Hospitality And Aviation Sectors Worldwide Have Been The Worst Impacted With The Spread Of The Deadly COVID 19 Virus. Panic And Fear Gripped India As It Reported Two New Cases Of Confirmed Coronavirus—One In Delhi And The Other In Telengana.
“One Positive Case Of Covid-19 Has Been Detected In New Delhi, And One Has Been Detected In Telangana. Both The Patients Are Stable And Being Closely Monitored,” Read An Official Statement. Another Person In Jaipur Was Put In Isolation After He Showed Symptoms Of The Deadly Virus.
Screening At All Indian Airports Has Been Tightened And Several Companies Have Asked Their Employees To Work Out Of Home.
With Most Countries Issuing Advisories Against Travel, Indian Hotels Have Started Reporting Bulk Cancellations Of Events And Room Bookings, One Of The Main Sources Of Revenue For The Industry. A Senior Executive At One Of The Five-Star Hotels In The Capital Said That Most Events Which Had Been Booked For The Month Of March Have Been Cancelled In The Last Two Days, Leading To “Huge Losses.” To Make Things Worse, No Cancellation Charges Are Being Levied. “We Are Not Charging Any Cancellation Fees As This Is Not A Normal Circumstance… So The Losses Are Huge,” The Executive Told IN. However, There Is No Official Estimate Of The Losses Yet.
Insiders Said That The Situation May Not Improve Anytime Soon With News Of The Virus Spreading To Several Other Countries Outside China.
Beside The Hospitality Industry, Other Key Sectors Will Be Impacted Too. China Is India’s Largest Trading Partner. In 2018-19, India’s Imports From China Were Over $60 Billion, Accounting For About 20 Per Cent Of The Total Non-Oil, Non-Gold Goods. Imports From China Have Practically Come To A Halt With The Spread Of The Coronavirus.
India Imports Mobile Phones, Electronic Equipment, Chemicals, Iron And Steel, Plastics, Fertilizers, And Textiles Among Other Goods. Besides, A Large Chunk Of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API)—Essential For Medicines Such As Antibiotics And Lifestyle Drugs—Comes From China. With Imports Almost Coming To A Halt, The Rs 1.75-Lakh-Crore Drug Industry Will Also Be Hit. This Could Make Medicines More Expensive And Worse, In Many Cases There Could Be Shortages.
This Couldn’t Have Come At A Worse Time. India’s Factory Output Contracted By 0.3 Per Cent In December, Primarily Due To A Decline In Manufacturing Compared To A Provisional Growth Of 1.8 Per Cent A Month Ago. This Is Worrisome As The Index Of Industrial Production Or IIP Witnessed Contraction For Three Consecutive Months In August, September, And October. The Spread Of The Coronavirus, If Not Arrested, Could Pose Fresh Challenges To The Economy, Which Is Slated To Grow At 5 Per Cent—The Slowest In 11 Years—This Financial Year..
