Global Impact newsletter: how the coronavirus is changing the world we live in day by day

Everywhere you look, from the chambers of government, to businesses big and small, down to the poorest of the world’s citizens, the coronavirus is reshaping the world we live in.

The pandemic has turned up the heat on the simmering rivalry between China and the United States. The coronavirus has raised doubts about a “new era” in relations between China and Japan.

China and Australia have been locked in a tense diplomatic dispute since April after the Australian government called for an international investigation into the origin of the coronavirus. Almost four months later, the investigation is still in its preliminary stages.

Hope springs eternal that there will soon be a vaccine to stop the virus in its tracks. But politics is getting in the way, with news last week that China is blocking trial shipments to Canada and some experts questioning the speed with which India is moving to develop a home-grown vaccine.

The world’s largest economies have been clobbered by the impact of the outbreak and the lockdowns implemented to control its spread. World trade is plunging as demand dries up worldwide. While China is doing better than other major economies, the latest outbreaks of the virus, combined with the worst seasonal flooding in years, risk eroding the still fragile recovery.

New outbreaks have dashed hopes in a number of countries – Australia and Vietnam to name two – where the pandemic was thought to be under control. Filipinos are being asked to endure lockdowns for the rest of the year as the outbreak continues to ravage the population.