The World Bank on Tuesday warned growth in Asia, including China, due to the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic, will decelerate significantly with a prolonged economic recession a distinct possibility.

Its baseline forecast projects Asian growth might slow down to 2.1% in 2020, compared to the  5.8% growth in 2019. Its worse case projection sees Asian economies shrink by 0.5%, setting the stage for a prolonged recession into 2021.

Asian economic growth will "decline significantly in all scenarios," said the bank in its report. To be hard hit will be Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. On the other hand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia and Myanmar is expected to see growth but at significantly lower levels compared to 2019.

Fears of an Asian-wide recession have grown over the past few weeks as COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the region. The unrelenting contamination is resulting in the inevitable and widespread enforced lockdowns, travel suspensions, store closures, and factory closures.

Economic growth in China (the starting point and epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic) is projected to decline to 2.3% this year in the World Bank's baseline forecast. In the worse case, China's growth will entirely evaporate to a mere 0.1%, down from 6.1% in 2019.

This unprecedented plummet in China's growth will have massive consequences for the global economy and will be the key reason for an Asian recession. The last time China's economy shrank was in 1976 due to the death of Communist Party leader Mao Zedong.

"Significant economic pain seems unavoidable in all countries," said the World Bank. The institution warned the entire Asia Pacific region should prepare for "a serious impact" on poverty and welfare, through illness, death, and lost incomes.

"All countries in the East Asia and Pacific region and beyond must recognize that, in addition to bold national actions, deeper International cooperation is the most effective vaccine against this virulent threat," said the bank's report.

In an attempt to diminish the economic shock, the World Bank has pledged to provide $14 billion in financial support to developing countries. It also plans to deploy up to $160 billion over 15 months to protect the poor and vulnerable.

In addition to the negative impact on Asian GDP, the pandemic will also hurtle an additional 11 million people into poverty in East Asia and the Pacific unless "urgent action" is taken.