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1. IssuesFacingthe economy
Economic, social and political issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic
Introduction
The presence of highly infectious diseases which have become pandemics, such as COVID-19,
create serious health and economic problems because of various global social and environmental
transformations which have occurred as a result of economic development. As a consequence of
economic development, the world’s population has become increasingly urbanized and
concentrated in large cities and as well, the global level of human population has risen manifold
since thebeginning ofthe IndustrialRevolution.The density ofhumanpopulationsisgreaterthan
ever. In addition, the mobility of humans in all geographical dimensions has increased
tremendously. These factors facilitate the outbreak of new infectious diseases and their spread.
This is especially evident in the case of the corona viruses, such as different strains of influenza
and more recently, COVID-19. The incidence of COVID-19 basically involves an environmental
health issue because its occurrence depends on the state of the surrounds of individuals.
Developments in the nature of economic activity exacerbate the problem of controlling new
infectious diseases which are transmitted as a result of human contact and presence. Increased
economic specialization and greater division of labour accompanied by the expansion of markets
and growing economic globalization increase the risk that individuals will come into contact with
sources that facilitate the occurrence of highly contagious diseases such as influenza and COVID-
19. The adverse economic consequences of new forms or types of these diseases can be severe
giventhehighdegreeof interdependence in economicactivity inmoderneconomies.Forexample,
the absence of workers from work due to such infections, or the risks of these infections, can
disrupt production at the workplace level. As well, supply chains are liable to be broken or
disrupted by these pandemics,and in addition, they usually havenegativeeffectsontheaggregate
demand for commodities. This is evident from the COVID-19 outbreak which has resulted in a
major worldwide economic depression. A useful coverage of the worldwide economic effects of
COVID-19 is available in Fernandes (2020).
There is now a very large volume of literature on the economics of COVID-19 and it is growing at
a rapid rate. A relatively comprehensive review of this literature (as at June 2020) is available
in Brodeur et al. (2020) and a very useful overview of the economic issues raised at an early stage
by COVID-19 is available in Baldwin and Weder di Mauro (2020). So this literature will not be
reviewed here again.
The objective of this article is to provide my own insights into economic issues raised by COVID-
19. It is important to assess the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the historical context, impact
and nature of previous pandemics. Therefore, initially, this article provides a selected brief
overview of the history and nature of a variety of pandemics and compares these to the COVID-
19 pandemic. Subsequently, choice problems involving available hospital capacity and the
prioritization of admissions of those with COVID-19 are considered. Then attention turns to
considering social choice and economic trade-offs between the incidence of COVID-19 infections
and the level of economic activity. This is followed up by a critical discussion of the desirability of
isolating social groups in order to control the incidence of COVID-19 and possibly reduce
economic losses from the pandemic. Particular attention is paid to the views of Acemoglu et al.

2. (2020) in that regard. The important issue of the extent to which individuals should be permitted
freedom in relation tothe controlof COVID-19isinvestigatedandbrief notes follow on thefactors
that are likely to hinder economic recovery from COVID-19.
LessonProper/Content:
Methodology
The occurrence of pandemics is by no means new. Although communicable diseases were present when
humankind relied on hunting and gathering for subsistence, the shift to agriculture, which began some
10,000 years ago and the subsequent growth of urban centres,increased the incidence of epidemics
(History.com Editors, 2020). Urbanization (facilitated by the Agricultural Revolution) provided a fertile
environment for pandemics to take hold. Huremović (2019, p. 7) states:
“In a long succession throughout history, pandemic outbreaks have decimated societies, determined
outcomes of wars,wiped out entire populations but also paradoxically cleared the way for innovation and
advances in sciences (including medicine and public health), economy, and political systems.”
Huremović(2019) providesawell referencedcoverageof pandemicsbothbefore,including,and
followingthe BlackDeathbutexcludingCOVID-19. History.comEditors(2020) alsopresentsashort
overviewof pandemicsof historical significance.Furtherrelevantinformationonpandemicsisavailable
inWikipedia(Anon,2020) and thisarticle isalsowell referenced.Iwill justgive abrief coverage of the
Black Death(1348–1400 AD),the ‘Spanish’flu(1918–1920), HIV/AIDS,SARS,‘Swine flu’.Avianflu,Ebola
and Zika.Where appropriate,Iwill provide comparisonswithCOVID-19.
InformationSources
Recordswere identifiedfollowingasystematicsearchof Google Scholar,Philippine E-journals,Research
gate other scholarsforreportsthat may have beenmissedbyprevioussearches.
Search Strategy
Digital tools and digital skills
COVID-19 has significantly affected social work practice, and social workers expressed the
need to share data about practical and organizational issues. COVID-19 has highlighted the
digital inequalities that exist in our society (Beaunoyer et al., 2020). Digital tools and digital skills
were at the core of social workers’ worries, with reference to two main issues: their own and
service users’ attitudes, particularly those without digital tools (laptop, smartphone, or tablet),
without an Internet connection, or with very limited skills; and the difficulties of creating safe and
meaningful spaces online.
Sharing information and advice on how to reach these people and communicate with them in a
safe environment, social workers assisted in coping with social isolation and identifying those

3. who are isolated or without a voice to ask for help. The difficulties related to digital tools and
digital skills concerned not only service users but also social workers who had never conducted
social work interventions via the Internet.
Maintaining essential services
Group 3 particularly focused on families in poverty and homeless people, as continuing
homeless services during the community spread of COVID-19 was critical in Italy, as well as in
other countries. In the face of the pandemic, a lack of access to adequate housing could be fatal
and might put the broader population at continued risk (Fahra, 2020). During the group
sessions, social workers shared resources and concrete strategies, such as temporary housing,
to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on people needing essential help, maintain services for all
people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, and arrange for care for those with no place to
go after release from hospital.
Reinventing service spaces to respect physical distancing and working safely
During the health emergency, all direct contact between social workers and service users (and
among professionals) was risk assessed and carefully planned in advance, taking into account
local guidance and public health guidance. The reality shows that many social work institutions
were unprepared to face important organizational changes. During the group sessions, social
workers shared two main difficulties: reinventing the service spaces to respect social distancing
within organizations with a lack of physical spaces, and securing adequate personal protective
equipment to work safely.
At the end of the lockdown period, some practitioners were worried about returning to the office
due to poor protective measures imposed by institutions and wished for more safeguards to
protect themselves and the service users.
Social work methodological and ethical issues
Extra support and special protection for people at risk
During group sessions, social workers reflected on many methodological and ethical issues, as
shown in Figure 1. Maintaining adequate methodological and ethical standards during the
COVID-19 pandemic remained a controversial issue discussed worldwide (British Association of

4. Social Workers [BASW], 2020; Farkas and Romaniuk, 2020; IFSW, 2020). Groups 1 and 2
prioritized discussions on supporting children at risk of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.
The participants expressed concern for youth and children involved in the child protection
system, as spending more time at home meant that some families may need extra support with
parenting and special protection for children. Some participants expressed anxiety when
referring to families in which there was risk or suspicion of women and children experiencing
abuse, as assessment interventions were delayed and there were fewer opportunities for people
to request help during the lockdown period.
Managing contact between parents and children living out of family
Another important issue among child protection social workers was the management of contact
between parents and children living out of family. During the lockdown and until the beginning of
June, in-person contact between parents and children in care was suspended due to mandatory
restrictions. This raised discussions on the effect of these decisions on the rights of parents,
relatives, and children involved in the child protection system. In giving and receiving help on
this and other sensitive issues, participants based the discussion on the core principles of social
work and expertise acquired through previous experiences. Participants asked, for instance,
how the others were managing the anger and suffering of parents and children whose in-person
contact was suspended (Group 1), whether they had already experienced a telephone interview
with an ethnic minority person and a linguistic mediator (Group 2), and whether they had
facilitated an online support group for caregivers whose relatives were affected by COVID-19
(Group 3).
The facilitator encouraged the participants who had faced these issues to not only tell their
personal experience but also to identify the parts of the experience that were and were not
effective, and point out potential difficulties and useful measures. These and other issues
(shown in Figure 1) were discussed by the groups on three levels:
 whether it was possible and reasonable to do the intervention without traditional tools,
contexts, and settings (and with new tools, contexts, and settings);
 how to do it in practice, with which tools and methods;
 how to maintain professional and ethical behavior.

5. Transforming social work interventions
Regarding the need to transform social work interventions to continue to help, the groups
offered supervision and mutual support based on experiential learning processes. The term
‘experiential learning’ characterizes the knowledge produced in groups, describing it as ‘truth
based on personal experience with a phenomenon’ (Borkman, 1976: 445). Through social
workers’ narratives, participants shared technical or methodological advice to shift from face-to-
face interventions to online or hybrid models. Rethinking and transforming social work
interventions requires social workers to be creative and confident. During the first group session
at the beginning of April 2020, only a few social workers per group were engaged in online
activities with service users. However, all the participants eventually became engaged in
activities via the Internet to some extent. Some of them expressed that what was shared in the
previous sessions had positively influenced them, their colleagues, or their managers to
implement new and unique ways of helping. Using the words of two participants, ‘After our last
session, I reflected on your experiences and I asked my coordinator for permission to activate
online home visiting interventions’ (Group 2), and ‘Without your support and encouragement, I
would never have thought it was possible to do an online parenting competence assessment’
(Group 1).
The strength of the group was useful in inspiring new ways to take into account helping
interventions via the phone/Internet or in person with protective equipment. Discussions in the
groups helped social workers overcome feelings of distrust toward social work activities via the
phone or Internet and find strategies to ask for more support from managers of social welfare
organizations. As usually occurs in mutual support groups for service users, participating in the
groups was conducive to social workers’ empowerment and helped them become more aware
of their strengths and limits and find strategies to make their voices heard.
During the second and third sessions, all groups expressed the need to discuss the issue of the
food voucher system designated by the Italian government during the pandemic to support
families without salaries, with income loss, or suffering from business closure. The financial
package was distributed among all the municipalities of the country, appointing social services
to distribute the resources to the citizens in need. This meant that social workers decided the
general criteria of the gatekeeping assessment for food vouchers and the methods of
distribution. This was done while maintaining social distancing and using online assessments,

6. and the distribution of food vouchers to families was organized with the collaboration of
charities, supermarkets, and civil protection. The participants shared their strategies and
successful and unsuccessful experiences, allowing colleagues to be inspired by their positive or
negative experiences.
Personal and emotional issues
Living and working under uncertain conditions
Personal and emotional issues were at the core of group discussions. From the first to the last
group sessions, a significant part of the discussion was dedicated to social workers’ emotions
and sharing feelings. The participants required emotional support, as the typical stress of their
work was compounded by the difficulty of living and working in unpredictable conditions.
Although there were some differences among the groups, during the first session, the
participants expressed frustration and powerlessness: in the participants’ words, ‘We are
blocked, without the possibility of in-person contact with service users’. These feelings were
exacerbated by the impossibility of knowing the development of the health emergency.
Disruptive mix of personal and professional concerns
At the beginning of the lockdown period, the participants experienced a mix of professional and
personal concerns. Some participants expressed anxiety about a relative, a colleague, or a
service user affected by COVID-19. Discussing these issues, the groups reflected on the
evidence that social workers were emotionally and physically engaged not only in service users’
wellbeing, but also for their personal and family wellbeing. Some social workers expressed that
having personal and professional concerns about the situation was a disruptive mix. During the
first group session, one participant explained this issue effectively, stating, ‘I feel that I am too
worried about myself and about my family to be effectively clearheaded and focused on service
users’ problems’ (Group 3). The impact of COVID-19 in northern Italy caused social workers to
experience concerns and difficulties similar to those of service users that they had to help. In
other words, during the pandemic, professionals’ and users’ problems were similar, which made
it difficult for the social workers to perform their duties and reassure others. As usually occurs in
self-help and mutual aid groups, participants pursued others’ experiences with curiosity to
discover whether a colleague experienced similar or different feelings. In many sessions, once a

7. participant shared how they felt, they indirectly asked the group whether they were experiencing
similar emotions.
Balancing personal and professional life
The participants expressed physical and emotional exhaustion in addition to worry. Using the
words of one social worker, ‘During this time, not only service users but also social workers
suffer and face difficulties’ (Group 1). The need for self-care was blended with the need to be
responsive toward others. Another crucial theme of discussion was the social workers’
difficulties in maintaining a healthy work–life balance. In particular, during the first 2 months of
online activities, a recurring topic among social workers was the stress, fatigue, and difficulty of
maintaining the boundary between professional and personal life. The participants’ experiences
revealed that removing the rigidity related to particular work hours or settings contributed to
increasing levels of stress and exhaustion. Social workers noticed that work time significantly
increased (up to 52 working hours per week), interviews with service users were longer than
expected (up to one and a half hours), their schedules were very tight every day, and they were
always accessible and connected (even during evenings and weekends).
Several social workers shared that the extra work was affecting their own family dynamics, with
particular reference to child care and support for distance learning. As confidence grew, social
workers shared these difficulties with feelings of guilt toward their own family members or
toward the service users.
Creating trusting and empathic relationships via professional online interviews
Under pressure and concern imposed by COVID-19, some social workers recognized that
creating and maintaining trusting and empathic relationships via professional online interviews
was difficult. Some participants reported being more nervous and less patient than usual in daily
practice. From their point of view, interactions with service users were negatively affected by
their excessive pressure and fatigue. Furthermore, some participants reported having physical
symptoms of stress, such as sleep disorders or persistent headaches, which increased their
difficulty in being empathic toward the users’ problems.

8. Developing strategies for self-care during the pandemic
After listening to the participants, the facilitator guided discussions of the importance of self-
care. The participants reflected on the topic and shared strategies to manage work time, such
as establishing boundaries to create a balance between work and family life, joining relaxing
online activities, and asking colleagues or managers for help. Group 1 reflected that constantly
working online meant losing control over the service users’ situations, institutions’ dynamics,
processes, and interpersonal contact with colleagues. For some social workers, this loss of
power and control increased feelings of anxiety. As the sessions progressed, participants spoke
regularly about their wellbeing and monitored that of their colleagues, asking how many hours
the others had worked and inquiring after their health. As outlined by the IFSW (2020), ‘Social
workers must be aware of situations that might threaten their own safety and security’ (p. 2).
Discussion: Positive discoveries among social workers
Although the sessions were mainly focused on the challenges and problems faced by social
workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants also shared some positive discoveries.
The main discoveries were unexpected collaboration and networking among professionals and
citizens of local communities, unexpected benefits of online interviews with some service users,
and unexpected personal resources of service users. Social workers described these
discoveries with feelings of astonishment, as they had never experienced such phenomena
before. These discoveries cross-cut issues among the three groups.
Unexpected networks among professionals and citizens
During the health emergency, the participants discovered a renovated collaboration with other
professionals inside and outside their organizations characterized by greater cooperation and
fewer misunderstandings. The increase in solidarity among professionals enabled efficient
networking. Networking extended to local communities, soliciting partnerships between social
service organizations, professionals, volunteers of charities, and citizens. Social workers named
this, being all ‘in the same boat’ and requiring mutual collaboration to face unpredictable
challenges.

9. Unexpected benefits of online interviews
Another important discovery among social workers during the pandemic was the effectiveness
of professional online interviews with some service users. Comparing previous face-to-face
interviews with online interviews conducted during the lockdown period, participants reported
unexpected benefits of listening and speaking to a youth or a mother through an online platform.
Despite being unable to generalize to all situations, social workers discovered that for some
people, being online represented an opportunity to have more room to speak and feel more
confident and freer to discuss sensitive issues. Using the words of two social workers, ‘Through
online interviews, the user told me issues that she has never told me before’ (Group 1), and ‘For
the first time in three years, that young boy spoke with me for more than five minutes’ (Group 2).
By contrast, as represented in Figure 1, online interviews were very problematic for people who
were not able to speak freely or ask for help due to the presence of family members.
Unexpected personal resources of service users
Due to the challenges posed by the pandemic, some social workers noticed unexpected
resources in some service users. The participants reported that some families showed great
resilience when facing difficulties during this period (Group 1). Some people expressed
unexpected skills in adapting to the mandatory changes at personal and collective levels (Group
3). Some who were divorced partners became more cooperative regarding their children (Group
2). Among the positive elements, some social workers reported feelings of hope for the future
and pride in being social workers during the global emergency.
Study Selection