COVID: World Bank states East Asia and Pacific's recovery hampered by Delta variant

The World Bank informed on Monday that the expansion of the COVID Delta variant has hampered the recovery of East Asia and the Pacific region and urged for a comprehensive plan to control COVID-19. As per Xinhua, the World Bank’s newly-issued East Asia and Pacific Fall 2021 Economic Update report states that the economic activity has started to decline in the second quarter of 2021, and development estimates for most nations in the area have been lowered. 

World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Manuela Ferro revealed that these regions contained COVID in 2020 as compared to other parts of the world which struggled during the pandemic, and the surge in COVID-19 cases in 2021 has lowered the development of economic growth for 2021. Whereas, on the other hand, the economy of China is expected to grow by 8.5% this year which is nearly 0.4 percentage up from April's prediction, the rest of the region is expected to grow by 2.5%, down to 1.9 percentage points from April's forecast. 

Countries struggling to combat COVID with shrinking economies

World Bank's chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific region Aaditya Mattoo told Xinhua in an interview on Monday that some nations such as China were comparatively successful in controlling the Coronavirus, while others particularly Vietnam and Malaysia, which had also done well previously with COVID management, are currently struggling to combat the virus with their shrinking economies. Mattoo went on to say that other countries like the Philippines and Indonesia have always suffered from the COVID-19 outbreak and their difficulties have gotten "worse." This might be the reason why the East Asia and Pacific regions are witnessing a decline in economic growth and the projections of their economic development are less favourable than before.   

According to the newly-released World Bank report, the employment rates and participation of the labour force have decreased. Over 24 million people in the said regions would be unable to avoid poverty by 2021, the report revealed, warning that the scars of the pandemic are likely to dampen long-term economic growth. The research further states that poorer households were more prone to losing employment, sell productive assets, endure food shortages, and lose education for their children. 

Meanwhile, Mattoo encouraged the governments of the region to speed up vaccination, address vaccine hesitancy, implement measures such as testing, tracking, and isolation, as well as initiate a combination of targeted shutdowns and social distancing to contain the spread of disease. As per the report, most nations in the East Asia and Pacific regions will be able to vaccinate more than 60% of their populations by the first half of 2022, dramatically reducing mortality and allowing economic activity to resume. 

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