especially in the nose and throat immediately after they develop symptoms, and (ii) the binding affinity of SARS-CoV-2 to host cell receptors is higher than that of SARS-CoV ( 13 , 14 ). The other comparisons between SARS and COVID-19 are tabulated in Table 2 , and references for the same are provided here ( 1 , 15 , 16 ).

Table 2 . Differences between coronavirus disease and severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Impact of COVID-19 in India and the Global Economy

As per the official government guidelines, India is making preparations against the COVID-19 outbreak, and avoiding specific crisis actions or not understating its importance will have extremely severe implications. All the neighboring countries of India have reported positive COVID-19 cases. To protect against the deadly virus, the Indian government have taken necessary and strict measures, including establishing health check posts between the national borders to test whether people entering the country have the virus ( 17 ). Different countries have introduced rescue efforts and surveillance measures for citizens wishing to return from China. The lesson learned from the SARS outbreak was first that the lack of clarity and information about SARS weakened China's global standing and hampered its economic growth ( 10 , 18 – 20 ). The outbreak of SARS in China was catastrophic and has led to changes in health care and medical systems ( 18 , 20 ). Compared with China, the ability of India to counter a pandemic seems to be much lower. A recent study reported that affected family members had not visit the Wuhan market in China, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 may spread without manifesting symptoms ( 21 ). Researchers believe that this phenomenon is normal for many viruses. India, with a population of more than 1.34 billion—the second largest population in the world—will have difficulty treating severe COVID-19 cases because the country has only 49,000 ventilators, which is a minimal amount. If the number of COVID-19 cases increases in the nation, it would be a catastrophe for India ( 22 ). It would be difficult to identify sources of infection and those who come in contact with them. This would necessitate multiple strategies to handle the outbreak, including computational modeling as well as statistical and quantitative analyses, to rapidly develop new vaccines and drug treatments. With such a vast population, India's medical system is grossly inadequate. A study has shown that, owing to inadequate medical care systems, nearly 1 million people die every year in India ( 23 ). India is also engaged in trading with its nearby countries, such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Myanmar, China, and Nepal. During the financial year 2017–18 (FY2017–18), Indian regional trade amounted to nearly $12 billion, accounting for only 1.56% of its total global trade value of $769 billion. The outbreak of such viruses and their transmission would significantly affect the Indian economy. The outbreak in China could profoundly affect the Indian economy, especially in the sectors of electronics, pharmaceuticals, and logistics operations, as trade ports with China are currently closed. This was further supported by the statement by Suyash Choudhary, Head—Fixed Income, IDFC AMC, stating that GDP might decrease owing to COVID-19 ( 24 ).

Economists assume that the impact of COVID-19 on the economy will be high and negative when compared with the SARS impact during 2003. For instance, it has been estimated that the number of tourists arriving in China was much higher than that of tourists who traveled during the season when SARS emerged in 2003. This shows that COVID-19 has an effect on the tourism industry. It has been estimated that, for SARS, there was a 57 and 45% decline in yearly rail passenger and road passenger traffic, respectively ( 25 ). Moreover, when compared with the world economy 15 years ago, world economies are currently much more inter-related. It has been estimated that COVID-19 will hurt emerging market currencies and also impact oil prices ( 26 – 28 ). From the retail industry's perspective, consumer savings seem to be high. This might have an adverse effect on consumption rates, as all supply chains are likely to be affected, which in turn would have its impact on supply when compared with the demand of various necessary product items ( 29 ). This clearly proves that, based on the estimated losses due to the effect of SARS on tourism (retail sales lost around USD 12–18 billion and USD 30–100 billion was lost at a global macroeconomic level), we cannot estimate the impact of COVID-19 at this point. This will be possible only when the spread of COVID-19 is fully controlled. Until that time, any estimates will be rather ambiguous and imprecise ( 19 ). The OECD Interim economic assessment has provided briefing reports highlighting the role of China in the global supply chain and commodity markets. Japan, South Korea, and Australia are the countries that are most susceptible to adverse effects, as they have close ties with China. It has been estimated that there has been a 20% decline in car sales, which was 10% of the monthly decline in China during January 2020. This shows that even industrial production has been affected by COVID-19. So far, several factors have thus been identified as having a major economic impact: labor mobility, lack of working hours, interruptions in the global supply chain, less consumption, and tourism, and less demand in the commodity market at a global level ( 30 ), which in turn need to be adequately analyzed by industry type. Corporate leaders need to prioritize the supply chain and product line economy trends via demand from the consumer end. Amidst several debates on sustainable economy before the COVID-19 impact, it has now been estimated that India's GDP by the International Monetary Fund has been cut down to 1.9% from 5.8% for the FY21. The financial crisis that has emerged owing to the worldwide lockdown reflects its adverse effect on several industries and the global supply chain, which has resulted in the GDP dropping to 4.2% for FY20, which was previously estimated at 4.8%. Nevertheless, it has been roughly estimated that India and China will be experiencing considerable positive growth among other major economies ( 31 ).

Preparations and Preventive Measures in India

An easy way to decrease SARS-CoV-2 infection rates is to avoid virus exposure. People from India should avoid traveling to countries highly affected with the virus, practice proper hygiene, and avoid consuming food that is not home cooked. Necessary preventive measures, such as wearing a mask, regular hand washing, and avoiding direct contact with infected persons, should also be practiced. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), India, has raised awareness about the recent outbreak and taken necessary action to control COVID-19. Besides, the MOHFW has created a 24 h/7 days-a-week disease alert helpline (+91-11-23978046 and 1800-180-1104) and policy guidelines on surveillance, clinical management, infection prevention and control, sample collection, transportation, and discharging suspected or confirmed cases ( 3 , 5 ). Those who traveled from China, or other countries, and exhibited symptoms, including fever, difficulty in breathing, sore throat, cough, and breathlessness, were asked to visit the nearest hospital for a health check-up. Officials from seven different airports, including Chennai, Cochin, New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, have been ordered to screen and monitor Indian travelers from China and other affected countries. In addition, a travel advisory was released to request the cessation of travel to affected countries, and anyone with a travel history that has included China since January 15th, 2020, would be quarantined. A centralized control room has been set up by the Delhi government at the Directorate General of Health Services, and 11 other districts have done the same. India has implemented COVID-19 travel advisory for intra- and inter-passenger aircraft restrictions. More information on additional travel advisory can be accessed with the provided link ( https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/Traveladvisory.pdf ).

India is known for its traditional medicines in the form of AYUSH (Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy). The polyherbal powder NilavembuKudineer showed promising effects against dengue and chikungunya fevers in the past ( 32 ). With the outbreak of COVID-19, the ministry of AYUSH has released a press note “Advisory for Coronavirus,” mentioning useful medications to improve the immunity of the individuals ( 33 ). Currently, according to the ICMR guidelines, doctors prescribe a combination of Lopinavir and Ritonavir for severe COVID-19 cases and hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection ( 34 , 35 ). In collaboration with the WHO, ICMR will conduct a therapeutic trial for COVID-19 in India ( 3 ). The ICMR recommends using the US-FDA-approved closed real-time RT-PCR systems, such as GeneXpert and Roche COBAS-6800/8800, which are used to diagnose chronic myeloid leukemia and melanoma, respectively ( 36 ). In addition, the TruenatTM beta CoV test on the TruelabTM workstation validated by the ICMR is recommended as a screening test. All positive results obtained on this platform need to be confirmed by confirmatory assays for SARS-CoV-2. All negative results do not require further testing. Antibody-based rapid tests were validated at NIV, Pune, and found to be satisfactory; the rapid test kits are as follows: (i) SARS-CoV-2 Antibody test (Lateral flow method): Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech, Mylan Laboratories Limited (CE-IVD); (ii) COVID-19 IgM&IgG Rapid Test: BioMedomics (CE-IVD); (iii) COVID-19 IgM/IgG Antibody Rapid Test: Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics (CEIVD); (iv) New coronavirus (COVID-19) IgG/IgM Rapid Test: Voxtur Bio Ltd, India; (v) COVID-19 IgM/IgG antibody detection card test: VANGUARD Diagnostics, India; (vi) MakesureCOVID-19 Rapid test: HLL Lifecare Limited, India; and (vii) YHLO SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG detection kit (additional equipment required): CPC, Diagnostics. As a step further, on the technological aspect, the Union Health Ministry has launched a mobile application called “AarogyaSetu” that works both on android and iOS mobile phones. This application constructs a user database for establishing an awareness network that can alert people and governments about possible COVID-19 victims ( 37 ).

Future Perspectives

Infections caused by these viruses are an enormous global health threat. They are a major cause of death and have adverse socio-economic effects that are continually exacerbated. Therefore, potential treatment initiatives and approaches need to be developed. First, India is taking necessary preventive measures to reduce viral transmission. Second, ICMR and the Ministry of AYUSH provided guidelines to use conventional preventive and treatment strategies to increase immunity against COVID-19 ( 3 , 38 ). These guidelines could help reduce the severity of the viral infection in elderly patients and increase life expectancy ( 39 ). The recent report from the director of ICMR mentioned that India would undergo randomized controlled trials using convalescent plasma of completely recovered COVID-19 patients. Convalescent plasma therapy is highly recommended, as it has provided moderate success with SARS and MERS ( 40 ); this has been rolled out in 20 health centers and will be increased this month (May 2020) ( 3 ). India has expertise in specialized medical/pharmaceutical industries with production facilities, and the government has established fast-tracking research to develop rapid diagnostic test kits and vaccines at low cost ( 41 ). In addition, the Serum Institute of India started developing a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infection ( 42 ). Until we obtain an appropriate vaccine, it is highly recommended that we screen the red zoned areas to stop further transmission of the virus. Medical college doctors in Kerala, India, implemented the low-cost WISK (Walk-in Sample Kiosk) to collect samples without direct exposure or contact ( 43 , 44 ). After Kerala, The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) developed walk-in kiosks to collect COVID-19 samples and named these as COVID-19 Sample Collection Kiosk (COVSACK) ( 45 ). After the swab collection, the testing of SARS-CoV-2 can be achieved with the existing diagnostic facility in India. This facility can be used for massive screening or at least in the red zoned areas without the need for personal protective equipment kits ( 43 , 45 ). India has attempted to broaden its research facilities and shift toward testing the mass population, as recommended by medical experts in India and worldwide ( 46 ).

Data Availability Statement

Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and https://www.icmr.gov.in/ .

Author Contributions

SK, DK, and CD were involved in the design of the study and the acquisition, analysis, interpretation of the data, and drafting the manuscript. BC was involved in the interpretation of the data. CD supervised the entire study. The manuscript was reviewed and approved by all the authors.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for publicly providing the details of COVID-19. The authors would like to use this opportunity to thank the management of VIT for providing the necessary facilities and encouragement to carry out this work.

1. Situation report-109. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) . WHO (2020). Available online at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports (accessed May 09, 2020).

2. Wee SL Jr, McNeil DG Jr, Hernández JC. W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency as Wuhan Coronavirus Spreads . The New York Times (2020). Available online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/health/coronavirus-world-health-organization.html (accessed February 03, 2020).

3. COVID-19 ICMR. COVID-19 . Indian Council of Medical Research. Government of India. ICMR (2020). Available online at: https://main.icmr.nic.in/content/covid-19 (accessed May 09, 2020).

4. COVID-19 update. COVID-19 INDIA . Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. MOHFW (2020). Available online at: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ (accessed May 09, 2020).

5. Novel coronavirus-MOHFW. Home . Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. GOI (2020). Available online at: http://www.mohfw.gov.in/ (accessed May 08, 2020).

6. Bureau O. PM Modi calls for ‘Janata curfew’ on March 22 from 7 AM-9 PM . @businessline (2020). Available online at: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/pm-modi-calls-for-janta-curfew-on-march-22-from-7-am-9-pm/article31110155.ece (accessed April 05, 2020).

7. Sangeeta N. Coronavirus Hotspots in India: Full List of 130 COVID-19 Hotspot Districts, All Metro Cities Marked Red Zones . Jagranjosh.com (2020). Available online at: https://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/coronavirus-hotspot-areas-in-india-what-are-hotspots-know-all-covid-hotspots-1586411869-1 (accessed May 03, 2020).

8. Smith RD. Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management. Soc Sci Med. (2006) 63:3113–23. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.08.004

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

9. Mackay IM, Arden KE. MERS coronavirus: diagnostics, epidemiology and transmission. Virol J. (2015) 12:222. doi: 10.1186/s12985-015-0439-5

10. Peeri NC, Shrestha N, Rahman MS, Zaki R, Tan Z, Bibi S, et al. The SARS, MERS and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemics, the newest and biggest global health threats: what lessons have we learned? Int J Epidemiol . (2020). doi: 10.1093/ije/dyaa033. [Epub ahead of print].

11. Broor S, Dawood FS, Pandey BG, Saha S, Gupta V, Krishnan A, et al. Rates of respiratory virus-associated hospitalization in children aged <5 years in rural northern India. J Infection. (2014) 68:281–9. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2013.11.005

12. Sonawane AA, Shastri J, Bavdekar SB. Respiratory pathogens in infants diagnosed with acute lower respiratory tract infection in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Western India Using Multiplex Real Time PCR. Indian J Pediatr. (2019) 86:433–8. doi: 10.1007/s12098-018-2840-8

13. Tai W, He L, Zhang X, Pu J, Voronin D, Jiang S, et al. Characterization of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of 2019 novel coronavirus: implication for development of RBD protein as a viral attachment inhibitor and vaccine. Cell Mol Immunol. (2020). doi: 10.1038/s41423-020-0400-4. [Epub ahead of print].

14. Zou L, Ruan F, Huang M, Liang L, Huang H, Hong Z, et al. SARS-CoV-2 viral load in upper respiratory specimens of infected patients. N Engl J Med. (2020) 382:1177–9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2001737

15. Emergencies preparedness, response. WHO | Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-multi-country outbreak - Update 55 . WHO (2003). Available online at: https://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_05_14a/en/ (accessed February 03, 2020).

Google Scholar

16. CDC. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – Symptoms . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020). Available online at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html (accessed April 07, 2020).

17. Qayam. Coronavirus scare in east UP due to cases in Nepal . The Siasat Daily (2020). Available online at: https://www.siasat.com/coronavirus-scare-east-due-cases-nepal-1805965/ (accessed February 03, 2020).

18. Huang Y. The Sars Epidemic And Its Aftermath In China: A Political Perspective . National Academies Press (US) (2004). Available online at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92479/ (accessed May 04, 2020).

19. Qiu W, Chu C, Mao A, Wu J. The impacts on health, society, and economy of SARS and H7N9 outbreaks in China: a case comparison study. J Environ Public Health. (2018) 2018:e2710185. doi: 10.1155/2018/2710185

20. McCloskey B, Heymann DL. SARS to novel coronavirus–old lessons and new lessons. Epidemiol Infect . (2020) 148:e22. doi: 10.1017/S0950268820000254

21. Chan JF-W, Yuan S, Kok K-H, To KK-W, Chu H, Yang J, et al. A familial cluster of pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus indicating person-to-person transmission: a study of a family cluster. Lancet. (2020) 395:514–23. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30154-9

22. PIB Mubmai. Press Information Bureau . Press Information Bureau (2020). Available online at: https://pib.gov.in/indexd.aspx (accessed May 05, 2020).

23. Dandona L, Dandona R, Kumar GA, Shukla DK, Paul VK, Balakrishnan K, et al. Nations within a nation: variations in epidemiological transition across the states of India, 1990–2016 in the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet. (2017) 390:2437–60. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32804-0

24. Samrat S. Coronavirus may hit Sitharaman's 10% growth target; second case surfaces in India . The Financial Express (2020). Available online at: https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/coronavirus-may-hit-sitharamans-10-gdp-growth-target-second-case-surfaces-in-india/1852146/ (accessed February 03, 2020).

25. Cheng E, Tan W. Coronavirus cases in China overtake SARS — and the economic impact could be “more severe.” CNBC (2020). Available online at: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/29/coronavirus-cases-in-china-overtake-sars-and-impact-could-be-more-severe.html (accessed March 11, 2020).

26. Atsmon Y, Child P, Dobbs R, Narasimhan L. Winning the $30 Trillion Decathlon: Going for Gold in Emerging Markets . McKinsey (2012). Available online at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/winning-the-30-trillion-decathlon-going-for-gold-in-emerging-markets (accessed May 04, 2020).

27. Sudhir K, Priester J, Shum M, Atkin D, Foster A, Iyer G, et al. Research opportunities in emerging markets: an inter-disciplinary perspective from marketing, economics, and psychology. Cust Need Solut. (2015) 2:264–76. doi: 10.1007/s40547-015-0044-1

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

28. Albulescu C. Coronavirus and oil price crash. SSRN J. (2020) 1–13. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3553452

29. Carlsson-Szlezak P, Reeves M, Swartz P. What Coronavirus Could Mean for the Global Economy . Harvard Business Review (2020). Available online at: https://hbr.org/2020/03/what-coronavirus-could-mean-for-the-global-economy (accessed March 11, 2020).

30. Coronavirus: The world economy at risk. (2020). OECD Economic Outlook . Available online at: http://www.oecd.org/economic-outlook/ (accessed March 11, 2020).

31. International Monetary Fund. (2020). “Chapter 1-policies to support people during the COVID-19 pandemic,” in FISCAL MONITOR (International Monetary Fund). Available online at: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications (accessed May 07, 2020).

32. Jain J, Kumar A, Narayanan V, Ramaswamy RS, Sathiyarajeswaran P, Shree Devi MS, et al. Antiviral activity of ethanolic extract of Nilavembu Kudineer against dengue and chikungunya virus through in vitro evaluation. J Ayurveda Integr Med . (2019). doi: 10.1016/j.jaim.2018.05.006. [Epub ahead of print].

33. Advisory for Corona virus, Homoeopathy for Prevention of Corona virus Infections, Unani Medicines useful in symptomatic management of Corona Virus infection. Press Information Bureau . Available online at: pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1600895 (accessed February 03, 2020).

34. Bhatnagar T, Murhekar MV, Soneja M, Gupta N, Giri S, Wig N, et al. Lopinavir/ritonavir combination therapy amongst symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 patients in India: protocol for restricted public health emergency use. Indian J Med Res . (2020) 151:184–9. doi: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_502_20

35. Rathi S, Ish P, Kalantri A, Kalantri S. Hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis for COVID-19 contacts in India. Lancet Infectious Dis. (2020). doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30313-3. [Epub ahead of print].

36. Health C. for D. and R. Nucleic Acid Based Tests . FDA (2020). Available online at: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics/nucleic-acid-based-tests (accessed May 05, 2020).

37. Aarogya Setu Mobile App. MyGov.in . (2020). Available online at: https://mygov.in/aarogya-setu-app/ (accessed May 04, 2020).

PubMed Abstract

38. Vasudha V. Coronavirus Outbreak: Ayush Pushes “Traditional Cure,” Med Council Backs Modern Drugs . The Economic Times (2020). Available online at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/ayush-pushes-traditional-cure-med-council-backs-modern-drugs/articleshow/74680699.cms (accessed May 02, 2020).

39. Elfiky AA. Anti-HCV, nucleotide inhibitors, repurposing against COVID-19. Life Sci. (2020) 248:117477. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.117477

40. Teixeira da Silva JA. Convalescent plasma: a possible treatment of COVID-19 in India. Med J Armed Forces India . (2020). doi: 10.1016/j.mjafi.2020.04.006. [Epub ahead of print].

41. Sinha DK. COVID-19: Vaccine Development and Therapeutic Strategies . IndiaBioscience (2020). Available online at: https://indiabioscience.org/columns/general-science/covid-19-vaccine-development-and-therapeutic-strategies (accessed May 06, 2020).

42. Varghese MG, Rijal S. How India Must Prepare for a Second Wave of COVID-19 . Nature India (2020). Available online at: https://www.natureasia.com/en/nindia/article/10.1038/nindia.2020.80 (accessed May 06, 2020).

43. Koshy SM. Inspired By South Korea, Walk-In COVID-19 Test Kiosks Built In Kerala . NDTV.com (2020). Available online at: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/coronavirus-inspired-by-south-korea-walk-in-test-kiosks-built-in-keralas-ernakulam-2207119 (accessed May 06, 2020).

44. MK N. Covid-19: Kerala Hospital Installs South Korea-Like Kiosks to Collect Samples . Livemint (2020). Available online at: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/covid-19-kerala-hospital-installs-south-korea-like-kiosks-to-collect-samples-11586234679849.html (accessed May 09, 2020).

45. DRDO. Covid-19 Sample Collection Kiosk (COVSACK) . Defence Research and Development Organisation - DRDO|GoI (2020). Available online at: https://drdo.gov.in/covid-19-sample-collection-kiosk-covsack (accessed May 09, 2020).

46. Vaidyanathan G. People power: how India is attempting to slow the coronavirus. Nature. (2020) 580:442. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01058-5

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, India, economy, safety measures

Citation: Kumar SU, Kumar DT, Christopher BP and Doss CGP (2020) The Rise and Impact of COVID-19 in India. Front. Med. 7:250. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2020.00250

Received: 19 March 2020; Accepted: 11 May 2020; Published: 22 May 2020.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2020 Kumar, Kumar, Christopher and Doss. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: C. George Priya Doss, georgepriyadoss@vit.ac.in

This article is part of the Research Topic

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Pathophysiology, Epidemiology, Clinical Management and Public Health Response

COVID-19 and its impact on education, social life and mental health of students: A survey

Affiliation.

• 1 Biometric Research Laboratory, Department of Information Technology, Delhi Technological University, Bawana Road, Delhi 110042, India.
• PMID: 33390636
• PMCID: PMC7762625
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105866

The outbreak of COVID-19 affected the lives of all sections of society as people were asked to self-quarantine in their homes to prevent the spread of the virus. The lockdown had serious implications on mental health, resulting in psychological problems including frustration, stress, and depression. In order to explore the impacts of this pandemic on the lives of students, we conducted a survey of a total of 1182 individuals of different age groups from various educational institutes in Delhi - National Capital Region (NCR), India. The article identified the following as the impact of COVID-19 on the students of different age groups: time spent on online classes and self-study, medium used for learning, sleeping habits, daily fitness routine, and the subsequent effects on weight, social life, and mental health. Moreover, our research found that in order to deal with stress and anxiety, participants adopted different coping mechanisms and also sought help from their near ones. Further, the research examined the student's engagement on social media platforms among different age categories. This study suggests that public authorities should take all the necessary measures to enhance the learning experience by mitigating the negative impacts caused due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: Children and Youth; Covid-19; Impact; Mental health; Online education; Students.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• My Account Login
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Open access
• Published: 28 February 2022

Effect of COVID-19 on agricultural production and food security: A scientometric analysis

• Collins C. Okolie   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6633-6717 1 &
• Abiodun A. Ogundeji   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7356-5668 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  9 , Article number:  64 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

27k Accesses

34 Citations

1 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Environmental studies

Coronavirus disease has created an unexpected negative situation globally, impacting the agricultural sector, economy, human health, and food security. This study examined research on COVID-19 in relation to agricultural production and food security. Research articles published in Web of Science and Scopus were sourced, considering critical situations and circumstance posed by COVID-19 pandemic with regards to the shortage of agricultural production activities and threat to food security systems. In total, 174 published papers in BibTeX format were downloaded for further study. To assess the relevant documents, authors used “effects of COVID-19 on agricultural production and food security (ECAP-FS) as a search keyword for research published between 2016 and April 2021 utilising bibliometric innovative methods. The findings indicated an annual growth rate of about 56.64%, indicating that research on ECAP-FS increased over time within the study period. Nevertheless, the research output on ECAP-FS varied with 2020 accounting for 38.5%, followed by 2021 with 37.9% as at April 2021. The proposed four stage processes for merging two databases for bibliometric analyses clearly showed that one can run collaboration network analyses, authors coupling among other analyses by following our procedure and finally using net2VOSviewer, which is embedded in Rstudio software package. The study concluded that interruptions in agricultural food supply as a result of the pandemic impacted supply and demand shocks with negative impacts on all the four pillars of food security.

Similar content being viewed by others

Exploring the evolving landscape of COVID-19 interfaced with livelihoods

Perspectives of scholars on the origin, spread and consequences of COVID-19 are diverse but not polarized

Big data visualisation in regional comprehensive economic partnership: a systematic review

Introduction.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created an unusual situation globally (Alam and Khatun, 2021 ). Barely a year ago early in the year 2020, the unusual nature of coronavirus caused most governments to implement stringent steps in their countries to restrain the virus’s spread. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease impacted economies throughout the world, disproportionately impacting individuals who were already susceptible to poverty and hunger (Laborde et al., 2020a ; Ceballos et al., 2020 ). In late December 2019, the virus was discovered in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 presented a major danger to human health, the economy, and food security in both industrialised and emerging nations (Mottaleb et al., 2020 ; Carroll et al., 2020 ; Alam and Khatun, 2021 ). Lessons learned from China revealed that various COVID-19 countermeasures such as lockdown in the country hampered production. This poses a significant risk to the long-term food supply (FAO, 2020 ), and has a negative impact on the economy, resulting in economic decline and crisis (Bai, 2020 ). It is important to understand that certain precautional and control efforts compromise agricultural production (Singh et al., 2021 ).

The virus wreaked havoc on the agricultural production sector, which is at the heart of the food chain (Pu and Zhong, 2020 ). The global spread of coronavirus resulted in the greatest economic downturn since World War Two (Hanna et al., 2020 ; Xu et al., 2021 ). The epidemic’s major impact on agricultural labour input was the restriction of labour mobility. Farmers were not permitted to just go out and gather in any way except to purchase essentials. This resulted in a manpower scarcity and reduced mass production efficiency. For instance, due to a scarcity of migrant experts, producers from Sichuan, Hunan, and Hubei in the grain-producing districts in China (south-eastern coastal district) were not able to sow their crops in good time (Pu and Zhong, 2020 ). Furthermore, wheat and pulse harvesting in northwest India was hampered due to a lack of migrant labour (Dev, 2020 ). Vegetable farmers in Ethiopia incurred not just financial loss as a result of overstocked items, but also from a lack of vital inputs (Tamru et al., 2020 ). Before the pandemic, suppliers may have planted six hectares in a single day, but due to the difficulties in finding tractor drivers during the pandemic, they were only able to cover three hectares a day (Pu and Zhong, 2020 ). Any interruptions in agricultural food supply will indeed result in supply and demand shocks, which will have an immediate effect on the agricultural sector of the economy with long-term economic performance and food security implications (Gregorio and Ancog, 2020 ).

Food security refers to a situation where all individuals at all time have continuous physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to fulfil their dietary needs and food choices for an active and healthy lifestyle (Elsahoryi et al., 2020 ). Food security has been jeopardised both directly and indirectly as a result of the virus’s destabilisation of food systems and the effects of lockdowns on family revenue and physical access to food (Devereux et al., 2020 ). The presence of coronavirus disease has a negative impact on all the four pillars of food security, viz. availability of food, accessibility of food, utilisation of food, and stability of food (Nechifor et al., 2021 ; Laborde et al., 2020b ). According to Genkin and Mikheev ( 2020 ), the report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Trade Organization, and World Health Organization (WHO) note the threat of a food catastrophe triggered by the current coronavirus pandemic, with a risk of a global “food shortage” owing to interruptions in the trade industry’s supply chain. According to the report, global commerce contracted by roughly 20% in 2020, with 90–120 million human beings falling into severe destitution and over 300 million facing food security issues in emerging nations. To combat the COVID-19 pandemic, world leaders implemented steps to decrease the number of commodities carried by sea, air and land, as well as labour migration at national and global levels. These variables contributed to a widespread disturbance in agricultural output and food distribution systems, posing challenges to the transportation of food and agricultural resources (Genkin and Mikheev, 2020 ).

Present literature centred on the effect of coronavirus on food security or effect of coronavirus on agricultural production (Elsahoryi et al., 2020 ; Nchanji and Lutomia, 2021 ). Despite the growing body of research on coronavirus, agricultural production, and food security, few studies have attempted to conduct a thorough assessment of the literature and map the present level of scientific knowledge on the effect of coronavirus on agricultural production and food security (ECAP-FS). Hence, the goal of this research was to examine the effect of coronavirus on agricultural production and food security by employing bibliometric analyses techniques to recognise keywords in connection to two core aspects, namely the most prolific or productive writers and the most collaborative nations, and then to examine the strength of their association over the study period. The study characterised intellectual processes further by visualising and recognising the advancement of the co-citation network, cooperation network, and trends in ECAP-FS research. This research will not only aid in the identification of present research on ECAP-FS, but also contributes to an improved comprehension of the scientific knowledge of coronavirus and its impact on agricultural production, food security, and the investigation of its evolution via published papers included in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. Because one database is unlikely to provide a comprehensive picture of knowledge and trends in a field, the authors recommend a four stage processes to achieve a merged database that integrates WoS and Scopus and then deletes identical publications using RStudio or R-package to perform author coupling, keywords co-occurrence network visualisation, university collaboration networks, and others using net2VOSviewer. This study will be among the few that explains how to integrate two datasets and utilise them to conduct different network associations in bibliometrix R-package (RStudio v.4.0.3 software).

Method and data collection

The scientometric technique was used to retrieve articles relating to the effect of coronavirus on agricultural production and food security. This method used resources from two different databases, WoS and Scopus, for the systematic reviews. Table 1 shows the eligibility and exclusion criteria that was used to access the relevant documents. The various steps employed in the review process were (databases, identification, screening, eligibility, merging, duplicate removal and included documents) (see Fig. 1 ). Processing and analysis of the data were then applied to the remaining documents. Scientometrics is defined as the research approach utilised in analysing and assessing science, innovation, and technology by applying statistics and quantitative analysis to explain the distribution and visualisation patterns of research within a specific nation, issue, field or institution (Orimoloye and Ololade, 2021 ). Scientometric evaluations have been used to analyse scientific trends and outputs, as well as the evolution of research, author productivity, journals, and nations, as well as to discover and measure international collaboration (Orimoloye and Ololade, 2021 ).

WoS: Web of Science.

WoS and Scopus were the two-database used for this study. WoS is a database collection administered by Thomson Reuters Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) that contains databases on humanities, social sciences, biology (i.e., Biosis), science (i.e., Core Collection) and computers (i.e., Inspec). WoS was previously the only and biggest accessible database for bibliometric analysis. However, Scopus that was launched by Elsevier, with ease of use in universities throughout the globe emerged as a key rival for doing such studies (Echchakoui, 2020 ). Scopus has the largest abstract and citation databases with over 22,800 journals from 5000 publishers worldwide was used in the review (Shaffril et al., 2018 ). Moreover, It is the most comprehensive interdisciplinary database of peer-reviewed literature in the social sciences, and is generally acknowledged and utilised for quantitative analyses (Guerrero-Baena et al., 2014 ).

Criteria for eligibility and exclusion

Various qualifying and exclusion criteria were considered. Title-based search for rapid visibility and retrieval was used. According to Ekundayo and Okoh ( 2018 ), a title-specific search offers the advantages of low loss, considerable retrieval, and sensitivity when compared to other types of searches such as a topic, field, or author search. First, concerning literature type, only journals and final articles were selected, which meant Article in Press, etc., were excluded. Secondly, non-English articles were excluded. Thirdly, a period of 6 years was used followed by the subject area, which focused on Environmental, Social, Agricultural, and Biological Sciences (Table 1 ) (Shaffril et al., 2018 ).

Systematic review process

To explore the current literature on ECAP-FS, we conducted a comprehensive literature review according to the rules provided by Tranfield et al. ( 2003 ). The systematic review process for this study involved four stages. The review process was performed in April 2021. The first stage was the selection of databases (WoS and Scopus). The second stage pinpointed keywords utilised for the search process. Based on prior research, keywords similar and related to the effect of COVID-19 on agricultural output and food security were used with a total of ( n  = 9, 421) published records found on WoS and Scopus, respectively (Table 2 ). The third stage was screening. Out of ( n  = 9, 421) papers eligible for evaluation at this stage, a total of ( n  = 7, 203) papers were excluded. The fourth stage was eligibility where the complete articles were accessible. Following a thorough review, a total of ( n  = 1, 46) publications were eliminated since some did not focus on the effect of coronavirus on agricultural production and food security. The fifth stage was merging the two documents ( n  = 6, 172 = 178). The sixth stage was the removal of duplicates ( n  = 4). The last round of evaluation yielded a total of ( n  = 174) papers for qualitative analysis (Fig. 1 ).

Processing and analysis of data

The research assessed data obtained for scientometric investigation utilising RStudio v.4.0.3 software with bibliometrix R-package and net2VOSviewer after reading the articles relevant to the study. The data were imported into RStudio, transformed to a bibliographic data frame, and normalised for duplicate matches (Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ; Ekundayo and Okoh, 2018 ). Net2VOSviewer (net,vos.path = NULL) embedded in RStudio v.4.0.3 software were used for visualisation. The VOSviewer programme created by Van Eck and Waltman ( 2009 ) is often used to visualise and evaluate a bibliometric network. Hamidah et al. ( 2021 ) and Zhang and Yuan ( 2019 ) made use of VOSviewer to analyse a bibliographic map on energy performance. Park and Nagy ( 2018 ) used VOSviewer to examine building control bibliographic data, and Van Eck and Waltman ( 2017 ) analysed citation-based clustering in the field of astronomy and astrophysics using VOSviewer. The research made use of Net2VOSviewer embedded in R studio to make visualisation maps, such as authors coupling, keyword co-occurrence network, and university collaboration network, based on bibliographic data. Each circle on the VOSviewer visual map represents a word. The term activity is represented by the circle and text size. The big circle and text show the chosen terms in a field. The distance between the two words reflects the degree of their association. In this case, the relationship between two words will be greater if the distance between them is small (Hamidah et al., 2021 ).

Web of Science and Scopus database merging for bibliometric analysis

The authors suggest the following four stage approach to combine the two databases shown in Fig. 1 and Table 3 .

As soon as required articles were sourced, we downloaded the documents separately from WoS and Scopus databases. For WoS, we clicked on export, which redirected us to another window where we selected “other file formats” under record content, and “BiTeX” under file format before we clicked export. For Scopus, we went to export document setting where we ticked all relevant boxes including “BibTeX” before clicking export. The second step was to transform (WoS.bib and Scopus.bib) to “bibtex” files. Here we used R or Rstudio software by loading the bibliometrix package “install.packages” (“bibliometrix”), and “library(bibliometrix)”, After that we specified the pathway using the command file1<- “path/savedrecs.bib” and file2 < - “path/scopus.bib” for WoS and Scopus files, respectively. After that we converted file (1&2) using command “f1<-convert2df(file1, dbsource = “isi”, format = “bibtex”)” and “f2<-convert2df(file2, dbsource = “scopus”, format = “bibtex”)” for WoS and Scopus respectively. We merged the two databases in R/Rstudio. For this operation to be successful, we used the command “j <-mergeDbSources(f1, f2, remove.duplicated = FALSE)”. Finally, the duplicate documents were removed using the command “M < -duplicatedMatching(j, Field = “TI”,tol = 0.95)”. We performed a bibliometric analysis for bibtex file in Rstudio, using Aria and Cuccurullo’s ( 2017 ) techniques and scripts in R, and utilising the net2VOSviewer for keywords co-occurrence network, collaboration networks of universities, authors coupling, amongst others.

Bibliometric analyses results

During the survey period, 174 papers were published on ECAP-FS; their characteristics are shown in Table 4 . The research had 851 authors, with a cooperation index of 5.1 and a document/author ratio of 0.20 (4.89 authors/document). Except for nine authors who published alone, all 842 authors were part of multi-author publications.

During the research period, an average of 6.0 citations per document were recorded. Lotka’s law scientific output for ECAP-FS study revealed a constant of 0.70 and beta coefficient of 3.88, with a Kolmogorov–Smirnoff goodness-of-fit of 0.94. Table 5 and Fig. 2 displays published research on ECAP-FS from 2016 to April 2021 in conjunction with the total citation of papers on average by year. The yearly pace of development was 56.64, with a mean overall of 12 ± 6, indicating that ECAP-FS research increased over time. This outcome agrees with the work of El Mohadebe et al. ( 2020 ) who stated that the number of published articles increased exponentially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise in COVID-19 research reflects that it is a major danger to human health, the economy, and food security in industrialised and emerging nations (Carroll et al., 2020 ; Mottaleb et al., 2020 ; Alam and Khatun, 2021 ).

ATC/Y average total citations of articles published per year. NB: The yearly percentage rate of increase was 56.64.

During the survey period, research production varied, peaking in 2020 with 38.5% (67/174) of the total research output, followed by 2021 with 66 research articles accounting for 37.9% (66/174) during the same time. This result is liable to change when additional papers pertaining to ECAP-FS are published in 2021. The average total number of citations for published papers changed over time, peaking in 2016 (average = 11.8). Furthermore, the findings of this analysis identified the top 20 most prolific authors from 2016 to April 2021. Table 6 shows Gong B as the most productive author over the time, with six papers accounting for 3.45% of the total research publications on ECAP-FS. The following were placed second on the list: Baudron F, Peng W, and Zhang S who published three research articles each accounting for 1.7% of the total published research articles within the study period. The rest of the 17 authors published two articles within the same year. The quantity of a researcher’s academic output demonstrates their efficacy and propensity for conducting quality research (Orimoloye et al., 2021a )

Citation analysis reveals how many times a specific research article has been cited in other scientific articles. More cited research articles are considered significantly more influential than articles with fewer citations (Mishra et al., 2017 ; Nyam et al., 2020 ). Table 7 shows the top 20 papers on ECAP-FS in terms of citations in the field throughout the time. The list was compiled using the publications with the most citations (Echchakoui, 2020 ). In this research on ECAP-FS, Foyer et al. 2016 “Nature Plants” placed first with a total of 244 citations. Hart et al. 2018 “Functional Ecology” took second place with 60 citations, followed by Smiraglia D. 2016 “Environmental Research” with 52 citations during the same time period. Millar NS 2016 “Oecologia” and Tesfahunegn GB 2016 “Applied Geography” rated fourth and fifth with 43 and 42 citations, respectively. With 39, 23 and 21 citations, respectively, KC et al. 2018 “Plos One,” Pu and Zhong, 2020 “Global Food Security,” and Provenza FD 2019 “Frontiers in Nutrition” placed sixth, seventh, and eighth. As shown in Table 8 , the leading active writers were connected with institutions in both emerging and developed countries, including China (28), the United States (19), the United Kingdom (12), Italy (9), Spain (8), Australia (5), India (5), and Mexico (5). With the exception of China, the majority of the articles were from developed countries. China, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, among other countries, contributed the most articles in ECAP-FS, which is line with the work of Mottaleb et al. ( 2020 ). According to Orimoloye et al. ( 2021b ), research funding and scholarships have had a significant impact on the research output of many countries. As a result, this study indicates that economic assistance could help in the advancement of research in the area of ECAP-FS. Furthermore, during the research period, the total citation of published papers on average by each nation differed from one nation to another. Table 9 shows the top 20 citations by nation for ECAP-FS research papers. The data indicated that the most mentioned nations were industrialised ones, while China, a developing country, placed second among the most often referenced nations. The exceptional success of China research suggests that the nation performs well in sponsoring field research, possibly because the coronavirus originated in Wuhan City of China (Mottalab et al., 2020). Italy leads the way with 112 total citations and an average article citation of 12.44 for research papers published during the study duration, China was second with 107 citations and an average article citation of 3.82. During the same time period, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, and Canada were placed third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, with total number of citations (average article citations) of 81 (4.26), 76 (6.33), 47 (23.50), and 40 (13.33), respectively.

This analysis also uncovered the most relevant sources for published academic research on ECAP-FS between 2016 and April 2021, as shown in Table 10 . Sustainability (Switzerland) was first with a total of 23 scientific papers on ECAP-FS. Agricultural Systems and Journal of Cleaner Production were ranked second and third with a total of 13 and 10 articles respectively. Global Food Security and Science of The Total Environment were rated fourth with eight articles each. Land was ranked fifth with five articles while Food Security, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Plos One were ranked sixth with four published articles each. Environmental Research and Journal of Integrative Agriculture rated seventh with three published articles on ECAP-FS throughout the review period.

Concerns are growing about the influence of COVID-19 on agricultural production, which could pose a significant threat to long-term food security and food supply (Pu and Zhong, 2020 ). Table 11 summarises the top 20 academics’ most relevant terms. In addition, Table 11 displays the most important keywords linked to ECAP-FS research, including keywords-plus (ID) as well as author keywords (DE). COVID-19, Food Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Agricultural Production, Biodiversity, China, and Sustainability were among the nine keywords shared by keywords-plus (ID) and author keywords (DE). Eleven keywords were peculiar to authors’ keywords (Resilience, Ecosystem Services, Food Systems, COVID-19 Pandemic, Food Supply Chain, India, Land Take, Life Cycle Assessment, Nutrition, Conservation, and Dietary Diversity), and nine keywords were unique to keywords-Plus (Food Supply, Human, Article, Food Production, Land Use, Agricultural Robots, Agricultural Land, Controlled Study, and Cultivation). The distinct author keywords explicitly defined what COVID-19 affected as well as the means or elements engaged in the process (Nutrition, Dietary Diversity, Ecosystem Services, Resilience, Conservation, Food Systems, and Food Supply Chain of People). COVID-19 ( n  = 27, 15.5%), Food Security ( n  = 25, 14.4%), Agriculture ( n  = 18, 10.3%), Climate Change ( n  = 9, 5.2%), Sustainable Development ( n  = 5, 2.9%), Agricultural Production ( n  = 4, 2.3%), Biodiversity ( n  = 4, 2.3%), China ( n  = 4, 2.3%), COVID-19 Pandemic ( n  = 4, 2.3%) were author keyword phrases related with the detection of ECAP-FS.

The keyword analysis identified Food Security in 35 (20.1%) and 25 (14.4%) published papers by keyword-plus and author keyword, respectively, while Agricultural was found in 28 (16.1%) and 18 (10.3%) published papers by keyword-plus and author keyword, respectively. By author keyword and keyword-plus, Agricultural Production was detected in 4 (2.3%) and 28 (16.1%) publications, respectively. In the ECAP-FS study field, Climate Change was detected in 26 (14.9%) and 9 (5.2%) papers by keyword-plus and author keyword, respectively. The review indicates that research on ECAP-FS emphasised these agricultural-related issues several times, implying that COVID-19 has an effect on agriculture, agricultural production, sustainable development, food security, and food supply of the general public, which is exacerbated by climate change, and is a major danger to food security, economy and human health (Mottaleb et al., 2020 ).

The connection between influential authors, keywords, journals, and trending topics was investigated using co-citation network analysis (Leydesdorff, 2009 ). Articles are said to be co-cited when they are cited and appear in other publications’ reference lists (Nyam et al., 2020 ). The top 20 authors coupling in Fig. 3 explains the authors coupling on ECAP-FS-related research. Every node in the network symbolises a distinct author who is linked to others. Connecting lines reflect author-to-author linking routes. The number of lines from each node correlates to the number of published papers that referenced the writer. The cluster of authors network, which comprises 20 nodes (authors), has no less than 18 interconnections. Other indicators of often expressed ideas and frameworks linked to ECAP-FS include nation collaboration (Fig. 4 ) and university collaboration network (Fig. 5 ).

The top 20 authors coupling on agricultural production and food security published articles. (Every node in the network symbolises a distinct author who is linked to others. Connecting lines reflect author-to author linking routes).

The top 27 nation collaboration networks on agricultural production and food security. (Each node represents a country, and the lines represent their collaboration).

The top 20 university collaboration networks on agricultural production and food security research.

Authors with multiple affiliations have made significant contributions to nation and university collaborative networks (Figs. 4 and 5 ). Our findings indicated that studies on ECAP-FS were conducted at institutions in both advanced and developing nations between 2016 and April 2021. The Wageningen University (Netherland), the China Agricultural University (China), the Zhejiang University (Asia), and University of Pretoria (South Africa) had the greatest collaboration network on ECAP-FS studies followed by the University of Western Australia (Australia), University of Leeds (UK), University of Alberta (Canada), University of Sydney (Australia), Case Western Reserve University (USA), Chinese University of Hong Kong (China) and the International Crop Research Institute. The University of Oxford was the only university that did not collaborate with any of the universities during the study period. Figure 4 depicts the networks of collaboration on ECAP-FS for 27 countries. The number of collaboration paths varied from one to 17. The number of partnerships was highest in the USA ( n  = 17), followed by China (n = 10), Australia ( n  = 8), the United Kingdom ( n  = 8), Canada ( n  = 5), the Netherlands ( n  = 4), Germany ( n  = 4), South Africa ( n  = 4), Uganda ( n  = 3), India ( n  = 3), Malaysia ( n  = 2), Denmark ( n  = 2), France ( n  = 2), Spain ( n  = 2), and New Zealand ( n  = 2). The remaining nations had one collaboration network. This outcome is consistent with El Mohadab et al. ( 2020 ) as the analysis of a nation’s collaboration is a vital type of analysis, because it allows for the visualisation of the most influential nations in a given field of research, revealing the level of scientific cooperation between the countries. The following network colour codes were prominent: light green for the USA network; light blue for the China network; purple for the Australia network; orange for the United Kingdom network; and brown for the Spain network.

Figure 6 depicts the top 30 keywords of co-occurrence network, the related visualisation and the association strength of ECAP-FS. The co-occurrence of author keywords was examined to illustrate the research hotspots in ECAP-FS. The threshold for keyword co-occurrence was set at 10, and 30 keywords out of 708 were categorised as visualisation elements. The distance between the components of each pairings indicated topic similarity and relative strength. Individual term clusters were allocated different colours of circles. The network in Fig. 6 depicts three different clusters, each reflecting a branch of research in the ECAP-FS literature. The number of publications in which the keywords co-occurred was shown by the connections between specific keywords. The main themes with the highest overall connection strength in the ECAP-FS literature were COVID-19, Food Security, Agriculture, and Climate Change.

The co-occurrence network visualisation of 30 keywords and their relationship strength of agricultural production and food security research.

The ECAP-FS scientific field has three subfields (clusters of author keywords), which are as follows:

The blue cluster includes terms such as COVID-19, Food Supply, Food Production, China, Food Security, and Agricultural Production.’

The red cluster grouped the keywords Agricultural Land, Catering Services, Environmental Protection, Humans, Meat, Human, Food Industry, Article, Female, Priority Journal, Procedures, Controlled Study, and Environmental Sustainability.

The green cluster grouped the keywords Economic and Social Effects, Agriculture, Agricultural Robots, Sustainable Development, Climate Change, Land Use, Greenhouse Gases, Ecosystem, and Biodiversity. The findings revealed a significant variation in the co-occurrence of author keywords in individual articles in the ECAP-FS literature. This demonstrated the scientific field’s multifaceted and multidimensional nature. This result is agreement with the work of Orimoloye et al. ( 2021b ).

Figure 7 depicts the frequency of word occurrence of the top 70 most utilised title keywords in ECAP-FS studies. During the research, a word cloud was generated using the titles of published articles that contained the most frequently used keywords in ECAP-FS research. This revealed the most commonly used word or phrase in ECAP-FS research. Within the word cloud on ECAP-FS research, various regions of connections and the most significant words used were determined. For example, COVID-19, food security, agriculture, climate change, ecosystem services, resilience, agricultural production, sustainable development, food system, and China were recognised as the most prevalent or prominent themes in ECAP-FS studies.

Word cloud or frequency of word occurrence of the top 70 most often used title keywords in agricultural production and food security research.

The COVID-19 pandemic has received significant recognition since the outbreak, and serious effort has been expended by researchers around the world in various fields. The present bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 examined the resulting effects on agricultural production and food security research trends from 2016 to April 2021 by means of data acquired from WoS and Scopus. According to our findings in ECAP-FS, there has been an exponential rise in research publications. This indicates that studies on ECAP-FS received increasing attention during last few years especially in 2020 and 2021, most likely due to COVID-19 pandemic related research by authors from different counties of the world like China, USA and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, most of the productive authors in ECAP-FS at the time of this research were from China, possibly because the pandemic was first discovered in Wuhan City.

The findings of this analysis revealed that few articles came from Africa. In terms of country and institution collaboration networks, few of the countries and institutions collaborated with the countries in Africa except for the University of Pretoria, which had a strong collaboration network on ECAP-FS research during the period of study. According to the word cloud analysis and frequency analysis of the frequently used keywords and keyword-plus demonstrated that the most topical issues in ECAP-FS are COVID-19, food security, agriculture, climate change, agricultural production, sustainable development, biodiversity and sustainability. These results demonstrated the most persistent issues related to ECAP-FS; this was buttressed by another conceptual framework indicator such as keyword co-occurrence networks.

The bibliometric survey performed in this study has some limitations, such as the use of two databases (Scopus and WoS), the strictness of the search keywords and search approach employed, as well as the exclusion of other document types (e.g., conference papers, books chapters, reviews, abstracts, meetings and notes, etc.) and published articles in languages other than English (French, Dutch, Chinese). Despite the limitations, this research seems to be the first bibliometric analysis on ECAP-FS-related studies, which adds to the evidence base and will drive further studies. Furthermore, WoS and Scopus have greater coverage than other databases, dependable indexing technology that reduces the “indexer effect,” and are highly regarded by scientific communities. Other databases, such as ScienceDirect, Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), should be evaluated in future studies.

Data availability

All data analysed are contained in the paper.

Alam GM, Khatun MN (2021) Impact of COVID-19 on vegetable supply chain and food security: empirical evidence from Bangladesh. PLoS ONE 16(3):e0248120

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Aria M, Cuccurullo C (2017) bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. J Informetr 11(4):959–975 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2017.08.007

Article   Google Scholar  

Bai HM (2020) The Socio-economic implications of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) A Review. ComFin Res 8(4):8–17

Carroll N, Sadowski A, Laila A, Hruska V, Nixon M, Ma DWL, Haines J (2020) The Impact of COVID-19 on Health Behavior, Stress, Financial and Food Security among Middle to High Income Canadian Families with Young Children. Nutrients. 12:2352 https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082352

Article   CAS   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Ceballos F, Kannan S, Kramer B (2020) Impacts of a national lockdown on smallholder farmers’ income and food security: empirical evidence from two states in India. World Dev 136:105069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105069

Dev SM (2020) Addressing COVID-19 impacts on agriculture, food security, and livelihoods in India, IFPRI book chapters, in: COVID-19 and global food security, ch. 7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), p 33–35

Devereux S, Béné C, Hoddinott J (2020) Conceptualising COVID-19’s impacts on household food security. Food Secur 12(4):769–772

Echchakoui S (2020) Why and how to merge Scopus and Web of Science during bibliometric analysis: the case of sales force literature from 1912 to 2019. J Market Anal 8(3):165–184. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-020-00081-9

Ekundayo TC, Okoh AI (2018) A global bibliometric analysis of Plesiomonas-related research (1990–2017). PLoS ONE 13(11):1–18. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207655

El Mohadab M, Bouikhalene B, Safi S (2020) Bibliometric method for mapping the state of the art of scientific production in Covid-19. Chaos Solitons Fractals 139:110052

Article   MathSciNet   Google Scholar  

Elsahoryi N, Al-sayyed H, Odeh M, Mcgrattan A, Hammad F (2020) Effect of Covid-19 on food security: a cross-sectional survey. Clin Nutr ESPEN 40:171–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2020.09.026

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Food and Agricultural Organisation (2020) Sustainable crop production and COVID-19. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8807en

Foyer CH, Lam HM, Nguyen HT, Siddique KH, Varshney RK, Colmer TD, Considine MJ (2016) Neglecting legumes has compromised human health and sustainable food production. Nat Plants 2(8):1–10

Genkin AS, Mikheev AA (2020) Influence of coronavirus crisis on food industry economy. Foods Raw Mater 8: 2

Gong B (2018) Agricultural reforms and production in China: changes in provincial production function and productivity in 1978–2015 Stochastic frontier analysis. Semi-varying coefficient model China’s agricultural production and productivity. Rural reforms multi-segment industry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.12.005

Gong B, Zhang S, Liu X, Chen KZ (2021) The Zoonotic diseases, agricultural production, and impact channels: evidence from China. Global Food Secur28:100463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100463

Gregorio GB, Ancog RC (2020) Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural production in Southeast Asia. Toward Transform Change Agric Food Syst 17(1):1–14

Google Scholar  

Guerrero-Baena MD, Gómez-Limón JA, Fruet Cardozo JV (2014) Are multi-criteria decision-making techniques useful for solving corporate finance problems? A bibliometric analysis. Rev de Metod Cuantitativos para la Econ y la Empres 17:60–79

Hamidah I, Pawinanto RE, Mulyanti B, Yunas J (2021) A bibliometric analysis of micro electromechanical system energy harvester research. Heliyon 7(3):e06406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06406

Hanna R, Xu Y, Victor DG (2020) After COVID-19, green investment must deliver jobs to get political traction. Nature 582:178–180

Article   ADS   CAS   Google Scholar  

Hart MM, Antunes PM, Chaudhary VB, Abbott LK (2018) Fungal inoculants in the field: Is the reward greater than the risk? Funct Ecol 32(1):126–135

KC KB, Dias GM, Veeramani A, Swanton CJ, Fraser D, Steinke D, Fraser ED (2018) When too much isn’t enough: does current food production meet global nutritional needs? PLoS ONE 13(10):e0205683

Laborde D, Martin W, Vos R (2020a) Poverty and food insecurity could grow dramatically as COVID-19 spreads. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington

Book   Google Scholar  

Laborde D, Martin W, Swinnen J, Vos R (2020b) COVID-19 risks to global food security. Science 369(6503):500–502

Leydesdorff L (2009) How are new citation‐based journal indicators adding to the bibliometric toolbox? J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol 60(7):1327–1336

Mishra D, Luo Z, Jiang S, Papadopoulos T, Dubey R (2017) A bibliographic study on big data: concepts, trends and challenges. Bus Process Manag J 23:555–573. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-10-2015-0149

Mottaleb KA, Mainuddin M, Sonobe T (2020) COVID-19 induced economic loss and ensuring food security for vulnerable groups: policy implications from Bangladesh. PLoS ONE 15(10):e0240709. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240709

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Nchanji EB, Lutomia CK (2021) Regional impact of COVID-19 on the production and food security of common bean smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa: implication for SDG’s. Global Food Secur 29:100524

Nechifor V, Priscila M, Ferrari E, Laichena J, Kihiu E, Omanyo D, Musamali R, Kiriga B (2021) Food security and welfare changes under COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: impacts and responses in Kenya. Global Food Secur 28:100514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100514

Nyam YS, Kotir JH, Jordaan AJ, Ogundeji AA, Adetoro AA, Orimoloye IR (2020) Towards understanding and sustaining natural resource systems through the systems perspective: a systematic evaluation. Sustainability 12(23):9871

Orimoloye IR, Ololade OO (2021) Global trends assessment of environmental health degradation studies from 1990 to 2018. Environ Dev Sustainabil 23(3):3251–3264

Orimoloye IR, Belle JA, Olusola AO, Busayo ET, Ololade OO (2021a) Spatial assessment of drought disasters, vulnerability, severity and water shortages: a potential drought disaster mitigation strategy. Nat Hazards 105(3):2735–2754

Orimoloye IR, Belle JA, Ololade OO (2021b) Exploring the emerging evolution trends of disaster risk reduction research: a global scenario. Int J Environ Sci Technol 18(3):673–690

Park JY, Nagy Z (2018) Comprehensive analysis of the relationship between thermal comfort and building control research—a data-driven literature review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 82:2664–2679

Petetin L (2020) The COVID-19 crisis: an opportunity to integrate food democracy into post-pandemic food systems. Eur J Risk Regul 11(2):326–336

Pu M, Zhong Y (2020) Rising concerns over agricultural production as COVID-19 spreads: lessons from China. Global Food Secur 26:100409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100409

Shaffril HAM, Krauss SE, Samsuddin SF (2018) A systematic review on Asian’s farmers’ adaptation practices towards climate change. Sci Total Environ 644:683–695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.349

Article   ADS   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Singh S, Kumar R, Panchal R, Tiwari MK (2021) Impact of COVID-19 on logistics systems and disruptions in food supply chain. Int J Prod Res 59(7):1993–2008. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2020.1792000

Tamru S, Hirvonen K, Minten B (2020) Impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on vegetable value chains in Ethiopia. IFPRI book chapters, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) pp 81–83. https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133762_18

Tranfield D, Denyer D, Smart P (2003) Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. Br J Manag 14(3):207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00375

Van Eck NJ, Waltman L (2017) Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer. Scientometrics 111(2):1053–1070. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2300-7

Van Eck NJ, Waltman L (2009) VOSviewer: a computer program for bibliometric mapping. In: Larsen B, & Leta J (eds) 12th International conference on Scientometrics and Informetrics, ISSI 2009, pp. 886–897

Xu Z, Elomri A, El Omri A, Kerbache L, Liu H (2021) The compounded effects of COVID-19 pandemic and desert locust outbreak on food security and food supply chain. Sustainability 13(3):1063

Zhang S, Wang S, Yuan L, Liu X, Gong B (2020) The impact of epidemics on agricultural production and forecast of COVID-19. China Agric Econ Rev Emerald Group Publishing 12(3):409–425

Zhang W, Yuan H (2019) A bibliometric analysis of energy performance contracting research from 2008 to 2018. Sustainability 11(13):3548

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Agricultural Economics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

Collins C. Okolie & Abiodun A. Ogundeji

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abiodun A. Ogundeji .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The author declares no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Additional information.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Okolie, C.C., Ogundeji, A.A. Effect of COVID-19 on agricultural production and food security: A scientometric analysis. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 9 , 64 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01080-0

Download citation

Received : 09 September 2021

Accepted : 08 February 2022

Published : 28 February 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01080-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

This article is cited by

Integrated modelling of the determinants of household food insecurity during the 2020–2021 covid-19 lockdown in uganda.

• Henry Musoke Semakula
• Jovia Nakato

Agriculture & Food Security (2024)

Mapping scientific knowledge discovery on COVID-19 pandemic and agriculture: a bibliometric analysis and future research directions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023)

Prediction of impacts and outbreak of COVID-19 on the society using distinct machine learning algorithms

• Taspia Tazri Chaity
• Md. Ashikur Rahman Khan
• Fardowsi Rahman

Iran Journal of Computer Science (2023)

Circular economy and agriculture: mapping scientific productivity, research pattern and future research direction

• Tabassum Ali

Environment, Development and Sustainability (2023)

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• BMJ Open Access

COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health

1 MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

Susan Patterson

Karen maxwell, carolyn blake, raquel bosó pérez, mark mccann, julie riddell, kathryn skivington, rachel wilson-lowe, kirstin r mitchell.

2 MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Institute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

Associated Data

Data sharing not applicable as no data sets generated and/or analysed for this study. Data sharing not applicable as no data sets generated or analysed for this essay.

This essay examines key aspects of social relationships that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses explicitly on relational mechanisms of health and brings together theory and emerging evidence on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to make recommendations for future public health policy and recovery. We first provide an overview of the pandemic in the UK context, outlining the nature of the public health response. We then introduce four distinct domains of social relationships: social networks, social support, social interaction and intimacy, highlighting the mechanisms through which the pandemic and associated public health response drastically altered social interactions in each domain. Throughout the essay, the lens of health inequalities, and perspective of relationships as interconnecting elements in a broader system, is used to explore the varying impact of these disruptions. The essay concludes by providing recommendations for longer term recovery ensuring that the social relational cost of COVID-19 is adequately considered in efforts to rebuild.

Introduction

Infectious disease pandemics, including SARS and COVID-19, demand intrapersonal behaviour change and present highly complex challenges for public health. 1 A pandemic of an airborne infection, spread easily through social contact, assails human relationships by drastically altering the ways through which humans interact. In this essay, we draw on theories of social relationships to examine specific ways in which relational mechanisms key to health and well-being were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Relational mechanisms refer to the processes between people that lead to change in health outcomes.

At the time of writing, the future surrounding COVID-19 was uncertain. Vaccine programmes were being rolled out in countries that could afford them, but new and more contagious variants of the virus were also being discovered. The recovery journey looked long, with continued disruption to social relationships. The social cost of COVID-19 was only just beginning to emerge, but the mental health impact was already considerable, 2 3 and the inequality of the health burden stark. 4 Knowledge of the epidemiology of COVID-19 accrued rapidly, but evidence of the most effective policy responses remained uncertain.

The initial response to COVID-19 in the UK was reactive and aimed at reducing mortality, with little time to consider the social implications, including for interpersonal and community relationships. The terminology of ‘social distancing’ quickly became entrenched both in public and policy discourse. This equation of physical distance with social distance was regrettable, since only physical proximity causes viral transmission, whereas many forms of social proximity (eg, conversations while walking outdoors) are minimal risk, and are crucial to maintaining relationships supportive of health and well-being.

The aim of this essay is to explore four key relational mechanisms that were impacted by the pandemic and associated restrictions: social networks, social support, social interaction and intimacy. We use relational theories and emerging research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic response to make three key recommendations: one regarding public health responses; and two regarding social recovery. Our understanding of these mechanisms stems from a ‘systems’ perspective which casts social relationships as interdependent elements within a connected whole. 5

Social networks

Social networks characterise the individuals and social connections that compose a system (such as a workplace, community or society). Social relationships range from spouses and partners, to coworkers, friends and acquaintances. They vary across many dimensions, including, for example, frequency of contact and emotional closeness. Social networks can be understood both in terms of the individuals and relationships that compose the network, as well as the overall network structure (eg, how many of your friends know each other).

Social networks show a tendency towards homophily, or a phenomenon of associating with individuals who are similar to self. 6 This is particularly true for ‘core’ network ties (eg, close friends), while more distant, sometimes called ‘weak’ ties tend to show more diversity. During the height of COVID-19 restrictions, face-to-face interactions were often reduced to core network members, such as partners, family members or, potentially, live-in roommates; some ‘weak’ ties were lost, and interactions became more limited to those closest. Given that peripheral, weaker social ties provide a diversity of resources, opinions and support, 7 COVID-19 likely resulted in networks that were smaller and more homogenous.

Such changes were not inevitable nor necessarily enduring, since social networks are also adaptive and responsive to change, in that a disruption to usual ways of interacting can be replaced by new ways of engaging (eg, Zoom). Yet, important inequalities exist, wherein networks and individual relationships within networks are not equally able to adapt to such changes. For example, individuals with a large number of newly established relationships (eg, university students) may have struggled to transfer these relationships online, resulting in lost contacts and a heightened risk of social isolation. This is consistent with research suggesting that young adults were the most likely to report a worsening of relationships during COVID-19, whereas older adults were the least likely to report a change. 8

Lastly, social connections give rise to emergent properties of social systems, 9 where a community-level phenomenon develops that cannot be attributed to any one member or portion of the network. For example, local area-based networks emerged due to geographic restrictions (eg, stay-at-home orders), resulting in increases in neighbourly support and local volunteering. 10 In fact, research suggests that relationships with neighbours displayed the largest net gain in ratings of relationship quality compared with a range of relationship types (eg, partner, colleague, friend). 8 Much of this was built from spontaneous individual interactions within local communities, which together contributed to the ‘community spirit’ that many experienced. 11 COVID-19 restrictions thus impacted the personal social networks and the structure of the larger networks within the society.

Social support

Social support, referring to the psychological and material resources provided through social interaction, is a critical mechanism through which social relationships benefit health. In fact, social support has been shown to be one of the most important resilience factors in the aftermath of stressful events. 12 In the context of COVID-19, the usual ways in which individuals interact and obtain social support have been severely disrupted.

One such disruption has been to opportunities for spontaneous social interactions. For example, conversations with colleagues in a break room offer an opportunity for socialising beyond one’s core social network, and these peripheral conversations can provide a form of social support. 13 14 A chance conversation may lead to advice helpful to coping with situations or seeking formal help. Thus, the absence of these spontaneous interactions may mean the reduction of indirect support-seeking opportunities. While direct support-seeking behaviour is more effective at eliciting support, it also requires significantly more effort and may be perceived as forceful and burdensome. 15 The shift to homeworking and closure of community venues reduced the number of opportunities for these spontaneous interactions to occur, and has, second, focused them locally. Consequently, individuals whose core networks are located elsewhere, or who live in communities where spontaneous interaction is less likely, have less opportunity to benefit from spontaneous in-person supportive interactions.

However, alongside this disruption, new opportunities to interact and obtain social support have arisen. The surge in community social support during the initial lockdown mirrored that often seen in response to adverse events (eg, natural disasters 16 ). COVID-19 restrictions that confined individuals to their local area also compelled them to focus their in-person efforts locally. Commentators on the initial lockdown in the UK remarked on extraordinary acts of generosity between individuals who belonged to the same community but were unknown to each other. However, research on adverse events also tells us that such community support is not necessarily maintained in the longer term. 16

Meanwhile, online forms of social support are not bound by geography, thus enabling interactions and social support to be received from a wider network of people. Formal online social support spaces (eg, support groups) existed well before COVID-19, but have vastly increased since. While online interactions can increase perceived social support, it is unclear whether remote communication technologies provide an effective substitute from in-person interaction during periods of social distancing. 17 18 It makes intuitive sense that the usefulness of online social support will vary by the type of support offered, degree of social interaction and ‘online communication skills’ of those taking part. Youth workers, for instance, have struggled to keep vulnerable youth engaged in online youth clubs, 19 despite others finding a positive association between amount of digital technology used by individuals during lockdown and perceived social support. 20 Other research has found that more frequent face-to-face contact and phone/video contact both related to lower levels of depression during the time period of March to August 2020, but the negative effect of a lack of contact was greater for those with higher levels of usual sociability. 21 Relatedly, important inequalities in social support exist, such that individuals who occupy more socially disadvantaged positions in society (eg, low socioeconomic status, older people) tend to have less access to social support, 22 potentially exacerbated by COVID-19.

Social and interactional norms

Interactional norms are key relational mechanisms which build trust, belonging and identity within and across groups in a system. Individuals in groups and societies apply meaning by ‘approving, arranging and redefining’ symbols of interaction. 23 A handshake, for instance, is a powerful symbol of trust and equality. Depending on context, not shaking hands may symbolise a failure to extend friendship, or a failure to reach agreement. The norms governing these symbols represent shared values and identity; and mutual understanding of these symbols enables individuals to achieve orderly interactions, establish supportive relationship accountability and connect socially. 24 25

Physical distancing measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 radically altered these norms of interaction, particularly those used to convey trust, affinity, empathy and respect (eg, hugging, physical comforting). 26 As epidemic waves rose and fell, the work to negotiate these norms required intense cognitive effort; previously taken-for-granted interactions were re-examined, factoring in current restriction levels, own and (assumed) others’ vulnerability and tolerance of risk. This created awkwardness, and uncertainty, for example, around how to bring closure to an in-person interaction or convey warmth. The instability in scripted ways of interacting created particular strain for individuals who already struggled to encode and decode interactions with others (eg, those who are deaf or have autism spectrum disorder); difficulties often intensified by mask wearing. 27

Large social gatherings—for example, weddings, school assemblies, sporting events—also present key opportunities for affirming and assimilating interactional norms, building cohesion and shared identity and facilitating cooperation across social groups. 28 Online ‘equivalents’ do not easily support ‘social-bonding’ activities such as singing and dancing, and rarely enable chance/spontaneous one-on-one conversations with peripheral/weaker network ties (see the Social networks section) which can help strengthen bonds across a larger network. The loss of large gatherings to celebrate rites of passage (eg, bar mitzvah, weddings) has additional relational costs since these events are performed by and for communities to reinforce belonging, and to assist in transitioning to new phases of life. 29 The loss of interaction with diverse others via community and large group gatherings also reduces intergroup contact, which may then tend towards more prejudiced outgroup attitudes. While online interaction can go some way to mimicking these interaction norms, there are key differences. A sense of anonymity, and lack of in-person emotional cues, tends to support norms of polarisation and aggression in expressing differences of opinion online. And while online platforms have potential to provide intergroup contact, the tendency of much social media to form homogeneous ‘echo chambers’ can serve to further reduce intergroup contact. 30 31

Intimacy relates to the feeling of emotional connection and closeness with other human beings. Emotional connection, through romantic, friendship or familial relationships, fulfils a basic human need 32 and strongly benefits health, including reduced stress levels, improved mental health, lowered blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease. 32 33 Intimacy can be fostered through familiarity, feeling understood and feeling accepted by close others. 34

Intimacy via companionship and closeness is fundamental to mental well-being. Positively, the COVID-19 pandemic has offered opportunities for individuals to (re)connect and (re)strengthen close relationships within their household via quality time together, following closure of many usual external social activities. Research suggests that the first full UK lockdown period led to a net gain in the quality of steady relationships at a population level, 35 but amplified existing inequalities in relationship quality. 35 36 For some in single-person households, the absence of a companion became more conspicuous, leading to feelings of loneliness and lower mental well-being. 37 38 Additional pandemic-related relational strain 39 40 resulted, for some, in the initiation or intensification of domestic abuse. 41 42

Physical touch is another key aspect of intimacy, a fundamental human need crucial in maintaining and developing intimacy within close relationships. 34 Restrictions on social interactions severely restricted the number and range of people with whom physical affection was possible. The reduction in opportunity to give and receive affectionate physical touch was not experienced equally. Many of those living alone found themselves completely without physical contact for extended periods. The deprivation of physical touch is evidenced to take a heavy emotional toll. 43 Even in future, once physical expressions of affection can resume, new levels of anxiety over germs may introduce hesitancy into previously fluent blending of physical and verbal intimate social connections. 44

The pandemic also led to shifts in practices and norms around sexual relationship building and maintenance, as individuals adapted and sought alternative ways of enacting sexual intimacy. This too is important, given that intimate sexual activity has known benefits for health. 45 46 Given that social restrictions hinged on reducing household mixing, possibilities for partnered sexual activity were primarily guided by living arrangements. While those in cohabiting relationships could potentially continue as before, those who were single or in non-cohabiting relationships generally had restricted opportunities to maintain their sexual relationships. Pornography consumption and digital partners were reported to increase since lockdown. 47 However, online interactions are qualitatively different from in-person interactions and do not provide the same opportunities for physical intimacy.

Recommendations and conclusions

In the sections above we have outlined the ways in which COVID-19 has impacted social relationships, showing how relational mechanisms key to health have been undermined. While some of the damage might well self-repair after the pandemic, there are opportunities inherent in deliberative efforts to build back in ways that facilitate greater resilience in social and community relationships. We conclude by making three recommendations: one regarding public health responses to the pandemic; and two regarding social recovery.

Recommendation 1: explicitly count the relational cost of public health policies to control the pandemic

Effective handling of a pandemic recognises that social, economic and health concerns are intricately interwoven. It is clear that future research and policy attention must focus on the social consequences. As described above, policies which restrict physical mixing across households carry heavy and unequal relational costs. These include for individuals (eg, loss of intimate touch), dyads (eg, loss of warmth, comfort), networks (eg, restricted access to support) and communities (eg, loss of cohesion and identity). Such costs—and their unequal impact—should not be ignored in short-term efforts to control an epidemic. Some public health responses—restrictions on international holiday travel and highly efficient test and trace systems—have relatively small relational costs and should be prioritised. At a national level, an earlier move to proportionate restrictions, and investment in effective test and trace systems, may help prevent escalation of spread to the point where a national lockdown or tight restrictions became an inevitability. Where policies with relational costs are unavoidable, close attention should be paid to the unequal relational impact for those whose personal circumstances differ from normative assumptions of two adult families. This includes consideration of whether expectations are fair (eg, for those who live alone), whether restrictions on social events are equitable across age group, religious/ethnic groupings and social class, and also to ensure that the language promoted by such policies (eg, households; families) is not exclusionary. 48 49 Forethought to unequal impacts on social relationships should thus be integral to the work of epidemic preparedness teams.

Recommendation 2: intelligently balance online and offline ways of relating

A key ingredient for well-being is ‘getting together’ in a physical sense. This is fundamental to a human need for intimate touch, physical comfort, reinforcing interactional norms and providing practical support. Emerging evidence suggests that online ways of relating cannot simply replace physical interactions. But online interaction has many benefits and for some it offers connections that did not exist previously. In particular, online platforms provide new forms of support for those unable to access offline services because of mobility issues (eg, older people) or because they are geographically isolated from their support community (eg, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth). Ultimately, multiple forms of online and offline social interactions are required to meet the needs of varying groups of people (eg, LGBTQ, older people). Future research and practice should aim to establish ways of using offline and online support in complementary and even synergistic ways, rather than veering between them as social restrictions expand and contract. Intelligent balancing of online and offline ways of relating also pertains to future policies on home and flexible working. A decision to switch to wholesale or obligatory homeworking should consider the risk to relational ‘group properties’ of the workplace community and their impact on employees’ well-being, focusing in particular on unequal impacts (eg, new vs established employees). Intelligent blending of online and in-person working is required to achieve flexibility while also nurturing supportive networks at work. Intelligent balance also implies strategies to build digital literacy and minimise digital exclusion, as well as coproducing solutions with intended beneficiaries.

Recommendation 3: build stronger and sustainable localised communities

In balancing offline and online ways of interacting, there is opportunity to capitalise on the potential for more localised, coherent communities due to scaled-down travel, homeworking and local focus that will ideally continue after restrictions end. There are potential economic benefits after the pandemic, such as increased trade as home workers use local resources (eg, coffee shops), but also relational benefits from stronger relationships around the orbit of the home and neighbourhood. Experience from previous crises shows that community volunteer efforts generated early on will wane over time in the absence of deliberate work to maintain them. Adequately funded partnerships between local government, third sector and community groups are required to sustain community assets that began as a direct response to the pandemic. Such partnerships could work to secure green spaces and indoor (non-commercial) meeting spaces that promote community interaction. Green spaces in particular provide a triple benefit in encouraging physical activity and mental health, as well as facilitating social bonding. 50 In building local communities, small community networks—that allow for diversity and break down ingroup/outgroup views—may be more helpful than the concept of ‘support bubbles’, which are exclusionary and less sustainable in the longer term. Rigorously designed intervention and evaluation—taking a systems approach—will be crucial in ensuring scale-up and sustainability.

The dramatic change to social interaction necessitated by efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 created stark challenges but also opportunities. Our essay highlights opportunities for learning, both to ensure the equity and humanity of physical restrictions, and to sustain the salutogenic effects of social relationships going forward. The starting point for capitalising on this learning is recognition of the disruption to relational mechanisms as a key part of the socioeconomic and health impact of the pandemic. In recovery planning, a general rule is that what is good for decreasing health inequalities (such as expanding social protection and public services and pursuing green inclusive growth strategies) 4 will also benefit relationships and safeguard relational mechanisms for future generations. Putting this into action will require political will.

Twitter: @karenmaxSPHSU, @Mark_McCann, @Rwilsonlowe, @KMitchinGlasgow

Contributors: EL and KM led on the manuscript conceptualisation, review and editing. SP, KM, CB, RBP, RL, MM, JR, KS and RW-L contributed to drafting and revising the article. All authors assisted in revising the final draft.

Funding: The research reported in this publication was supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/1, MC_UU_00022/3) and the Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU11, SPHSU14). EL is also supported by MRC Skills Development Fellowship Award (MR/S015078/1). KS and MM are also supported by a Medical Research Council Strategic Award (MC_PC_13027).

Competing interests: None declared.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Data availability statement

Ethics statements, patient consent for publication.

Not required.