THE GREAT REBOOT

By Clara-Laeila Laudette, Silvio Castellanos and Elena Rodriguez

When rumors first began to circulate that the UK would go back into lockdown, Leanne Barnes despaired as bread and toilet roll flew off the shelves again at her local supermarket. But to her surprise, shelves were back to being fully stocked within a few days.

Singaporean Jason Chen recently bought a S$1.7 million ($1.26 million) three-bedroom apartment in a swanky condominium, upgrading his home in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic which has triggered the country's worst ever recession.

Weddings were postponed, cocktail parties cancelled and work events replaced by video calls. With social gatherings severely curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, people have been buying far fewer shoes.

Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane has signed up to judge the winner of a 'war game' designed to help firms find alternatives to mass layoffs in the face of a coronavirus-driven slowdown.

Pandemic payment breaks on European loans totalling billions of euros threaten to undermine efforts by the region's banks to put the coronavirus crisis behind them.