“The lockdown will directly affect sectors amounting to up to one-third of GDP in the major economies. For each month of containment, there will be a loss of 2 percentage points in annual GDP growth,” explained Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD estimate that the direct hit to the level of GDP by the average lockdown is between 20-25% in many major advanced economies. The impact is not evenly distributed, however. “The steepest deterioration was seen in the services sector, where businesses such as airlines, restaurants, hotels, cinemas and other leisure activities were hit especially hard by containment measures,” states our latest report, which focuses on the Building Internet of Things (BIoT) market. “Shutting down large parts of society is not sustainable in the long-term, but governments are currently being understandably cautious in relaxing societal restrictions on people movement and non-essential work, deferring widely to scientific advisors.” […]