COVID-19, also commonly known as the Coronavirus, is causing nearly the entire world to completely shut down in order to stop the spread. Coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China last year, has sense spread through every continent except Antarctica as of March 29, 2020. COVID-19 is the third ever reported global Coronavirus outbreak behind the SARS Coronavirus in 2002 from China and the MERS Coronavirus in 2012 from Saudi Arabia. According to the Washington Post, there are over 700,000 worldwide cases of COVID-19, over 100,000 cases in the United States, and likely many more to come.

As a result many countries like Italy, China, Spain, and many locations in the United States have even issued in-house lockdowns in order to stop the spread of the disease and control the heavy demand of health care providers. However, although heavy focus lies on controlling the spread of this disease, the economic aspect of this is often overlooked.

According to Statistica.com, the United States (US) stock market accounts for nearly 54% of all world stocks, meaning “economically” the US impacts other nations greatly. As panic began to build and government officials began to enforce quarantines on citizens, the US stock market (Dow Jones Industrial Average) plummeted.

March 9^th, 11^th, and 12^th became the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th largest daily point losses in a large part due to the growing coronavirus concerns. On March 16^th, the US stock market had its largest one day point loss ever recorded coming in at -12.93%. From March 4^th to March 29^th, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has in itself dropped almost 25% (27,090.86 points to 21,636.78 points). Moreover, according to CNBC’s Fred Imbert, “Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 260 points, pointing to an implied drop of about 332.78 points at the Monday open.” In other words, growing confidence is that the US stock market will continue to drop.

The importance of the stock market entering a recession or major decline may not seem very worrisome to the normal person, however the US stock market reflects our daily lives in society. According to Investopedia.com, “A recession can lead companies to report financial losses while some companies go bankrupt – leading to companies laying workers off. As a result, a decrease in the demand for goods occurs and leads to lower growth rates for companies and the overall economy.” In other words, a low stock market means a bad lifestyle for you.

One may be asking, “Well how can we prevent this major decline from continuing to happen?” The answer is simple: Investors need to continue to buy and invest and consumers need to continue to shop. More money that goes through corporations means the market stays active and we will see a continued growth in the US economy.

COVID-19 is something we as a society need to take seriously in order to protect everyone and contain the spread of the disease. It is important to follow guidelines by health officials and government officials in order to keep safe. However, it is just as important to understand our economy and how we the consumers and investors can help our society be better than ever after this horrible disease passes.