There are speculations that the coronavirus outbreak will cause a recession, as opposed to the previous outbreaks which were just after the recession.
Just ahead of the reported global recession of 2008 there were other reports that said, if influenza (H1N1) becomes a pandemic, it could impact the US economy on a large scale. Tommy G Thompson, former secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services had said: "America's employers are recognizing the need to reform their policies and prepare for the possibility of pandemic flu that could infect a large number of citizen's— impacting not only their business operations but the entire US economy." Indeed, it became a pandemic, but almost after the recession ended, and did not cause yet another.
Post-2008 recession
A year after the recession broke, the swine flu outbreak started its attack in the US in 2009. Much ahead of all these in March 2007, a report from the advocacy group Trust for America's Health found that, if the avian influenza virus mutates to spread rapidly among people becoming a pandemic, could trigger the second-deepest US economic recession since WW2, according to a Reuters report.
A study said that swines are susceptible to infection with both avian and human influenza virus. This was almost a prediction of the swine flu pandemic. However the recession had ended and the virus didn't cause another.
Post-2000 recession
Also, post-2000-2001 world recession, two outbreaks were witnessed. The epizootic(animal disease) foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001 and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) began in China in November 2002. Over six million cows and sheep had to be killed to stop the FMD, which also took a toll on agriculture and tourism in the British. The cost of SARS on the world economy is estimated to be $54 billion, according to the World Bank
The last two outbreaks post-recession happened when the economy was reviving and did not cause another, whereas today's coronavirus outbreak has happened at the time of a potential recession. IMF, in its recent growth forecast of China, made it to 5.6 percent for 2020, the lowest since 1990.
We have seen reports of how the airlines and businesses are hit already. It seems that the toll coronavirus is taking on the economy will add to a potential recession that could have happened if there was no outbreak.
