Grim doesn’t cover it.

Having been rocked back by the terrible daily health consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, this week another ton of bricks was heaped upon humanity with a staggering array of eye-watering economic numbers reaching off into the distance.

Jaws dropped across the land as the Office for Budget Responsibility first produced its so-called “reference scenario” for the UK and then the International Monetary Fund added its dose of misery publishing an analysis of the global picture.

The OBR suggested an initial plunge in GDP of 35 per cent from April to June and unemployment jumping by two million. While it proffered the hope of a “bounce-back” if the lockdown ended after three months, the annual hit was put at 13 per cent, representing the biggest slump since the South Sea Bubble crisis of 1720.

Paul Johnson, the Director of the highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, failed to lighten the mood when he described the OBR modelling as "very optimistic", noting that it did not feel like anyone else's "central scenario".

While the IMF put the hit to the UK economy for 2020 at a mere 6.5 per cent, its numbers were also shocking.

The global watchdog said the pandemic would spark the worst economic slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s with global output falling by more than £7 trillion this year and next.

Three months ago, the IMF had predicted worldwide growth of 3.3 per cent; now the “Great Lockdown” could cause global GDP to contract by around 3.0 per cent. As many advanced countries are set to experience falls of double that, one G20 economy that will see growth this year despite Covid-19 will be…China; although its predicted 2020 growth rate of 6.1 per cent is expected to drop to just 1.2%, its lowest level in decades.

The only scintilla of a silver lining is that the OBR and IMF are not renowned for accurate forecasting and it is possible that the lockdown could begin to be eased earlier than before three months.

And here, among the myriad of problems thrown up by coronavirus, is another major dilemma; how to ease the lockdown.

Already, some restrictions are beginning to be lifted abroad with schools and some shops being reopened in Denmark, Austria and Italy.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is preparing to announce similar measures in her country while social distancing remains in place.

As I write, Donald Trump was expected to unveil plans to reopen the world's largest economy following as suggestions were made the US had "passed the peak" of coronavirus.

Downing St has told us there is “extensive work” going on behind the scenes across the UK Government about a process of lifting the restrictions but declines to say what this involves.

Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, popped up this week to insist the public needed to see “the light at the end of the tunnel” and urged Boris Johnson and his ministers to publish their exit strategy.

Interestingly, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, used the same phrase at the daily Downing St press conference but made clear the lockdown would continue for another three weeks and while he spoke of “permutations” in the easing of restrictions, he said it would be irresponsible to give details at this stage.

There has been talk of, like Denmark, of Britain beginning to ease restrictions by allowing primary schools and nurseries to return. There has even been a suggestion of allowing the under-30s to go back to work first because this section of society appears to be less at risk than older people.

One big unknown is whether people would feel safe enough to begin the slow process to normality and allowing, for example, their young children to return to school.

Gerard Lyons, a former economic adviser to the PM, suggested a traffic light approach to easing the lockdown: small shops and schools begin the red phase; the reopening of more shops and the restarting of the public transport system the amber stage and, only when these have been fully assessed with each phase lasting three weeks, could we move to the green phase of normality.

There is an understandable wariness in Whitehall as getting things wrong could spell an even greater disaster.

The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 saw a much more lethal second wave; the collective death toll was put as high as 100m globally.

Leading epidemiologist and Government adviser Professor Neil Ferguson suggested yesterday that there would be a “significant level” of social distancing even once restrictions were lifted until a vaccine could be found; which, of course, could be many months away.

So, the coronavirus will change our lives in so many ways for years to come; economically, socially, politically and culturally.

Crises have a tendency to focus the mind and make us realise what is really important in our lives; post the Brexit psychodrama, solidarity and collaboration have re-entered the public conversation.

As we begin to recalibrate our priorities, the pandemic has accelerated the digital revolution and underlined how small the world can seem and how fast it can move.

Albert Einstein, the theoretical physicist, once famously said: “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” We can only hope we find it.