Three Phases to Recovery
In the new normal era, Covid-19 policies on saving lives will go hand in hand with economic recovery. The cultural approach will be inherent in designing public policy in the era of the new normal after Covid-19.
It appears that the expectations for quick economic recovery in a V-shaped curve following the lifting of regional lockdown in Wuhan, China, will not be met soon. Even though shops and restaurants have opened, the trauma and fear of Covid-19 transmission is discouraging people from engaging in consumption activities. On the production side, the damages to the supply chain cannot be repaired immediately, so factories and even restaurants will not be able to immediately resume operations due to the lack of raw materials. China\'s economic growth contracted 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020 and Wuhan is one of the countryโs manufacturing hubs, affecting supply chains in China and around the world.
The latest data shows a correlation between the strictness of lockdown measures with economic growth. In the United States, annualized growth shrank 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020. The economies of France, Spain and Italy respectively contracted 5.8 percent, 5.2 percent and 4.8 percent. Meanwhile, the economies of those countries that implemented relatively looser or partial lockdowns, specifically Germany and the United Kingdom, each recorded negative economic growth of 2.2 percent, while Sweden and the Netherlands recorded negative growth of respectively 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent.