Wuhan may be known as the first place the new coronavirus was identified, but it’s also a center of transport and manufacturing. Now experts are concerned the former may have significant impacts on the latter, according to Bloomberg.
As of the time of writing, there have been nearly 2,800 cases of the virus across China and 15 cities have been put in lockdown. As the epicenter of the outbreak, “Wuhan itself has been effectively quarantined, with all routes in and out of the city closed or highly regulated,” according to CNN.
As Bloomberg points out, as “the capital of Hubei province, Wuhan is the biggest water, land and air transportation hub in inland China, according to the Ministry of Commerce. It’s also a major rail hub with multiple lines linking it to major cities, and a renowned education center.” The city has also been moving into high-tech industries, including chip-making and biomedicine.
With the city quarantined, experts fear it could have far reaching implications.
“Complicated supply chains and just-in-time production could mean that production outages in Wuhan factories have broader spillover effects,” Shaun Roache, Asia-Pacific chief economist at S&P Global Ratings, told Bloomberg.
With a world economy that is ever more connected, it’s too early to predict just how much impact the virus could have as more cities are quarantined or put in lockdown. But it’s a safe bet that the longer it goes on, the more the effects will be felt across industries.