The global pandemic touched off by Wuhan pneumonia has been enduring for months. In light of the present trend, it is anticipated that this novel coronavirus will be messing about for quite some time. Quite some analysts take the view that the outbreak of the second-wave epidemic in the U.S. and the severe outbursts in South America and a few densely populated countries in Asia does not only suggest that the plague is a real pain in the neck, but also hint how precarious the global economy is.



Admittedly, this global pandemic is way more ferocious than those influenzas in Asia and Hong Kong known to us. However, it does not mean the virus transmission cannot be contained in a couple of months. Now, what is most needed is all the governments take serious and effective measures, especially social distancing, tracking and impoundment, to bring it under control, or else even an overwhelming number of hospitals are inadequate for triumphing over the contagion.



The so-called second-wave outbreak in the U.S. was indeed caused by human. The epidemic broke out in early March in the U.S., mitigating after getting over the summit one month later. Then in late June, the scourge started to intensify again with the number of daily confirmed cases picking up, amounting even up to 38,386 cases in total the past Wednesday, a little less than the record high of 39,072 on April 24, which is a reflection of how acute the conditions are in the U.S.. However, it is a surprise to see it bounce back in summertime while the infectiousness of such kind of disease usually eases off in hot season. The second wave did not come from nowhere.



In fact, the relapse is related to the recent riots in the U.S.. George Floyd, an African American, was killed by a police officer kneeling on his neck on the street, which brought about nation-wide riots in consecutive weeks. We can imagine close combats between the police and protesters diluted the effectiveness of social distancing, which explains why after the mass protests, the epidemic worsened in a few big states simultaneously, including LA, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Colorado. If this large-scale social movement had not occurred, the author is convinced that the widespread proliferation in the U.S. would have been alleviated.



The situation in Europe has been apparently picking up since the early stage of the outbreak that a large number of cases were confirmed in several major European countries, including Italy, Spain, France, the UK and Germany. After more than a month of implementing anti-epidemic measures by respective governments, their conditions, except for the UK’s, have been improving since May. Now, even the situation in the UK is way better than that in the peak period. Even though they did not do well in coping with the disease at the early stage, it was contained in the end.

With appropriate policies of containment, this second wave raging in the U.S. is believed to die down soon like the outbreak in March and April for the reasons that the protests have been relieved; main disaster areas will confront the illness wholeheartedly; and crisis awareness of Americans should have been raised. A burnt child dreads the fire. If there is one more wave of outbreak in the U.S., Americans deserve it.

(Kwan Cheuk Chiu, economist, director of ACE Centre for Business and Economic Research)

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