(Bloomberg) —
As Europe and the U.S. follow China’s lead in imposing curbs on daily life to fight the coronavirus, Asia’s experience of the pandemic provides both hope and caution.
China appears to be getting a handle on the virus, but the rest of the region is far from in the clear. A wave of secondary effects is bad news for anyone expecting the Covid-19 crisis to pass quickly.
In Malaysia, the number of cases jumped the most in Southeast Asia, prompting the government to ban all visitors and shut all places of worship, schools and businesses that don’t sell daily supplies. That could hurt neighboring Singapore, which relies on commuters from Malaysia for about a tenth of its workforce.
The Philippines widened a month-long quarantine in the capital Manila, while Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous nation, saw a surge of infections this week, including a member of President Joko Widodo’s cabinet.
India, with some of the world’s most densely populated cities, is bracing for what could be an “avalanche” of cases. Equally worrying, North Korea claims to have no cases at all.
Even Hong Kong, which has seen success containing the outbreak, asked residents to avoid traveling and extended school closures until at least April 20.
Three months after the virus appeared in Wuhan, Asia’s experience shows the world’s fight is just beginning.
Global Headlines
Too little? | U.S. President Donald Trump’s coronavirus turnaround was swift, sudden — and behind the curve. When a subdued Trump took to the White House podium yesterday to say “it’s bad,” and to endorse “social distancing,” he was following action by Congress, the Federal Reserve and state governors. Only after U.S. cases exceeded 4,000 and the stock market plunged again did Trump, who spent weeks playing down the virus’s impact, acknowledge the outbreak is so severe it may cause a recession.
Wild rides | The virus spread is wreaking all sorts of havoc in financial markets as investors parse the tea-leaves: Pledges of global cooperation to mitigate the economic hit are being offset by signs of go-it-alone approaches by some countries, and by warnings of the risk of a global recession. European Union leaders meet today by teleconference to discuss ways to shore up their economies.
Political tests | In Spain, the scramble to pull together an effective response has exposed unexpected fault lines in the cabinet. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, faces criticism he’s been too slow to take aggressive action. Trump has for the first time on his Twitter feed used the phrase “Chinese Virus,” stepping up friction between the economic giants as each tries to deflect blame for the pandemic.
Click here for a look at all the ways the virus is upending politics around the world.
Race goes on, sorta | Narrow victories by Joe Biden in three state primaries — Arizona, Florida and Illinois — would effectively end the Democratic presidential nomination fight, making it nearly impossible for Bernie Sanders to capture the delegates needed. Unlike Ohio, which canceled its contest, those states will vote today despite concerns about the risk of contagion from the virus.
Off the menu | The U.S. dropped charges against a Russian company linked to Vladimir Putin that was accused of bankrolling a troll farm to influence the 2016 presidential election. Pursuing the case against Concord Management and Consulting, whose owner Yevgeny Prigozhin is nicknamed “Putin’s chef” for his Kremlin catering contracts, risked exposing U.S. secrets, prosecutors said. Concord was the only Russian entity to respond to charges stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s election-meddling inquiry.What to Watch
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is rallying Senate Republicans to quickly pass a package of virus-related economic measures, seeking to overcome any reservations by looking ahead to a next round of fiscal stimulus. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to hold a teleconference this afternoon to discuss the situation in Syria.
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And finally … Dzimadzi Masilela sits in her living room and weeps as she speaks of her only son, Liwa, who died at the age of 44 from respiratory disease after a life in the shadow of a massive coal-to-fuels and chemicals plant run by South Africa’s Sasol. Antony Sguazzin reports from the town of Embalenhle on the impact of Secunda, the complex that is the area’s economic heartbeat but which environmental groups say is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases from a single site.
–With assistance from Karl Maier, Kathleen Hunter and Anthony Halpin.
To contact the author of this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Hong Kong at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at [email protected], Alan Crawford
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