Integrated Risk of Virus Outbreaks

Abstract

The initial outbreak of Corona Virus Disease in 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China, has led to its spread in almost all countries of the World. In an attempt to slow down the virus’ quick spread, the government of major nations has enforced shutdown of its various borders, travel restriction, lockdowns, and recommend quarantine and social distancing. The actions taken have, therefore, impacted the multiple sectors of the economy. To understand these impacts, the present chapter attempt to sum up the sectors that are being hit by the outbreak and sectors that have benefitted from it. The chapter also highlights briefly the overall effect of the risk outbreaks on global economies and actions taken to mitigate the impact of COVID19 on the economy. A review of media reports and literature was carried out to meet the objective of the present chapter. Findings showed that, though some sectors, such as companies that offer stay-at-home products and the pharmaceutical sector benefitted from the outbreak, others such as chemical industries and medical supply industries are both positively and negatively affected. To build back the resilience in the global economy, aggressive fiscal responses were made. However, considering the magnitude of the crisis, the likelihood that the economy will get back to normal would be slower.