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Novel coronavirus outbreak: implications for international trade and shipping
The recent outbreak of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China has received worldwide attention and is increasingly putting a strain on businesses.
Part of the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the virus is known to transmit from animals to humans and causes, amongst other things, pneumonia. Presently, available antiviral drugs are no use against it. The virus is believed to have originated in the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China and has now spread to other parts of Asia, Europe and North America. On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
The outbreak of any virulent disease poses the trading and shipping industries with various challenges, as was the case with SARS, MERS and Ebola previously.
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In this article, we consider some of the pertinent issues that are likely to arise and be faced in the shipping and trading industries. |
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