CORONAVIRUS could slash economic growth in the UK as tourists stay away and pandemic fears hit a fever pitch.
The outgoing Bank of England governor warned today that Britain needs to prepare for a huge hit to Britain’s economy as the killer virus continues to spread across Europe.
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Mark Carney has urged the UK to prepare for economic growth to be cut dramatically, as uncertainty over the extent of the pandemic continues to swirl.
He told Sky news: “There’s less tourism – as you can see on our streets here in the UK. That’s lower activity.
“We would expect world growth would be lower than it otherwise would be, and that has a knock-on effect on the UK.
“We’re not picking that up yet at all in the European and UK economic indicators, but if the world is slower than the UK, a very open economy will have an impact.”
The dire warning follows fears the pandemic could even trigger a global recession.
Share prices were on track for their worst week since the global financial crisis in 2008 as the virus disrupted international travel and supply chains across the world.
Mr Carney said the spread of coronavirus, known as COVID19, which started in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China, was a “fast-developing situation.”
He said the Bank of England would have to be constantly on the look out for a looming financial crisis triggered by the pandemic.
He said: “It’s too early to tell what it means for the UK, or its magnitude.
“But the most important thing is to make sure the system is functioning. We’re very confident about that and we’re on top of it.”
The pandemic could cause the economy to “go through a period of reorganisation” as tourists deserted Britain.
Britain is preparing for a larger outbreak of the killer bug with isolation pods
British companies’ reliance on Chinese factories in their supply chain would also cause the economy to slow.
But Mr Carney warned it was “too early to tell” the full extent of the impact on the economy.
He said: “Over the last few years the uncertainty about those relationships has weighed on business investment, which has contributed to the weakness in productivity.
“Once we have clarity or greater clarity about those people issue shifts, that adjustment process will take hold.”
The number of confirmed cases in the UK has jumped to 19 – with three people testing positive yesterday – schools could close and sporting events and gigs could be cancelledto stem the infection.
Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said: “One of the things that’s really clear with this virus, much more so than flu, is that anything we do we’re going to have to do for quite a long period of time, probably more than two months.”
The three totest positive for the deadly infectionyesterday had returned from locked-down northern Italy andTenerife, where 168 Brits are being quarantined in a hotel.
Coronavirus chaos has seen workers being sent home across the country and travel bans put in place to help stop the spread of the virus.
US oil company Chevron yesterday told 300 staff at its Canary Wharf office to work from home for the foreseeable future after an employee reported flu-like symptoms.
Across London, commuters have taken to wearing protective facemasks on the Underground.
Thousands of us face mass coronavirus testing at GP surgeries as officials prepare for a worst-case scenario that could see 500,000 die.
Ministers are now considering the assumption that more than50million people in the UKcould catch thekiller bug.
Italy has become the worst affected country in Europe with at least 650 cases and 15 deaths and entire towns are in lock down.
There is now more than 82,000 cases worldwide.
Today, sub-Saharan Africa had their first confirmed case of the virus, after a victim in Lagos, Nigeria was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Around 1 in 7 patients with the new coronavirus develop pneumonia and breathing difficulties from the virus.
A total of five per cent of patients who develop the coronavirus will have critical illness, including respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure.
The WHO, meanwhile, has warned the window of opportunity to stem the deadly outbreak is narrowing.
