Like the SARS pandemic before it, the new coronavirus has everyone on edge from health and immigration officials, manufacturers, tourism operators, and retailers to international traders, financial markets, and probably your neighbor next door worried about their own personal health risk and the unknown impact on the economy.
When you think about it, many industries are very susceptible to serious impact including the tourism industry, BnB operators, manufacturers with China operations or suppliers, those planning new retail and other China business operations, Asian business travelers and surprisingly, even Hollywood.
Here’s a selected rundown and links to the most recent news articles and expert opinions raising concerns about the impact of the coronavirus that the payments industry may want to put on its radar.
We’ll leave you to sort out the realistic possible impact on your business from the irrational and hyperbolic that always seems to accompany news stories about pandemics. That includes Wilbur Ross’s nonsense below about the pandemic bringing jobs back to America!
EDITOR’S UPDATE: Tracking of the coronavirus is constantly updated at CSSE and shows how fast the number of cases is spreading. We’ll update occasionally with latest stats (Feb 26): 81,397 cases globally; mainland China 78,065; South Korea 1261; Italy 453; Japan 189; Iran 139; Singapore 93; Hong Kong 91; US 60; Thailand 40; Bahrain 33; Taiwan 32; Germany 27; Kuwait 26; Australia 22; Malaysia 22; France 18; Vietnam 16; UAE 13; UK 13; Spain 13; Canada 11; Macau 10; Iraq 5; Deaths 2,770; recovered 30,384. Real-time stats available here.
Online dashboard (Feb 6) shows over 28,353 cases and more than 565 deaths
An online coronavirus dashboard from Johns Hopkins Center for Science and Systems Engineering is tracking data from multiple health agencies to provide real-time updates of the virus outbreak. At time of publication, only two deaths had occurred outside of China, one each in Hong Kong and the Philippines. (Johns Hopkins CSSE)
Coronavirus: The economic cost is rising in China and beyond
The human cost of the coronavirus outbreak is climbing across China and beyond. The economic cost is also mounting, mainly, but not only, in China. That damage is, for the most part, not due to the virus itself so much as efforts to prevent it spreading. There are strict restrictions on moving out of Wuhan, where the outbreak began, a city with a population of 11 million. (BBC)
Global shipping has been hit by the coronavirus. Now goods are getting stranded
Shipping companies that carry goods from China to the rest of the world say they are reducing the number of seaborne vessels, as measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus crimp demand for their services and threaten to disrupt global supply chains. About 80% of world goods trade by volume is carried by sea and China is home to seven of the world’s 10 busiest container ports, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (CNN)
China virus hits cruise ships, carmakers, airlines and Airbus
Thousands of passengers and crew on two cruise ships in Asian waters were placed in quarantine for China’s coronavirus on Wednesday as airlines, carmakers and other global companies counted the cost of the fast-spreading outbreak. (Reuters)
Tokyo 2020: Olympic organizers ‘seriously concerned’ by coronavirus spread
Olympic organizers are “seriously concerned” about the spread of coronavirus and the impact it could have on the Tokyo Games this summer. Several qualification events have already been impacted due to the virus. Tokyo Organizing Committee chief executive Toshiro Muto hopes it will be “eradicated as quickly as possible”.(BBC)
Companies warn of economic crisis as China fights the coronavirus
Rarely have plans in China fallen apart so swiftly, so publicly. On January 12th the leaders of Hubei declared that the province’s GDP would grow by 7.5% this year. They also vowed to make the province a stronger link in high-tech supply chains. They made no mention of a mysterious new virus that was causing pneumonia and spreading fast through the cities and towns under their watch. But less than two weeks later its scale was too big to ignore. (The Economist)
Coronavirus could hurt already vulnerable global economy – Bank of Canada
An outbreak of coronavirus that has rattled financial markets and infected thousands in China could hurt Canada’s economy by disrupting supply chains and depressing oil prices, a top Bank of Canada official said on Wednesday. “It’s never a good time to have an outbreak like this, but when the global economy is feeling a little fragile, (and) we’ve got mixed data in Canada, it’s certainly not great timing,” Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins told a business audience in Toronto. (Reuters)
What happens next in the coronavirus outbreak? We mapped 8 scenarios
We’re at a pivotal moment in the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China. Depending on whom you ask, we’re either already in a pandemic, meaning there are ongoing epidemics of the virus on two or more continents; we’re hurtling toward one, or we’re on the path to averting a spiraling crisis. (Vox)
Centralization is hobbling China’s response to the coronavirus
The sluggish early reaction by officials should not have come as a surprise. The coronavirus outbreak in China poses a tremendous test for Beijing. Beyond the immediate public health crisis, the Chinese Communist Party faces a stuttering economy, growing public anger, and distrust, and a potentially heavy blow to its global reputation. (Financial Times)
Coronavirus cuts deep into Hollywood’s crucial Chinese box office numbers
With more than 20000 confirmed cases and more than 400 deaths all over mainland China, the Wuhan coronavirus has shut down several public spaces and levied a financial hit on the world’s second-largest film market during the Lunar New Year period — which was expected to bring in more than $1 billion. (Digital Trends)
Coronavirus in NY: Without Chinese tourists, business sags
New York and other tourist destinations around the world are facing precipitous drops in demand for hotel rooms and restaurants. The manager of a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport that relies on tourists from China estimated the loss from the coronavirus outbreak at “well over $100,000 and climbing.” ( The New York Times)
12 cases of coronavirus confirmed in US
Health officials are confirming a case of coronavirus in Wisconsin, bringing the total of confirmed cases in the US to 12. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services made the announcement during a conference call Wednesday. Health officials say the patient recently had contact with someone with the virus while traveling in China before returning to Wisconsin. (The Hill)
Apple and Levi’s follow Starbucks, Ikea with China store closures
Apple and Levi’s joined the growing list of international retailers shuttering stores in Mainland China as the infection rate and death toll from the coronavirus continued to grow over the weekend. Elsewhere, in South Korea, duty-free stores have closed and throughout Asia, retailers have introduced policies for dealing with the virus aimed at protecting staff and customers. (InsideRetailAsia)
Coronavirus Pummels Wuhan, a City Short of Supplies and Overwhelmed
It is nearly impossible to get the care they need to treat, or even diagnose, the coronavirus, say residents at the crisis’ center. Weak with fever, An Jianhua waited in line for seven hours outside the hospital in the cold, hoping to get tested for the new coronavirus, which doctors suspected she had contracted. (New York Times)
Chinese stocks plunge 7% amid virus fears on first trading day after Lunar New Year holiday
Stocks in mainland China plummeted more than 7% on Monday as they returned to trade following an extended holiday amid an ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The People’s Bank of China announced Sunday that it will inject 1.2 trillion yuan (approx. $173 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via open market reverse repo operations. (CNBC)
How novel coronavirus could affect the global economy
The World Health Organization’s decision Thursday to declare the novel coronavirus an international public health emergency could stoke investors’ fears about the disease and the economic risks it poses. And yet, a short-term hit to economic activity could be mitigated if the virus is contained more quickly through mandatory and self-imposed quarantines. (PBS)
Wilbur Ross says Coronavirus could boost US jobs
During a TV interview, Mr. Ross said: “I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America”. The rapid spread of the disease has raised fears about its impact on the Chinese economy and global growth. The comments have come under fire from critics of President Trump’s administration. (BBC)
Coronavirus maps courtesy Johns Hopkins University CCSE
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