Insight -What does 8% growth mean when thousands are still dying?

Posting a positive number on the ledger won’t capture the deep hole from which the worst-hit countries have to climb. Indonesia is now ground zero for Covid-19 in South-East Asia. (A teenager reacts as she receives a shot of the Sinovac vaccine for COVID-19 during a vaccination campaign at a school in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Monday, July 5, 2021. - AP)

A tidy financial centre of 5.7 million people is gradually preparing for life after the pandemic, as vaccination rates increase, social distancing measures ease and residents once again dare to daydream about leisure travel.

A short ferry ride away, a sprawling archipelago with a population of 270 million is struggling to get oxygen, daily Covid-19 cases are north of 20, 000 and the death toll exceeds 60, 000.