The feedback loop has started. On March 19, China announced no new cases of coronavirus in Hubei, whose capital Wuhan lies at the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, for the first time in eight weeks.
Good news? Sort of.
Viral egress has turned into ingress: on March 19, China’s National Health Commission counted no fewer than 34 cases of ‘imported’ coronavirus, many from expatriate Chinese office workers and students, fleeing the pandemic-hit West for the perceived safety of mainland towns and cities.
It is a cyclical process at work across Asia’s largest economy.
The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 11.3% in the fortnight to February 3, a period spanning a Chinese New Year and extended by a government hoping to contain the outbreak.
Slowly China’s economy clambered out of its hole, regaining all of its losses.
Then Covid-19 hit Europe and the US and – Blam! – from March 5 the index plunged another 12%, hitting a 13-month low on March 19.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tracked Shanghai’s performance, losing 21% in value over the same two-week period, as investors realised that just because China was shaking off its cold, it didn’t mean the world was.
