Share
By Nawara Fattahova
's been two long months since the lockdown of Kuwait and the closure of almost all businesses, banning of gatherings, and over a month of curfew. During this period, my opinion on the strict measures taken by the government has changed. I realized the serious harm to the economy, locally and globally, is much bigger than the pandemic. Dying from hunger is more serious than risking the possibility of getting infected by a virus.
Almost everyone was hit by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Hundreds of thousands of employees all over the world lost their jobs, or at least part of their salaries. Small businesses could not survive, big companies experienced massive losses, and even national budgets are under great pressure. Economic experts expect dramatic results of the impact of the pandemic on Kuwait's budget after oil prices dropped remarkably.
We are currently living in a nightmare; and what's worse is that we are anxious about the dark future after the end of the pandemic. The national budget was in deficit even before this crisis, and now the deficit is even bigger, and will definitely hit everybody in this country.
The fear of losing one's source of living is one of the most stressful situations, which may lead to dramatic decisions including death. An example is what took place a few days ago, when a Filipino visitor who got stuck in Kuwait due to the pandemic allegedly committed suicide after being informed that he was terminated by his employer in Abu Dhabi. This is just one of many cases around the world that happened or will happen due to the collapse of many businesses. The depression caused by this crisis and the thought of what's coming made tens of psychiatrists to volunteer in providing help through hotlines.
The Washington Post published an article in March on crisis hotlines that face a growing and urgent demand in the era of quarantines, showing the psychological effect of the pandemic on people. The Los Angeles Times also published an article on the LA suicide hotline seeing a rise in coronavirus-related calls. This is the situation around the world in general.
According to jamanetwork, secondary consequences of social distancing may increase the risk of suicide. It is important to consider changes in a variety of economic, psychosocial and health-associated risk factors. These include all of economic stress, social isolation, decreased access to community and religious support, barriers to mental health treatment, illness and medical problems.
Remarkable social distancing interventions have been implemented to fundamentally reduce human contact. While these steps are expected to reduce the rate of new infections, the potential for adverse outcomes on suicide risk is high. Actions could be taken to mitigate potential unintended consequences on suicide prevention efforts, which also represent a national public health priority.
In my opinion, it's time to reopen businesses and let social life resume. At least start with the most important businesses and small enterprises to avoid more critical financial losses. Our neighboring Gulf countries already took this step, although with different limits. Dubai reopened all businesses and reduced the curfew to be only at night from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, while Saudi Arabia relaxed the curfew in all cities except Makkah. Bahrain reopened most businesses as well. Life there is returning to normal gradually, although COVID-19 cases in these countries are more than in Kuwait.
