With the number of confirmed infections continuing to rise
globally since the first reported cases in late December, the Novel
Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is likely to represent a significant
exposure for the insurance market. By comparison, the SARS epidemic
in 2003 was the fourth-largest insurance loss in Hong Kong history
with losses of HK$325million and total economic losses estimated
from US$40Billion to US$50 Billion. 2019-nCoV has the potential to
be more significant pandemic than SARS, given that the number of
infections and morbidity rate already exceed SARS, and the virus is
expected to peak in March or even April 2020. As of 5 February
2020, the total number of cases in Mainland China currently stands
at over 24,000 and counting, compared with SARS which infected
5,327 people in Mainland China.
