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Friday, March 29, 2024

World Roundup: World economy may lose $8.8 trillion

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  • World economy may lose $8.8T
  • Trump threatens to cut China ties

The coronavirus pandemic could cut up to 9.7 percent off the global economy, the Asian Development Bank said Friday, doubling its previous estimate as the virus stifles trade and leaves millions jobless.

READ: Virus could cut up to 9.7 percent off global economy: ADB

The estimated impact would cost as much as $8.8 trillion based on a range of scenarios, but ADB said government interventions could help offset the losses inflicted by the crisis.

Up to 242 million jobs will be lost due to the virus, more than seven times higher than the employment losses seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago. Foregone labor income could top $1.8 trillion.

“These will be difficult to recoup,” the Manila-based lender said, warning it could not discount the possibility of a financial crisis if the pandemic was not contained quickly enough to prevent defaults and bankruptcies.

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To stem the economic losses, governments have announced a range of stimulus measures such as payroll support to keep jobs, cash transfers and tax breaks.

“These helped counteract some of the adverse economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” ADB said.

READ: Tokyo stocks close higher

Trump threatens to cut China ties

US President Donald Trump threatened to cut ties with China over its role in the spread of the coronavirus.

The United States has registered almost 86,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 – the highest toll of any nation, with a third of all known global infections.

In an interview aired Thursday, Trump again accused Beijing of concealing the true scale of the problem after the virus emerged in Wuhan late last year.

“I’m very disappointed in China. I will tell you that right now,” he said.

Asked how the United States might choose to retaliate against what he has dubbed the “Plague from China,” Trump said: “We could cut off the whole relationship.”

The US and China are the world’s two largest economies, doing hundreds of billions of dollars of mutually beneficial trade every year.

COVID-related childhood illness

US health authorities issued an alert over a rare but sometimes deadly autoimmune condition among children that is believed to be linked to COVID-19.

The illness, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), was first reported in Britain in late April.

“Healthcare providers who have cared or are caring for patients younger than 21 years of age meeting MIS-C criteria should report suspected cases to their local, state, or territorial health department,” said the CDC. 

The criteria include fever, multiple inflamed organs that cause severe illness requiring hospitalization, a confirmed active or recent coronavirus infection, and no other plausible causes.

Doctors who have treated the illness say patients sometimes have symptoms similar to a rare condition called Kawasaki disease, which causes blood vessels throughout the body to swell, leading to extreme pain.

READ: Trump threatens to cut China ties as virus toll tops 300,000

‘No benefit’ in HCQ treatment

Treating COVID-19 patients with the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) had no positive effect and caused other health complications, two new studies showed Friday.

The anti-inflammatory has been touted by US President Donald Trump among others as a potential “game changer” after initial studies in lab settings showed it may be able to prevent the virus from replicating.

But several subsequent studies – including one funded by the US government – appear to have doused hopes that HCQ can help patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Mythical monster goes viral

Move over Pokemon and Hello Kitty, in coronavirus-hit Japan, a new character has captured hearts and hopes: Amabie, a beak-nosed, long-locked mythical mermaid monster said to repel plagues.

In recent weeks, the mash-up monster has become the unlikely mascot of hopes for an end to the pandemic, emerging from relative obscurity to become a trending Twitter hashtag, as well as the inspiration for everything from cakes to nail art.

Her revival in fortunes was sparked in early March when the Kyoto University Library tweeted an 1846 drawing of the creature floating above the sea, accompanied by a text explaining her apparent infection-fighting powers.

The scaly social media star is supposed to have appeared to a samurai in southern Kumamoto prefecture, warning of the spread of infectious disease and instructing him to draw a picture of her and show it to people to protect them. 

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