Coronavirus begins to hit China’s economy

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called the accelerating spread of a new coronavirus “a grave situation” as officials struggle to stop the spread of the disease that has so far infected more than 1,400 people worldwide and killed 42.

Preliminary data has also shown the scale at which the outbreak is affecting the local economy. On the first day of the Lunar New Year there was a 41.6% decline Y/Y in civil air travel, 41.5% reduction in rail travel and 25% drop in road transport.

Shanghai Disneyland has locked their doors, Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) said it would shut all its outlets in Hubei province, while Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR), Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) and Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) are waiving cancellation fees.

Separately, Honeywell (NYSE:HON) and 3M (NYSE:MMM) are boosting production of protective face and respirator masks, while DuPont (NYSE:DD) is working to increase supply of medical body suits and other protective gear.

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