how are the cooperatives helping the people
Answers
While the world is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis, cooperatives in industry and services are reorganizing themselves, finding strength in the people and communities they serve.
At the end of 2019, a new virus, known as Coronavirus or COVID-19, quickly spread around the world and the sheer number of people who have become ill represents a considerable stress test for the health systems in many countries. In the absence of a vaccine against the virus, many States have found themselves forced to take social distancing measures to flatten the curve of the spread of the virus. These measures have led to the closure of most businesses and services whose activities are not considered essential and have forced people to quarantine in their homes.
Overnight, many people have found themselves out of work and businesses do not have the staff needed to guarantee the same continuity of production and delivery of services to the public. Small and medium-sized enterprises, workers (and particularly the self-employed) were the first victims of a virus-crisis that has spread from the health sector to the many different economic sectors in each State. (Read more on the COVID-19 impact on SMEs)