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Coronavirus pandemic
Opinion
Curtis Chin
Jose B. Collazo
Curtis ChinandJose B. Collazo

Opinion | Asia’s coronavirus year in review: Who had a smashing 2020? Who had a rough ride?

  • 2020 was great for Tsai-Ing Wen and Jacinda Ardern, good for e-commerce, and mixed for China and its belt and road ambitions
  • But it was bad for the WHO and absolutely the pits for Asia’s poor

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Illustration: Stephen Case
Curtis ChinandJose B. Collazo

The end of 2020 is upon us, followed by the Lunar New Year and the arrival of the Year of the Ox. Neither date could come fast enough.

Hong Kong has not escaped unscathed as pandemic restrictions tighten once again. Local cases have surpassed 8,000 with more than 130 deaths. Globally, nearly 1.8 million are dead – including more than 333,000 in the United States and 145,000 in India.

Yet, less than 12 months after the novel coronavirus spread with deadly effect worldwide, there lies hope for a better year ahead amid unprecedented progress on vaccines and treatments. So, who were up and who were down in Asia in 2020?

Worst year: Asia’s Poorest

As elsewhere, it is the poorest and most vulnerable in Asia who were hit hardest by Covid-19. The World Bank reports that Asia’s most vulnerable bore the brunt of a “triple shock” – the pandemic, economic fallout from containment measures, and ensuing global recession.

02:40

Indian women’s employment hit hard as India’s coronavirus caseload tops 10 million

Indian women’s employment hit hard as India’s coronavirus caseload tops 10 million
Amid collapsing tourism and weakened exports, hunger grows while access to jobs, technology and education shrinks. The Asian Development Bank projects that the coronavirus could push 160 million more into poverty across Asia. For the first time in 20 years, Asia’s poverty rate will rise, said the World Bank.
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And so, sadly, Asia’s rapidly growing class of the “new Covid poor” receive the depressing distinction of having had the worst year.

Bad year: World Health Organization and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

It should have been a year for the WHO to shine. Instead, the United Nations health agency and its beleaguered director general found themselves in a no-win situation, accused of not holding China accountable for its less-than-transparent handling of the coronavirus.

04:46

Seeking the invisible: hunt for origins of deadly Covid-19 coronavirus will take scientists to Wuhan

Seeking the invisible: hunt for origins of deadly Covid-19 coronavirus will take scientists to Wuhan
Hidebound by bureaucracy and diplomacy, the WHO could say little as China delayed the release of information, allowed millions to travel from Wuhan over the Lunar New Year, and cracked down on citizen journalists and whistle-blowers such as Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, who died in February after contracting the disease he sought to warn others about.
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