The emergence and subsequent spread of COVID-19, a new form of coronavirus, has had a global impact on public health, businesses and the economy.

On 29 December 2019, Chinese authorities identified a cluster of similar pneumonia cases with an unknown cause in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. A new strain of coronavirus was subsequently isolated from a patient on 7 January 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emergence of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. Global equity and high-yield credit markets have since fallen and the prices of the majority of developed market sovereign bonds have risen as investors exhibit ‘flight to safety’ tendencies in reaction to the uncertainty surrounding the long-term impact of the virus.

In this newsflash, we look at the impact on markets, the spread of the virus, and potential impacts on insurers – both immediate and long-term.

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*webpage updated 16/04/2020