New challenges may derail US, UK growth

FILE PHOTO: A packet of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln five-dollar bill currency is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26,2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron/File Photo

THE first few weeks after the Covid-19 outbreak hit the Wuhan province, China in late 2019, many people believed that it was just a normal flu, like the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak from 2000 to 2004 or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2012.

Then in March 2020, the worst happened when the coronavirus outbreak spread beyond the province and into every part of the world.