V, U and L: How states will rise after pandemic

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet presciently explains the current state of the world vis-a-vis the novel coronavirus: “If it be now, ‘tis not come. If it be not come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come - the readiness is all.” Covid-19 has come to many parts of the globe. There are still others it is yet to reach, but it is certain that no country will be left unscathed. Is humanity ready?

Without doubt, no country was prepared for the onslaught of the pandemic. Western governments, slow, erratic, and disjointed, exposed the Global North’s pandemic responses as being little better than those of developing countries. The learning curve is steep and will, at the end, have exacted a huge toll on human lives and other resources.