Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic

At the dawn of the new year, I was looking forward to the opportunity to regroup and re-strategize my investment plan. But as the saying goes, “Man proposes and God disposes”, the outbreak of the coronavirus laid to waste my investment plan for the year.

It all began with the announcement of the lockdown of Wuhan on 23rd January. That was a surefire sign from China that the world has to take this new virus seriously. Despite China’s heroic containment efforts, the virus spread like wildfire worldwide. Day by day the death toll climbed higher around the world.

By March and April the pandemic decimated the first world countries of Europe and the USA. The lockdowns and stay at home orders resulted in swift and unprecedented economic damage to these countries. The Asian Development Bank has estimated that Global Economic losses could be as high as 8.8 trillion US$. As bad as these Draconian measures may be, the alternative would have been worse.

China experienced its first economic contraction in over 4 decades. The USA recorded its highest rate of unemployment since the Great Depression. Never has the world seen so much economic damage being wrought so fast.

To date, the crisis is still playing out before our eyes and many countries are still counting the economic toll from the pandemic. I cannot imagine how life could ever return to normal without the successful development of a viable treatment or an effective vaccine against Covid-19.