Quote:While saying the immediate risk from the coronavirus in the United States remained low, another top CDC official, Dr. Anne Schuchat, said it was no longer a question of if the virus would become a global pandemic. “It’s a question of when and how many people will be infected.”U.S. braces for coronavirus spread as outbreaks worsen in Italy, Iran - Reuters
Italy’s tourist industry, which accounts for about 13% of its economy, fears a plunge amid travel warnings and restrictions on soccer matches, cinemas and theaters.
Quote:As Olivier Blanchard, senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, puts it in a series of tweets, “virus measures aim at the core of economic organization, the division of labor.” And because the steps taken by governments have to be extreme, they have the potential to pose a serious risk for economic activity. The disruption of supply chains, due to closed factories or exports coming to a standstill, could spread as fast as the virus itself through the global economy. From a macroeconomic viewpoint, Blanchard notes, what is not yet officially a pandemic is “an unusual supply shock.” Fiscal policy, the former International Monetary Fund chief economist says, would be of little help to fight a slump that is not due to a lack of demand.Why the coronavirus outbreak could trigger a major supply shock - MarketWatch
Quote:Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch told The Wall Street Journal that "it's likely we'll see a global pandemic" of coronavirus, with 40 to 70 percent of the world's population likely to be infected this year. "What proportion of those will be symptomatic, I can't give a good number," added Lipsitch, who is the Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Two other experts have recently given similar estimates.Harvard scientist: coronavirus pandemic likely will infect 40-70% of world this year | TheHill
Quote:The Diamond Princess cruise ship went from 10 cases of the new coronavirus to more than 690 over the course of its two-week quarantine and the testing that followed. Experts and officials have criticized the decision to keep people on the ship and many poor hygiene practices onboard. Here’s how the cruise ship ended up with more than half of all novel coronavirus cases outside China. For the latest case total, death toll, and travel information, see Business Insider’s live updates here.How the 'failed' quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship started with 10 coronavirus cases and ended with more than 690