Introduction
COVID-19 outbreak began rapidly in 2020, and China verified the virus’s presence on January 7. The first verified case of COVID-19 in the United States of America was announced on January 19, while the first death associated with the epidemic was documented on March 2 (Boettke & Powell, 2021). By the end of 2020, COVID-19 has caused 355,631 reported deaths in the USA and 1,829,126 deaths worldwide (Boettke & Powell, 2021). As a result of the protracted stressors caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, scientists demonstrated a significant interest in quantifying community and social unease to support the populace mentally. Additionally, the COVID-19 epidemic has triggered a financial recession, with employment losses exceeding job growth during the past decade and devastating consequences on every aspect of American society. This paper discusses some of the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States of America. Additionally, the paper addresses the psychological consequences of the virus on the United States’ families, first responders, physicians, and nurses.
Social Impacts
Lockdowns
To incentivize citizens to stay in their residential areas and assist in containing the transmission of COVID-19, the majority of US states began enforcing stay-at-home restrictions in mid-March 2020, either state-wide or county-by-county. These decrees often prohibited public meetings and required the suspension of amusement and leisure venues such as pubs, casinos, fitness centers, theaters, and dine-in eateries (Surano et al., 2021). However, take-out and delivery services could continue to be supplied, and other non-essential retail establishments. Certain organizations, such as major supermarkets, pharmaceuticals, lending companies, essential infrastructure, and mass communication, were permitted to remain open while adhering to social distancing norms (Surano et al., 2021). Numerous governments have also established security checkpoints at their geographic boundaries. These instructions urged individuals to stay at home as much as possible unless they were undertaking pressing matters such as food shopping or hospital treatment for themselves or household members, leisure activities, or a job that could not be done remotely.
Educational Impact
As schools transitioned to online education, concerns were raised about learner access to appropriate equipment, attendance, and adjustments for students with disabilities. By April 10, 2020, most schools in the United States have shuttered, impacting 55.1 million children (Franchi, 2020). Additionally, school districts considered adjusting grade schemes and completion standards to alleviate the disruption created by the extraordinary closures. To ensure that impoverished pupils had lunches during the closure of schools, several education institutions organized grab-and-go lunch packs or utilized school bus routes to provide meals to youngsters (Franchi, 2020). To offer legal permission for such activities, the United States Department of Agriculture relaxed numerous rules for the free lunch program.
Numerous schools and colleges, including all Ivy League members and numerous other government and commercial universities around the nation, postponed lectures and closed hostels in reaction to the outbreak. Various universities also increased their pass and failed grading in preparation for the spring 2020 term. Several caregivers left the employment due to the deterioration of institutional entitlement programs (Franchi, 2020). In addition to the health hazards associated with closing school, the dangers of isolation, separation, and educational regression associated with school disruption, this risk of unequal access was significant (Franchi, 2020). Parental decisions across races and income levels had the potential to exacerbate isolation, uneven results, rising unfairness, and eventual public underinvestment in the longer-term post-COVID scenario.
Public Transportation
Many of the country’s leading public transit companies cut service in corresponding reduction demand induced by work-from-home rules and self-quarantines. Tickets and consumption tax, which are frequent operating income sources, were expected to impact transit growth and development (Liu et al., 2020). The American Public Transportation Association petitioned the national government for $13 billion in financial assistance to offset revenue losses and other pandemic-related costs (Liu et al., 2020). In mid-April, it was estimated that transportation usage had decreased by an average of 75% countrywide, with estimates as high as 60% in Philadelphia and 85% in San Francisco (Liu et al., 2020). Numerous communities saw an upsurge in cycling as citizens chose more socially isolated modes of transportation. In 2020, deaths in the United States increased to almost 38,680 due to fewer individuals on the road (Liu et al., 2020). Due to the disruption of the public transit system by the outbreak of the pandemic, the social lives of American has been significantly impacted.
Prison and Correctional Facilities
Due to overcrowding of susceptible prisoners and restricted access to healthcare, the epidemic has placed a significant burden on the American correctional facilities. The social separation necessary to prevent virus spread has proven difficult, if not unattainable, to implement within prevailing codes of quality, and establishments have been sluggish to embrace new, health-conscious practices. At its peak, up to 25,000 convicts screened positive for COVID-19 in a single week across the United States (Novisky et al., 2021). By June 2021, over 500,000 convicts were positively identified as COVID-19 patients (Novisky et al., 2021). By December 2021, almost 34 of every 100 persons in US jails had been infected, nearly four times the rate in the general population (Novisky et al., 2021). There was significant concern that detention center figures were erroneous and rarely reported. The proliferation of COVID-19 has detrimental effects on convicts’ and police’ health and well-being.
Economic Impact
Impact on Production
The COVID-19 epidemic has had a devastating effect on electronics manufacturing and distribution in the United States. It is believed that the outbreak began in China, which produces the majority of electronics and their elements. As early as January, word of the stoppage of numerous industries and businesses specializing in the manufacture of memory chips, other electrical devices, and home appliances began to circulate. Numerous prominent firms, including Apple, Microsoft, and Google that does not have their manufacturing capabilities but rely on OEM solutions, had begun to relocate purchases outside the USA. Thus, this enabled some compensation for the shutdown of US manufacturing sites but did not entirely solve the challenges.
The reality is that considerable issues have emerged in distribution networks as well. As is well known, manufacturing electronic components alone are not sufficient; they must also be transported to assembly plants. In the United States, the logistics issue arose due to regional closures. Almost all of the largest manufacturers of desktops, handsets, and other related hardware have reported supply chain issues. As has been regularly reported, Apple is a rather dramatic illustration of this as the company is suffering substantial supply chain challenges. It reached a point where the corporation was compelled to restrict sales of its products.
Impact on Employment
The COVID-19 epidemic shook the US employment supply, propelling the rate of unemployment to hit unprecedented heights and displacing millions. Productivity was 8.5 million fewer in February 2021 than in February 2020 (Anyamele et al., 2021). Thus, this presented a deficit that might take more than three years to recover if employment growth continues at the same regular rate as it did from 2018 to 2019 (Anyamele et al., 2021). However, a speedier rebound is conceivable if the employment increases recorded in March 2021 are extended in the coming months. The COVID-19 recession disproportionately impacted particular Americans as it spread throughout the industry.
Women experienced a greater economic contraction than males, reversing the trend seen during the Economic Downturn. Between February 2020 and February 2021, a net 2.4 million women and 1.8 million men exited the labor market, neither functioning nor constantly searching for jobs, a 3.1% and a 2.1% decline, correspondingly (Anyamele et al., 2021). Job losses were also bigger for young persons, those with less training, Hispanic women, and immigrants. Unmarried moms experienced a more significant decline in employment than other mothers, and low-wage employees experienced an especially significant decline in employment.
Effects on Housing Markets
In June 2020, historically reduced interest rates sparked a home market expansion. Despite rising unemployment levels, households began the hunt for accommodation. They desired larger yards and additional partially enclosed conducive to at-home schooling and work. Even before the outbreak, contractors kept residential inventories low, recognizing all too well how they were left with unsold homes during the 2008 recession (Lee & Huang, 2022). By October 2020, there would be sufficient unoccupied properties to last ten weeks, the smallest period in 20 years.
On the other hand, most American families and households faced homelessness. By the end of 2020, approximately 20 million tenants will have lost their sources of livelihood and will no longer be reimbursed by unemployment compensation (Lee & Huang, 2022). Additionally, government-mandated foreclosure prohibitions covered approximately 30% of landlords (Lee & Huang, 2022). Federal moratoria have been extended many times and will expire on July 31, 2021. Typically, evicted individuals have depleted all available resources before losing their houses. As a result, they are more prone to undergo homelessness, which exacerbates the difficulty of getting work (Lee & Huang, 2022). Repossessions also harm homeowners, as they may strain to pay their debts and may face insolvency or financial ruin if they do not receive a rental income.
Psychological Impact and Consequences
Family
The COVID-19 outbreak has harmed families’ cognitive wellness, and public initiatives of isolation and stay-at-home directives have assisted to COVID-19’s containment; yet, they have culminated in individuals facing feelings of hopelessness, in some cases, death. It is critical to learn how people dealt with solitary during the COVID-19 pandemic and their methods because loneliness is connected with an elevated risk of chronic health issues and fatality in elderly individuals (Masiero et al., 2020). Loneliness is linked to chronic disorders such as high blood pressure, other heart problems such as stroke, and cognitive loss. According to a survey conducted in the United States of America during the COVID-19 epidemic, 35.86% of persons described experiencing loneliness (Masiero et al., 2020). These findings revealed that employment and cohabitation were important primary mechanisms against psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 imposed a shift in grieving and mourning experiences, severing families and altering the sense of death (Masiero et al., 2020). The difficulties of monitoring loved ones through their illness trajectory to demise, and many fatalities within the same family place the people in a state of stalled time during which significant events occur but are not yet visible (Masiero et al., 2020). This compelled non-experience affects their cultural healing process and prolonged recovery from loss, increasing the likelihood of family members developing post-traumatic psychological stress.
First Responders
First respondents were privileged as the first line of defense against COVID-19 victims, which increased their risk of infection. As a result of this stance, psychological conditions such as nervousness, sadness, restlessness, distress, and reputation internalization were identified among this community (Zolnikov & Furio, 2021). Throughout the COVID-19 epidemic, emergency personnel, like healthcare personnel in general, were identified as a section of the population that was chronically subjected to cognitive and emotional risks and strains as a result of perennially high demands and fear of infection for themselves or family members (Zolnikov & Furio, 2021). The social separation had many consequences for first responders, who were immediately identifiable by their outfits.
The community, acquaintances, and relatives all viewed first responders identically; individuals kept first responders at length and secluded them, even in locations where semi-social interactions were permitted, such as grocery shops. Although the public generally isolated first responders, it did occur within households as well (Zolnikov & Furio, 2021). As a result, these scenarios had a detrimental influence on first responders’ psychological well-being, resulting in worry, stress, and sadness.
Physicians
The outbreak of COVID-19 has put an enormous burden on the US medical delivery system. Supervision and disease management have predominantly shifted to physicians, who have emerged as the epidemic’s front runners. They must quarantine, examine, and treat individuals who have been exposed to an extremely contagious infection while also addressing other urgent matters (Nguyen et al., 2021). Nationally, in the United States, finances and personnel have been a significant consideration. The scarcity of key resources has culminated in a growing risk of infection and labor fatigue for emergency medicine practitioners (Nguyen et al., 2021). Nonetheless, this can come at a considerable psychological cost in the form of alleviated mental, physical, and physiological tiredness due to job anxiety, resulting in exhaustion and negatively impacting health and well-being.
Physicians routinely rank near the top of the list of specialty with the greatest burnout levels. The increased likelihood of a lawsuit, chronic weariness caused by circadian rhythm disturbance, and task concentration have been cited as contributing factors. While 42% of physicians experienced emotional burnout in 2020, only a tiny percentage of these professionals obtained technical counseling (Nguyen et al., 2021). The high burnout rate among emergency medicine physicians may be due to the enormous psychological and emotional toll of forefront labor during the outbreak. Rising patient population and occupational pressure were identified as factors leading to this group’s general mental health decrease (Nguyen et al., 2021). Furthermore, the virus’s highly infectious nature and the unavailability of definite treatment guidelines or efficient therapeutic choices contributed to the loss of mental well-being. According to Nguyen et al. (2021), a large proportion of physicians reported fatigue, nervousness, sadness, and discomfort indicators resulting from providing care to COVID-19 patients.
Nurses
The global epidemic of COVID-19 has produced a significant public health disaster and numerous difficulties for hospital workers. With its speedy person-to-person dissemination and overwhelming many medical systems, this epidemic produced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the greatest outbreak since the Spanish flu a generation back (Sagherian et al., 2020). Healthcare personnel, specifically nurses, are more susceptible to infection due to their frequent closeness to patients. The COVID-19 disease has aggravated challenging and frustrating working circumstances for healthcare nurses in the United States of America (Sagherian et al., 2020). More extended shift timings may provide an even more considerable risk of poor psychosocial consequences than previously.
Registered nurses face greater requirements, including providing direct nursing services in stringent exclusion and receiving on-the-job training on how to care for clients with COVID-19 comfortably. Additionally, hospitals lack new knowledge about disease prevention, treatment plan and fatality rates, staffing shortages, and lack of protective equipment in states experiencing extreme. Sagherian et al. (2020) enumerated that devastating incidence, offering psychological support to clients and caregivers, and personal anxiety of procuring and spreading disease are among the challenges nurses face amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, operating during the pandemic exacerbated already-high instances of mental exhaustion, inadequate sleep, exhaustion, and the risks inherent with the customer, nurse, and institutional outcomes.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 virus is a national emergency that triggered an economic recession, with job losses exceeding job growth during the past decade within a few months and devastating repercussions on all sectors of American life. Various institutions and organizations experienced the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. Schools, prisons, business entities, and medical institutions in the United States were all affected by the virus, disrupting normal life activities within the USA. Health practitioners such as nurses, physicians, and first responders were important during the COVID-19 pandemic’s recovery efforts. They accounted for a sizable portion of the personnel providing care to clients during the COVID-19 epidemic. These healthcare professionals underwent significant psychological changes as a result of their responsibility. While caring for others, they also needed to be cared for and respected as they experienced perplexity and fear. Supervisors of healthcare workers can assist frontline personnel in adjusting psychologically to alterations in their workplace environment.
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