COVID-19: A REMINDER THAT WE LIVE IN A VUCA WORLD
\n<\/strong>The world is facing a profound transformation in virtually all spheres due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the actions governments and institutions are taking to respond to the crisis. Understanding the mid- and long-term impact of the pandemic is proving to be an extraordinarily complex task. Both positive and negative effects that go beyond the environmental and \u00absanitary\u00bb aspects are already apparent, creating impacts globally in society, the economy, politics, technology, education, and even private life. The statistics published by the World Health Organization as of May 13, 2020 reported over four million cases of people infected with COVID-19 and the unfortunate death of over 280 thousand people. At least 215^{1<\/sup> countries have been affected by the pandemic, and, sadly, the infection is still far from being under control in many regions of the world.<\/p>\n}

Comparing these figures with the figures published in the 2010 United Nations report on disaster risk reduction may help to better understand the extent of the damage. Considered one of the deadliest years in recent history, the year 2010 witnessed 373 natural disasters that claimed the lives of over 296,800 people around the world.^{2<\/sup> When we look at the number of deceased disaster victims in 2010 and the number of lives this pandemic has claimed so far\u2014considering the outbreak is not over yet\u2014the figures are clearly comparable.<\/p>\n}

COVID-19 has sparked off not only a global<\/strong> crisis, (directly or indirectly) impacting all countries around the world, but also a generalized<\/strong> crisis, affecting conceivably all areas of human life: health, habits, private and public life, and economic activity.<\/p>\n

The macroeconomic impact is strong and generalized. The OECD estimates that the advanced economies will shrink by 15\u201320% due to the pandemic. While China, India and Brazil\u2014which together account for 40% of the world\u2019s population\u2014will likely see their GDPs drop by nearly 20%, the largest economies in Europe and the U.S. will probably shrink by over 25%.<\/p>\n

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