Apple and HSBC have become the latest corporate titans to warn that the coronavirus in Asia is likely to hurt profits as authorities battle to contain the spread of the deadly outbreak.
They are among scores of firms across industries from manufacturing to tourism to financial services that say the virus will be bad for business.
What has HSBC said?
Sharing the full story, not just the headlines
Announcing massive job cuts, the London-based bank which depends on Asian markets for most of its profits said the virus had already caused significant disruption for staff suppliers and customers, particularly in China and mainland Hong Kong.
If it continues, HSBC said it would have to set aside up to £460m to cover additional costs, though the actual figure is forecast to come in much lower than this.
For a bank like HSBC, a significant part of the problem is likely to stem from business customers defaulting on their loan repayments as the virus continues to disrupt trading.
Millions of people are being forced to stay at home and not travel, work and shop freely with an obvious knock-on impact on businesses.
Chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson attempted to put a positive spin on things, saying: “I think it’s really a call on how long does it take to contain the virus, and certainly some of the latest data has given us more optimism on that over the last week or so.”
What about Apple?
Apple said iPhone supplies would be affected and it would miss its second-quarter financial forecasts because Chinese workers are returning to their jobs slower than had been anticipated.
The iPhone maker brought in $13.6bn of sales in China during its latest quarter – about 15 per cent of the firm’s global sales. That’s a lot but still less than in the US or Europe.
But this will be a temporary blip, with a likely bounce once the virus is contained and economic activity returns to normal.
Of greater concern are shutdowns in the Chinese factories Apple relies on to make its products. This can quickly have an impact on global supplies.
“Companies try to avoid tying up cash by having large stockpiles, even though that would help them to continue operating as normal at such times of supply chain disruption,” explains Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“Instead, they prefer to have the smallest amount of inventory possible in the hope that the supply chain always runs smoothly. That leaves little room for error, as Apple has now discovered.”
Wider problems
Scores of firms have made similar warnings to HSBC and Apple. Any business that depends on a supply chain that includes China – as a great number do – are at risk of being impacted.
Beyond China, “the most immediate economic implications will manifest through a fall in tourist arrivals from, and weaker exports of goods to China, and transmission to and through economies integrated into the Chinese supply chain,” Moody’s said in a recent note to clients.
Tourism is the industry most obviously affected with Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand among the countries to have restricted entries.
Travel limitations are also having affects further afield and has called one of the car industry’s biggest annual events into question.
Experts have warned that the Geneva Motor Show, scheduled for next month, could be cancelled if exhibitors begin to withdraw because the health risks to staff are too high.
Countries reliant on manufacturing across the region will be impacted particularly badly as most rely on parts or raw material from China.
A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China
China Daily via Reuters
Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
Reuters
A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea
EPA
Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital
AFP via Getty
A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China
EPA
Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China
cnsphoto via Reuters
A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province
AFP via Getty
Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
Reuters
Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou
EPA
Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province
cnsphoto via Reuters
Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan
China Daily via Reuters
A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for “urgent operational health and safety reasons”, following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province
China Daily via Reuters
The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a “serious and imminent threat” and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas’, have both been designated as “isolation” facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak
PA
Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February
EPA
Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan
PA
A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama
Reuters
Doctors scan a patient’s lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan
Xinhua News Agency/AP
People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal
AFP via Getty
Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing
Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP
A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing
Getty
Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China’s easter Shandong province
AFP via Getty
A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li’s hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media
Getty
Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo
Reuters
Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Reuters
Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus
AFP via Getty
Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus
Reuters
A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand
Reuters
A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections
AFP via Getty
Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea
EPA
A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge
Reuters
A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok
EPA
A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan
Getty
A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar
AFP via Getty
Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China’s Wuhan province
Vsluh.ru via Reuters
Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi
Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty
A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul
EPA
Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside
Getty
Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan
EPA
Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan
AFP via Getty
The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease
AFP via Getty
A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman’s home in Qingdao
EPA
An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan
Getty
Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading
Reuters
Reuters
A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China
EPA
Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP
Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health/AFP
People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China’s Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more
Getty
Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong
Reuters
Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine
Italian Defence Ministry/AFP
Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan
EPA
A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan
EPA
Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world
AFP via Getty
A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station
AFP via Getty Images
A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing
Getty
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern
Getty
Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK
Tom Maddick / SWNS
A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station
Getty
Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan
Reuters
Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India
Reuters
Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district
Getty
Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport
Getty
A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan
AFP/Getty
People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS
Chinatopix via AP
Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown
Getty
Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far
AFP via Getty
China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans
AFP via Getty
Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh
AFP via Getty Images
Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan
EPA
A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang
AFP via Getty
Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu
AFP via Getty Images
Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
AFP via Getty
Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon
AFP via Getty Images
Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China’s central Jiangxi province
AFP via Getty
Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
HECTOR RETAMAL
AFP via Getty
Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan
EPA
Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou
AFP via Getty
Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel
EPA
An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar
AFP via Getty
Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
AFP via Getty
An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub
AFP via Getty
Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong
AFP via Getty
Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty
A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
EPA
A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing
AP
Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
AFP via Getty
A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan
AP
Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
EPA
Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty
A member of the Hong Kong government’s Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced
AFP via Getty Images
Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan
STR/AFP via Getty
A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
EPA
China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries
AFP via Getty
A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan
EPA
Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan
EPA
Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea
EPA
A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus
AFP via Getty
Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans
Getty
Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China
AFP via Getty
Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China
AFP via Getty
Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
AFP via Getty
The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths
EPA
A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
EPA
Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
AP
A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market
AFP via Getty
Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China’s northern Hebei province
AFP via Getty
Medical staff and security personnel stop patients’ family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport
AP
A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China
Reuters
Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang
AP
Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital
AFP via Getty
A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou
AFP via Getty Images
A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport
JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty
Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport
EPA
Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
EPA
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul
EPA
Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan
Reuters
Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading “face masks are sold out” at her pharmacy in Shanghai
AP
The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center,
EPA
A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan
Reuters
Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong
AP
A notice for passengers from Wuhan
Getty
A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
Getty
A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China
China Daily via Reuters
Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
Reuters
A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea
EPA
Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital
AFP via Getty
A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China
EPA
Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China
cnsphoto via Reuters
A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province
AFP via Getty
Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
Reuters
Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou
EPA
Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province
cnsphoto via Reuters
Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan
China Daily via Reuters
A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for “urgent operational health and safety reasons”, following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province
China Daily via Reuters
The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a “serious and imminent threat” and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas’, have both been designated as “isolation” facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak
PA
Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February
EPA
Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan
PA
A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama
Reuters
Doctors scan a patient’s lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan
Xinhua News Agency/AP
People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal
AFP via Getty
Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing
Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP
A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing
Getty
Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China’s easter Shandong province
AFP via Getty
A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li’s hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media
Getty
Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo
Reuters
Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Reuters
Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus
AFP via Getty
Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus
Reuters
A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand
Reuters
A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections
AFP via Getty
Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea
EPA
A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge
Reuters
A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok
EPA
A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan
Getty
A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar
AFP via Getty
Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China’s Wuhan province
Vsluh.ru via Reuters
Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi
Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty
A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul
EPA
Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside
Getty
Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan
EPA
Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan
AFP via Getty
The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease
AFP via Getty
A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman’s home in Qingdao
EPA
An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan
Getty
Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading
Reuters
Reuters
A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China
EPA
Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP
Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health/AFP
People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China’s Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more
Getty
Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong
Reuters
Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine
Italian Defence Ministry/AFP
Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan
EPA
A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan
EPA
Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world
AFP via Getty
A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station
AFP via Getty Images
A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing
Getty
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern
Getty
Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK
Tom Maddick / SWNS
A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station
Getty
Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan
Reuters
Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India
Reuters
Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district
Getty
Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport
Getty
A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan
AFP/Getty
People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS
Chinatopix via AP
Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown
Getty
Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far
AFP via Getty
China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans
AFP via Getty
Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh
AFP via Getty Images
Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan
EPA
A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang
AFP via Getty
Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu
AFP via Getty Images
Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
AFP via Getty
Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon
AFP via Getty Images
Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China’s central Jiangxi province
AFP via Getty
Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
HECTOR RETAMAL
AFP via Getty
Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan
EPA
Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou
AFP via Getty
Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel
EPA
An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar
AFP via Getty
Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub
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Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong
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Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty
A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
EPA
A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing
AP
Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan
AP
Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
EPA
Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty
A member of the Hong Kong government’s Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced
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Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan
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A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
EPA
China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries
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A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan
EPA
Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan
EPA
Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea
EPA
A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus
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Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans
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Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China
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Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China
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Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
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The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths
EPA
A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan
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Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
EPA
Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
AP
A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market
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Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China’s northern Hebei province
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Medical staff and security personnel stop patients’ family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport
AP
A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China
Reuters
Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang
AP
Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital
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A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou
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A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport
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Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport
EPA
Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
EPA
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul
EPA
Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan
Reuters
Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading “face masks are sold out” at her pharmacy in Shanghai
AP
The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center,
EPA
A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan
Reuters
Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong
AP
A notice for passengers from Wuhan
Getty
A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
Getty
Japan’s economy, which already contracted sharply in the last quarter of 2019 is expected to take a further hit from the virus.
Global economy
As Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank wisely points out, economists are not qualified to judge how dangerous the spread of the virus may eventually be.
But they can look back at previous episodes and the obvious incident to reach for is the SARS pandemic in 2003 that grabbed the headlines as it caused around 800 deaths and led to severe disruptions in China between March and May of that year.
Economic data for 2003 show a temporary dip in Chinese GDP growth during the height of the SARS pandemic to 9.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2003 from 11.1 per cent in the previous quarter, followed by rates of 10 per cent in the final two quarters of the year.
Capital Economics estimates that global growth lost roughly one percentage point of growth but by the end of the year was some three points higher than before the SARS outbreak. The main impacts stemmed mainly from falls in retail sales and travel as people sought to avoid crowds through fear of contagion.