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COVID-19 and economy

Article  in  Dermatologic Therapy · July 2020

DOI: 10.1111/dth.13329

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Received: 16 March 2020 Accepted: 24 March 2020
DOI: 10.1111/dth.13329

LETTER

COVID-19 and economy

Mrinal Gupta1
Dear Editor,
Ayman Abdelmaksoud2
Novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which originated from Wuhan,
Mohammad Jafferany3
China, has spread to more than 125 countries of the world infecting
Torello Lotti4
more than 100 000 population.1 Apart from being a global health
Roxanna Sadoughifar5,6
concern, COVID-19 is having major consequences on the world
Mohamad Goldust5,7,8
economy, and experts have predicted that COVID-19 will lower
global gross domestic product growth by one-half a percentage
1
Department of Dermatology, Treatwell Skin Centre, Jammu, India
point for 2020 (from 2.9% to 2.4%). The whole world is now a sin-
2
Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Leprology Hospital,
gle global community, where any major happening in one part is
Mansoura, Egypt
bound to have repercussions in rest of the world.2
3
Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Central Michigan
Chinese government, in order to control the spread of the disease,
University, Saginaw, Michigan
had to close the major production centers and as China being a
4
Department of Dermatology, University of Studies Guglielmo Marconi,
manufacturing hub, led to disruption in the global supply chain which
Rome, Italy
affected almost all sectors ranging from pharmaceuticals to automobile.
5
Department of Dermatology, University of Rome G. Marconi, Rome, Italy
The disruption of pharmaceutical industry in China had impact on other
6
Department of Dermatology, Bidarskincenter, Tehran, Iran
countries, where the prices of lifesaving drugs increased due to short-
7
Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Mainz,
age of raw materials from China. As the Chinese industries had ceased
Mainz, Germany
production, the global prices of raw materials like metals fell all over
8
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel,
leading to major slowdown in various metal producing economies.3
Switzerland
Emulating China, other affected countries also restricted public gath-
erings and had to shut down schools, large gatherings, sports, and commu-
Correspondence
nity activities. Most of the countries had their primary infection
Mohamad Goldust, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital
contracted from people coming from endemic areas and many countries
Basel, Basel, Switzerland,
have stopped flight operations and closed borders. People also started
Email: mohamad.goldust@usb.ch
avoiding unnecessary travel, leading to large number of flight cancellations
causing major losses for the airline companies. There was overall reduction
OR CID
in oil demand, which led to the largest fall in oil prices in the global market
Ayman Abdelmaksoud https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4848-959X
since the Gulf war. The rapid fall in oil prices along with the overall reduc-
Mohammad Jafferany https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6358-9068
tion in global industrial production caused major fall in the global stock
Torello Lotti https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0840-1936
markets with markets falling more than 20% over a short span of time and
Mohamad Goldust https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9615-1246
the risk of a global 2008-like recession is looming large.2,4
The longer the virus spreads, the more economic performance
RE FE RE NCE S
will be impacted, raising concerns about the financial sustainability,
1. Sohrabi C, Alsafi Z, O'Neill N, et al. World Health Organization declares
especially for highly indebted countries. Researchers do not yet have
global emergency: a review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-
a clear understanding of the virus's behavior, transmission rate, and 19). Int J Surg. 2020;76:71-76.
extent of spread. Coherent and coordinated responses are needed 2. Bobdey S, Ray S. Going viral–Covid-19 impact assessment: a
the global policymakers to limit the economic fallout. perspective beyond clinical practice. J Mar Med Soc. 2020;
22(1):9.
3. Maffioli EM. How is the world responding to the 2019 coronavirus dis-
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ease compared with the 2014 west African Ebola epidemic? The
We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by importance of China as a player in the global economy. Am J Trop Med
all the authors, the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in Hyg. 2020. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-0135.
4. McKibbin WJ, Fernando R. The global macroeconomic impacts of
this document have been met, and each author believes that the
COVID-19: Seven scenarios [Working Papers]. Canberra, AU: CAMA,
manuscript represents honest work. The Australian National University; 2020.

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