After the virus: What world will we live in?

One day, the battle against the novel coronavirus will be won. But the world that emerges may look very different from the one we lived in before the pandemic began.

Over 60,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 and there are a more than a million confirmed cases with the outbreak yet to reach its peak across the developed and emerging world.

But on top of the tragic human toll, the coronavirus also threatens incalculable social, economic and political costs, and to trigger a wave of change that will shape our world for years to come.

The shutdown imposed to slow the spread of the virus could push some economies into full-scale meltdown. Financial markets may never recover to pre-crisis levels.

Restrictions on movement will help some governments tighten autocratic control, and civil liberties could be eroded in the name of gaining information on virus spread.

Many are already questioning the merit of multilateral organisations such as the WHO or the United Nations given the perceived lack of a coordinated, global response to an unprecedented health crisis.

The changes could be immense, say analysts, but also unpredictable.

"Is it going to be a headline or is it a trendline?" asked Aaron David Miller, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"Are we witnessing an event that is going to reshape international relations and relations among states?"
"There is a potential to accelerate deglobalisation in the wake of the crisis."