Kenji Yuhaku, senior strategy, policy and partnerships adviser at the Asian Development Bank
First in, first out? When China posted a sharp fall in new cases of Covid-19 in early April, followed by South Korea, some people began to hope. Was there light at the end of the tunnel?
And if the economies of China and Asia find a way to bounce back fast, could they offer lessons to the rest of the world about the likely state of economic and financial life after lockdown?
Alas, hope can be dangerous. Asked if Asia was past the worst of the pandemic, Kenji Yuhaku, senior strategy, policy and partnerships adviser at the Asian Development Bank, sighs.
“The region as a whole does not seem to have peaked,” he warns.
“Only a very few countries have lessened quarantine measures, while many more have only recently instituted strong measures,” he adds. “It is not clear whether Asia will be first in, first out of Covid-19, and that makes it very tricky to draw any deciding conclusions, at least for now, about what kind of world will emerge.”
