If the Wuhan coronavirus begins to spread, the Ukrainian authorities are unlikely to be able to deal with the epidemic as effectively as China, the director of Economic and Social Programmes at Razumkov Centre, Vasyl Yurchyshyn, has said at a roundtable "Coronavirus. Social and economic dimension" hosted by Gorshenin Institute.
"If we compare the current situation with the 2003 epidemic, we will see that the nature of the SARS virus was clear one way or another, while the nature of the coronavirus is not yet clear. It is still a long way before the virus is broken into its components. According to the Chinese press, this may take a year or even a year and a half. This is supported by the fact that a month has already passed, and the trend towards an increase in the number of cases and in the mortality rate continues. The epidemic will affect the countries of Southeast Asia, which are economically connected, and the loss of one link from the chain will greatly affect the economic dynamics. So far, world GDP is estimated to slow down by 0.3-0.4%, but in monetary terms it means hundreds of billions of dollars. And these are salaries, well-being, demand and supply," Yurchyshyn said.
"Now China is taking emergency measures to combat the epidemic. Mobilization was carried out, hospitals, transfer and localization points were built. Tourist flows from and to the country were limited. I'm not sure that Ukraine can do something like this. If the virus begins to spread, we are likely to face the 2008 situation when the prime minister and the foreign minister went to meet the planes and that was it. I have great doubts about the ability of the authorities to activate protective measures," he added.