Published 11 Mar 2020
A conference on “Doing Business Under Coronavirus” in New York has been cancelled over the virus scare itself.
The Council on Foreign Relations canceled the roundtable which was scheduled for Friday in New York. It also canceled other in-person conferences that were scheduled from March 11 to April 3, including conferences in New York and Washington and national events around the US, the Bloomberg reported.
The deadly virus, which has claimed 4,250 lives and infected 110,000 people across the world, has led to cancellation of several events like concerts, sporting events, festive celebrations, etc.
Over 50 major corporate events with an estimated attendance of almost 1 million people have been cancelled in the US alone.
Post the virus outbreak, schools and colleges in Italy, Iran, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and elsewhere have been shut.
Meanwhile, infections in Italy topped the 10,000 mark — more than anywhere but China — and the number of deaths from the virus rose Tuesday to 631 from 463 a day earlier, Italian Civil Protection authorities said. The country now faces a lockdwon to contain the infection.
In Latin America, the virus and its wide-ranging effects on business have it bracing for a downturn that could test the resilience of the beleaguered region’s already ailing economy.
China, where the virus emerged, has been making inroads into Latin America over the last two decades. It is now the region’s second-largest trading partner, meaning any economic contraction there will have a ripple effect. Demand for products like Chilean salmon and Argentinian beef have dipped. The prices of all-important commodities like copper and oil have also declined.
Countries such as Chile, Peru and Mexico, with export-driven economies, are likely to see the most serious impact, while others like Brazil and Argentina, whose markets are more closed, could be somewhat shielded from the fallout.( News18 )
