The contagious Delta variant is putting Asia on a back foot in terms of economic recovery.This year was supposed to be substantially better than 2020 with the hope that the pandemic would be largely under control, vaccine roll-out mostly seamless, and economic recoveries unwavering. Reality is significantly less upbeat.
While 2021 is certainly better than 2020, this week proved that for many economies throughout the Asia-Pacific, Covid-19 management and containment is an ongoing challenge with various degrees of success as the Delta variant sweeps through the region, said Moody’s Analytics in a report on Monday.
Indonesia in particular has been hard hit. The country declared its first national lockdown as cases spiked this week with a seven-day daily average sitting just under 30,000. Covid-19 cases in Vietnam are also at their worst and a lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City began this week.
