Deadly virus predicted to deal crushing blow to global economy

While statistics suggest the new coronavirus is not as lethal as SARS, it has already infected more people, and the speed at which the disease has spread is fueling fear, Bloomberg reports.

A big part of the expected blow to the economy during the current outbreak is likely to come from changes in “human psychology,” according to Warwick McKibbon, professor of economics at the Australian National University in Canberra.

He said SARS cost the global economy US$40 billion and predicts the hit from coronavirus will reach three or four times that amount. “Panic is what seems to be the biggest drain on the economy, rather than deaths,” he said.