Once largely Covid-19 free, Asia economies are now upended by Delta variant virus

Highrises of office buildings are silhouetted by the afternoon sun at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on August 5, 2021. - AFP

SINGAPORE, Aug 7 (Bloomberg): The delta variant is challenging the part of the world that’s been most successful in blunting the economic impact of Covid-19, with Asian countries that snuffed it out locking down again as the virus returns, and others seeing the world’s highest death rates.

Just 12 months ago, the Asia-Pacific region’s rapid containment of Covid-19 made them the envy of the world as the virus ravaged the US and Europe.