The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading fast in India and all over the world. Originated from Wuhan, China, it has spread to more than 150 countries around the globe. The coronavirus impact is enormous that more than 1,98,348 people are infected with it, and more than 7,900 deaths are already reported. Well, the recovery of 67,000 plus individuals gives a sigh of relief as well.
The virus is spreading fast in India as well.
As of March 20th, India has more than 190 confirmed cases.
- Maharashtra: 47
- Kerala: 28
- Uttar Pradesh: 19
- Delhi: 17
- Haryana: 17
- Telangana: 16
- Karnataka: 15
- Ladakh: 10
- Rajasthan: 7
- Jammu and Kashmir: 4
- Tamil Nadu: 3
- Andhra Pradesh: 2
- Punjab: 2
- Gujarat: 2
- Chhattisgarh: 1
- Chandigarh: 1
- Pondicherry: 1
- Odisha: 1
- Uttarakhand: 1
- West Bengal: 1
Total recovered: 20
Total died: 4
As Reported by NDTV.
What is Novel Coronavirus?
Coronavirus is a family of different viruses that cause various diseases in animals. It has made its jump to humans and mostly causes cold-like symptoms. These symptoms include runny nose, fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. It is officially called Covid-19 and is very dangerous, given the number of deaths from Coronavirus reported.
How did Covid-19 Outbreak Start?
The primary source of Coronavirus is said to be a wet market in Wuhan (China) that sells live and dead animals, including birds and fishes. Their markets are believed to have heightened the risk as the virus jumped from the animals to humans. Although the source of the outbreak in animals is yet not discovered, the host to humans is said to be bats. Notably, bats were not sold in a wet market in Wuhan, but they infected chickens and fishes sold there. It is worth mentioning that bats also host a number of other deadly viruses, such as HIV, Ebola, and rabies.
Coronavirus Affected Sectors
Aviation
The coronavirus impact can be seen with 585 international flights being cancelled on March 6 only. Since India is not the origin country of Coronavirus and it is being carried by people travelling back to India from abroad, the government has suspended all visas for a month on March 12. This further adds to the miseries of the aviation industry. Travellers too are hesitant in flying from one country to another. A further decline is expected in the weeks to come.
Hospitality
The government has urged people to avoid gatherings as this is one of the easiest ways by which Coronavirus can spread. Consequently, the restaurants and hotels in India have witnessed a 35% fall. In addition, many companies too, have restricted their official travels to essential ones only. Therefore, hotels in major cities are left with no bookings and empty rooms only. The footfall in restaurants, malls, cafes, etc. has declined sharply. In Delhi, Kerala, Mumbai, and Jammu & Kashmir, the cinemas will remain close till March 31. Leading to which, many producers have postponed the release of their upcoming movies. One of the examples is Sooryavanshi. In fact, several producers who released their movies recently have also decided to re-release their pictures later.
Apparel
Businesses dealing with China have had the worst hit. Around 30% of our apparel export orders come from Europe. We exported around Rs. 1 lakh crore of garments in the year 2018-19, and around 60% of Indian apparel makers earn from the exports. But, Europe is said to be the epicentre of the disease by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Further, the shutdown of malls and a decline in footfall at apparel stores has worsened the situation for apparel makers.
Consumer Durables & Electronics
In the first quarter, from January to March, the industry has seen a decline of 15% in mobile shipments. Well, the factories in China are still operating. However, now India has its own rising incidences of Coronavirus, which has reduced the visits of the people to the store. This is hurting demand.
Poultry & Seafood
The country has observed a fall in demand for chicken up to 30% in the last three weeks. And with the disease’s spread, the social media too is flooded with dos and don’ts. Well, there is a warning of staying away from meat, which has resulted in the decreased demand for chicken as well, up to 30% in the last three weeks. To prevent stock pileup, the industry is forced to sell the stock at very low cost, up to Rs. 25 per kg. Several food safety regulators suggest that the virus is not spreading through poultry but to no avail.
How is Coronavirus going to affect you financially?
The corporate world in India is all set to ask his employees to work from home, to tackle this disease in a better way. But this strategy is essentially useful for the corporate world only. Not for the small business owners and shop owners, they still need to work in order to sustain their business. The sectors that can’t self-quarantine themselves or work from home include retail, restaurants, delivery, and banking. These people simply can’t work from home.
They need to make the hard decision to either be exposed to the disease or risk their only income source. The deadly virus is bringing the chances of a recession in the market. That said, some experts even say that the recession has already hit the market.
The self-quarantine drive has shaken the cycle of demand and supply. And the value chain is disrupted as well. With the self-quarantine period yet to stay in the country, the situation is only expected to worsen and paralyse the Indian economy. The biggest hit would be the travel and tourism sector. But other sectors would also suffer in some or the other way.