Saving lives and livelihoods while shaping up for the future

THE dire need to safeguard lives - and livelihoods - as countries the world over battle the coronavirus is, as a McKinsey analysis puts it, the imperative of our time.

Never in modern history have countries gone into lockdowns, with businesses being shuttered and entire populations told to stay at home.

Globally, the shock to lives and livelihoods from the virus-suppression efforts could be the biggest in nearly a century, the McKinsey report reckons.