Amidst the Wuhan corona virus outbreak, the Chinese economy is already taking a hard hit by city-wide quarantine that have been implemented to prevent the spread of the lethal virus that already claimed the lives of more than 800 people, surpassing the SARS epidemic last 2003.
The corona virus outbreak is beginning to impact the Chinese economy.
According to a report in a Chinese newspaper, a KFC staff member who prepared food and served customers was reportedly infected with the killer Wuhan coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
The infected staff member works in a KFC restaurant branch in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, as previously reported by the Global Times.
As of today, there are now 37,580 confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus 2019-nCoV worldwide, and 813 people have died, according to China’s National Health Board.
The Shanghai-based company, Yum China Holdings, which owns the franchises for Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC on the Chinese mainland, has reported that the restaurants under the franchise are closing around a third of its 9,200 outlets temporarily because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Thousands of KFC restaurants in China are being closed in response to the deadly virus epidemic.
Yum China Holdings announced that their profit and sales would be critically hit hard by the current epidemic. The company runs stores in more than 1,300 cities in China, and KFC stated they could not tell exactly when the closed restaurants would resume.
Joey Wat, Yum China Holdings’ chief executive recently held a press release announcing that their top priority is the health and safety of their employees and customers. “We have implemented various preventive measures across our restaurants and other workplaces to help protect our employees and customers.” he added.
During the press release, Yum China said in a statement discussing 2019 financial results: ‘As a result of the epidemic, the company may experience operating losses for the first quarter of 2020.’
The chief executive added that more store could shut down along the way: “We will continue to monitor this fluid situation and respond accordingly,” he said.
Yum China Holdings is not the only Chinese corporation experiencing a crucial financial hit from the city-wide quarantine as a way of stopping the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. On the other hand, a Chinese fashion conglomerate, Capri Holdings, that owns the rights to global brands such as Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors and Versace reported overnight that it would also be closing a number of their shops during the outbreak.
Capri Holdings has closed 150 of its 225 shops in mainland China, and the stores that did remain open would be opening for lesser hours.
The finance ministry of China said today that all levels of government had allocated a total of $10.26 billion) to fight the 2019 ncos coronavirus.
The finance ministry will deploy the funds to make sure that members of the public can afford diagnosis and treatment, it said in a statement.
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