NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – A new joint report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has estimated the total cost of the impacts and effects of COVID-19 on The Bahamas to the tune of US$9.5 billion, with tens of thousands of job losses and long-lasting effects on the country’s tourism sector.

The report, “Assessment of the Effects and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic in The Bahamas,” said that most losses, due to COVID-19 for the period 2020-2023, were concentrated between 2020 and 2021, at 84 per cent.

The worst year was 2020, when 48 per cent of losses occurred, the report said.

It says total losses in tourism were estimated at almost US$7.9 billion, largely from the fall in stopover visitors.

According to the report, the economy is expected to return to its pre-pandemic level only by 2024, mainly because of the gradual pace of recovery in the tourism sector and the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 in this sector.

“This estimate represents more than two-and-a-half times the US$3.5 billion estimated cost of damage and losses due to Hurricane Dorian, which devastated parts of Abaco and Grand Bahama in September 2019, just six months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the report, adding that the pandemic overlapped and negatively impacted the Hurricane Dorian rebuilding process.

The two disasters are estimated to have cost the country a combined $13.1 billion. In addition, the magnitude of the impacts of COVID-19 highlighted the need for comprehensive Disaster Risk Management and Health Risk Management, among other strategies and instruments, to serve the country better, in areas that range from strengthening disaster risk governance, investing in disaster risk reduction and enhancing disaster preparedness.

The report said aggregated losses in wages of employees and workers are expected to reach US$2.4 billion for 2020-2023, or 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) per year on average.

The impact on employment of these losses is estimated to be around 30,000 jobs, equivalent to 14.7 percent of the labour force.

The report stated that the pandemic in The Bahamas has affected more women than men, with women accounting for 53 per cent of the total confirmed cases. Around 43 per cent of the cases reported were people between 20 and 39 years old.

“The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world’s economic order and global public health,” said Daniela Carrera-Marquis, IDB Country Representative in The Bahamas. “Social distancing measures to curb the spread of the virus created significant challenges for global economic activity. Sectors such as tourism which depend on the movement of people virtually shut down,” she said.

Since the pandemic began, the IDB said it has provided The Bahamas with US$200,000 in technical assistance and US$60 million in loans for projects to reduce COVID-19-caused morbidity and mortality, and to mitigate other indirect impacts of the pandemic on health.

The IDB said these programmes also aim to prepare the country’s health system for future risks.