Asian Insider, April 9: War of words over WHO, why social distancing may save us all, global trade to plunge

Hi all,

In today's bulletin: A war of words over the WHO, a cautionary tale highlighting the importance of social distancing, India's lockdown is affecting various aspects of its society, obesity is a coronavirus risk factor, and more.

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A war of words is playing out on the global stage this week, ignited by US President Donald Trump's assessment of the World Health Organisation's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has defended his agency against Mr Trump's criticism and threat to review its funding, calling for a halt to the "politicisation" of the global health crisis and urging the United States and China to show "honest leadership". Dr Tedros also spoke of receiving verbal abuse and racial slurs that he said originated in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government demanded an apology from him, describing his comments as "baseless" and amounting to slander.

China's foreign ministry said it hoped all countries would stand together and help each other. Its spokeswoman Hua Chunying also tweeted her support for the WHO and Dr Tedros' leadership of the agency. The coronavirus crisis has underlined the importance of supporting multilateral organisations like the WHO, rather than to progressively weaken them, Kishore Mahbubani writes.

A funeral, a party…and a cluster of coronavirus infections. The story of how America's "index patient" set off a chain of transmissions that sickened 15 people and left three dead, shows just how important it is to abide by governments' lockdown orders and social distancing rules imposed to stem the spread of the deadly disease.

In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned that the authorities would strictly enforce the country's "circuit breaker" measures, as he noted that far too many public gatherings were still taking place. In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, police will enforce mandatory social distancing rules, including school and workplace closures and the shortening of public transport operation hours. While many of these measures were already in place, they will be compulsory for Jakarta residents from tomorrow (April 10), with penalties for defiance.

Meanwhile, Google has launched a new tool to help public health officials around the world assess whether their social distancing measures are working. The programme is not a live-tracking tool, but taps on historical data between 48 and 72 hours old.

Hindu-Muslim tensions, paranoia and fake news have coalesced dangerously as India races to contain its Covid-19 outbreak in a country that celebrates faith in large crowds. Several religious groups have flouted lockdown rules, leading to arrests of errant spiritual leaders. Some sections of the Indian community have blamed the Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat for spreading the coronavirus, with fake videos purportedly showing Muslim people misbehaving, fuelling tensions. These incidents will only hinder efforts to weed out the virus, public health experts say. .

A silver lining from India's lockdown, however, is the return of clear skies in its cities that are notorious for being among the most polluted in the world. In Mumbai, peak-hour PM2.5 levels fell by 52 per cent and nitrogen dioxide levels by 85 per cent. In Kolkata, they were down 46 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.

People are also beginning to embrace e-commerce, reversing a long-held rejection of the mode of business that is often seen as a threat to the country's millions of brick-and-mortar retailers. As the nationwide lockdown drags on, delivery workers have become crucial frontline soldiers in India's battle against the pandemic.

The World Trade Organisation predicts global trade growth will plummet as much as 32 per cent this year due to the coronavirus crisis. The downturn "may well be the deepest economic recession...of our lifetimes", WTO chief Roberto Azevedo has warned.

There is something unprecedented about this crisis, Ovais Subhani writes. It constitutes the first recession by mandate, with governments crimping economic activity through nationwide lockdowns, in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. It will be a long, hard fight ahead to counter the effects of the downturn, and that's probably why Singapore policymakers are declaring they are ready to provide even more state support if needed.

Hackers hijacked a Singapore secondary school's home-based lesson on Zoom to show obscene photos to a class of nearly 40 teenage pupils. It is just one of a long string of reports about cybersecurity incidents relating to the video-conferencing platform that has seen exploding demand lately as people across the globe are forced to work and study from home due to coronavirus lockdowns.

The platform is now more popular than offerings from tech giants such as Microsoft's Skype and Google's Hangouts. But recent reports of uninvited people crashing Zoom meetings has been increasing. Places such as Taiwan, Germany and Malaysia have already put restrictions on the use of Zoom, as have schools in the US.

ROHINGYA FREED: Scores of Rohingya Muslims, detained in Bangladesh after fleeing Myanmar's restive Rakhine state, have been freed amid fears of a potential outbreak in the country's overcrowded prisons. A court has dropped cases against two of the largest groups of arrested Rohingya, totalling 128 people, and many more are set to be released and sent back to Rakhine.

FALLING FORTUNES: The fortunes of some of Asia's richest families are taking a beating, with the value of their holdings in investment trusts tumbling as the coronavirus pandemic roils the property market. Among those affected include the family that founded trading firm Tang Dynasty and real estate empire SingHaiyi Group, with their holdings in four real estate investment trusts dropping more than US$300 million this year. Thailand's richest man, Mr Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who controls retail and real estate conglomerate TCC Group, also lost some US$7.5 billion this year from his fortune.

OBESITY KILLS: Being overweight is a major risk for people infected with the new coronavirus, and the US is particularly vulnerable because of the high obesity levels there, according to France's chief epidemiologist Jean-François Delfraissy. Obesity has been cited as a possible explanation for higher than average per-capita Covid-19 death rates in the US city of New Orleans and in Mexico.

That's it for today. Thank you for reading. Stay safe, stay home, and we'll be back tomorrow with more good stories for you.

Magdalene