NEW YORK – Increasing global interconnection—growing cross-border flows of people, goods, energy, emails, television and radio signals, data, drugs, terrorists, weapons, carbon dioxide, food, dollars, and, of course, viruses (both biological or software)—has been a defining feature of the modern world. The question, though, is whether globalization has peaked – and, if so, whether what follows is to be welcomed or resisted.

The casualty figures show no sign of stopping anytime soon. With the number of COVID-19 infected and deceased going up by the day, governments across Europe and North America are scrambling to put measures in place. At the same time, talks of how the world will look like after the containment of the virus are slowly starting to emerge. New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman writes that the world will now have a new historical divide, BC—before corona and AC—after corona—while acclaimed author Yuval Noah Harrari feels that in the post COVID world, people might have to forgo their privacy for the sake of their health. Many others have their own arguments.

KATHMANDU, April 4: Dr. Rajib Jha has said there is no better option than lockdown to contain coronavirus. Sharing the Chinese experience, Dr. Jha, who is also the Chairman of China-Nepal Medical Research Centre, reminded that Chinese people maintained such discipline that fully cooperated with the government to move to cope with the crisis.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 31: Malaysia reported 140 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total to 2,766, with 43 deaths.

SANTA FE, N.M., March 29: As the coronavirus rages across the United States, mainly in large urban areas, more than a third of U.S. counties have yet to report a single positive test result for COVID-19 infections, an analysis by The Associated Press shows.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 27: Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump during a phone call on Friday that he would have China’s support in fighting the coronavirus, as the United States faces the prospect of becoming the next global epicentre of the pandemic.