EFFECT OF CORONA VIRUS ON GLOBAL ECONOMY

EFFECT OF CORONA VIRUS ON GLOBAL ECONOMY

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

At present the new name of fear is Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This is not only killing the people around the world but also causes economic downturn which destroy the country in both ends. Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can be mild, such as some cases of the common cold (among other possible causes, predominantly rhinoviruses), and others that can be lethal, such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Basically, it is a very infectious disease which is caused by a new virus, named after Covid-19.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, named as COVID-19 (also known as SARSCoV-2) by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been declared a pandemic by the WHO. The rapid ‘globalization’ of the COVID-19 pandemic is something that the world perhaps has never encountered before. The infection of the COVID-19 virus was first reported in December of 2019 in Wuhan – the seventh largest city of China. Among the family of coronaviruses, the other coronaviruses the world encountered before are the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Research suggest that the outbreak began from the workers and customers slaughtering animals such as pig, dog, rat, civet cat, rat, and snakes etc. at a wholesale market in Wuhan (Chen et. al., 2020). Once infected by COVID-19, it can cause fever, cough, breathing problem, and in severe cases pneumonia and severe acute respiratory syndrome, heart failure and subsequent death.

Many African countries have relatively weak health care systems, proactive measures to prevent the spread of the virus will be critical. Countries should step up campaigns to educate the public on best practices, including promoting good hygiene and social distancing, discouraging large public gatherings, and encouraging employers to protect the jobs of employees who require quarantine or treatment. Campaigns should elicit the help of religious and civil society leaders for maximum effect.

“It is unavoidable that the novel coronavirus epidemic will have a considerable impact on the economy and society” – China’s president Xi Jinping, televised address, February 23, 2020. “The spread of the new coronavirus is a public health crisis that could pose a serious risk to the macro economy through the halt in production activities, interruptions of people’s movement and cut-off of supply chains” – Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso. G20 gathering in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 24, 2020. “Honda Motor Co. will reduce vehicle output at two of its domestic plants in Saitama Prefecture for a week or so in March due to concerns about parts supply from China where a new coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt economic activities” – Honda spokesperson, March 3, 2020. Besides its worrying effects on human life, the novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) has the potential to significantly slowdown not only the Chinese economy but also the global economy. China has become the central manufacturing hub of many global business operations. Any disruption of China’s output is expected to have repercussions elsewhere through regional and global value chains. Indeed, most recent data from China indicate a substantial decline in output. China Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI), a critical production index, fell by about 22 points in February. This index is highly correlated with exports and such a decline implies a reduction in exports of about 2 percent on an annualized basis. In other words, the drop observed in February spread over the year is equivalent to -2 percent of the supply of intermediate goods. Indicators on shipping also suggest a reduction in Chinese exports for the month of February. Container vessel departures from Shanghai were substantially lower in the first half of February with an increase in the second half. However, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index continues its decline thus indicating excess shipping capacity and lower demand for container vessels.

The case is also the same in Nigeria, the Corona virus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has put everything on hold in the country. The total figures of corona virus patients in Nigeria have risen to 12 after four new cases were confirmed in Lagos State on Thursday.

Lagos State health commissioner Akin Abayomi announced the new cases in Ikeja during a press conference. Abayomi disclosed that 14 people were tested but four tested positive for the coronavirus adding that one of the new index cases had contact with the third confirmed case in Nigeria. The commissioner said one of the patients, a Nigerian female, came into Lagos on Saturday, March 14, 2020, in a Turkish airline TK1830. A Nigerian man in his 50s who never travelled anywhere is among the new four cases, Abayomi said. He said the last patient is a Nigerian male who arrived the country in a Lufthansa (airline) LH568 on Friday, March 13, 2020. Abayomi said the patients have been isolated for treatment at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. The commissioner, however, said more tests are being carried as there is a “combination of imported cases and local transmission. The Executive of Lagos State is meeting on the next stage of social distancing. “The best way to slow the rate is to halt the movement of the virus from person to person,” Abayomi said. “Currently, we are following over 1,300 people right now to find information about the state of their health and the number is increasing.” He appealed to people on the two flights to self-isolate themselves and contact the government.

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