Planning for Holidays in this pandemic has become a daunting task. This is because the Hospital Industry has witnessed severe economic downturns over the last year. Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic that has plagued the world over the last 12 months has brought the sector and especially holiday goers to its knees to a point where airlines and hotels across the world have had to sack many of their staff or close down entirely.
What is Covid-19?
Covid-19 is a lethal virus that is indigenous to the Bangladesh/Burma border and has recently crossed over into India, followed by China and Thailand. As reported by the Times of India: “It’s a virulent flu virus, which causes severe respiratory problems. According to the World Health Organisation, the mortality rate is likely to be around one in 1,000 cases. India has been the worst-affected country and over the past week, at least eight people have died of the virus in the eastern state of Odisha.” This week’s Asia Pacific Pandemic Threat Assessment, a quarterly publication that analyses infectious disease threats around the world, has also highlighted the devastation that this virus has caused.
The Impact on Hospitals
Most of the time, pandemic-related illness is far more dangerous than standard influenza. In pandemic-related emergencies, a patient’s immune system becomes compromised and they are no longer able to fight off viruses that cause the illness. This becomes a serious problem for the health sector as they try to contain the spread of the virus. If the pandemic is severe, the hospitals may even run out of the antiviral medicines required to treat patients. Escape Plan – What You Need to Do if a Pandemic Hits Most people are not aware of the severity of a pandemic until it arrives at their front doors. So, it is vital that they are fully prepared for such an event. The first thing you need to do is write down your household’s travel insurance policy.
The Impact on Airlines
According to a survey conducted by a consortium of industry players, the level of disruption caused by the pandemic is set to be massive and will last for several years. Even though the strike action by pilots and cabin crew will ease by March next year, the unavailability of replacement staff for at least two years means that the travel industry will not be recovering as quickly as hoped for. A breakdown of the current climate is given in the infographic below. Holiday planning is inevitably disrupted by the announcement of a pandemic. With the increased risk of flu-like illness spreading rapidly, most healthcare professionals and members of the public have lost their sense of urgency and become complacent.
The Impact on Hotels
The holiday season is one of the most stressful periods for hotels as the influx of tourists and transient customers is enormous. Hotels are run completely on the occupancy of their rooms. Unless the rates of the room increase significantly, hotels would have a hard time increasing their occupancy. Since the hospitality sector is one that requires a lot of human resources, the process of dismissing their employees for the holiday season is almost impossible. This year is going to be even worse than last year because of the earthquakes in Japan, the flu pandemic, Ebola, and the Middle East conflict. At this point in time, there are less than 400,000 health care staff members in Japan. They are spread across 1,000 hospitals that offer approximately 50% of the health care services.
Planning for the Holidays
This year, the Hospital Industry is facing the possibility of a series of financial catastrophes due to the Pandemic and its impact on the travel industry across the world. Hospitals and other healthcare-related businesses have since tried various strategies to stop their staff members from being laid off, from sharing workloads, to offering day-care services. However, some hotels and hospitals in the world are struggling to make ends meet. Some have reportedly resorted to tough measures including forbidding tourists from staying in their hotels. But with business as usual seemingly impossible and there being no sign of substantial recovery, what can be done to prepare the Hospital industry for the Holiday season and to safeguard against the Pandemic?
Yuo can read our travel guide on Five tips for low cost vacations.
Conclusion
As a consequence of the catastrophes that have taken place over the last 12 months, it is important that individuals and organizations look at ways of improving their preparedness and the functionality of their end-user devices. While it is a daunting task to carry out, there are steps that can be taken to effectively overcome the issue of the lack of available professionals in a new location. Although it may be difficult to remember everything in an emergency, it is a positive step to put together a checklist and plan for things that may need to be done once the worst has happened.
