The feedback loop has started. On March 19, China announced no new cases of coronavirus in Hubei, whose capital Wuhan lies at the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, for the first time in eight weeks.

Good news? Sort of.

Viral egress has turned into ingress: on March 19, China’s National Health Commission counted no fewer than 34 cases of ‘imported’ coronavirus, many from expatriate Chinese office workers and students, fleeing the pandemic-hit West for the perceived safety of mainland towns and cities.

It is a cyclical process at work across Asia’s largest economy.

The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 11.3% in the fortnight to February 3, a period spanning a Chinese New Year and extended by a government hoping to contain the outbreak.