COVID-19, the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, first reported in the Wuhan province of China at the end of 2019, is rapidly spreading throughout the world, and governments scramble to contain new infection cases with daily announcements of new measures aimed at reducing social contact and travel. Since the Chinese New Year celebrations earlier in January, Chinese authorities have restricted the movement of some 780 million people introducing travel bans, mandatory leave, curfews, and even complete lockdowns of entire mega cities. Governments in other countries with exponential infection growth rates follow a similar strategy of drastic restrictions in social and business life. After 2 months in lockdown, Chinese authorities are slowly lifting restrictions in the country and Wuhan.
The economic impact of the large-scale shutdowns is yet to be seen. Singapore’s, Hong Kong’s, and China’s budgets already provide some COVID-19-related relief measures for businesses and individuals. For details, read our articles section.
As many are on flexible work arrangements, keeping up-to-date and working on mobile devices is more prevalent than ever. We updated the design of our newsletter to be easily read on mobile phones and tablets. Our articles are arranged in a new blog style on our website for improved reading.
We are very much looking forward to meeting our clients and partners in person again once the pandemic has settled. In the meantime, we are available by e-mail, call, and video conference.
