As fear exists in China and the world over the spreading COVID-19（新冠肺炎），business owners worldwide are all feeling the pain. Uncertainty and lack of confidence have always been among the big enemies of economies. And now the universal economy is still under great pressure. 【小题1】

As countries issue warnings and travel bans, the tourism and services are most affected. In 2018, around 140 million Chinese made outbound trips according to the China Tourism Academy. 【小题2】 It is thus not surprising that local hotels, restaurants and travel agencies in cities like New York and London are also suffering losses from the virus fallout.

According to a New York Times report, Chinatown in Manhattan has seen business drop of 50 to 70 percent. A hotel owner who relies on Chinese customers said that the loss could be well over 100,000 dollars and climbing. Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, is also warning the outbreak could pose a “new risk” to the US economy.

The economic cost of the COVID-19 outbreak is growing and hard to estimate（估计）. 【小题3】During the 2003 SARS, which lasted around 7 months, it is estimated that economic losses worldwide affected by the outbreak were over 30 billion dollars. The ripple effect（连锁反应）spread across the Atlantic to Toronto, the most severely affected area in Canada. It is estimated that the city will lose about 950 million dollars due to the restrictions on travel.

【小题4】 It started in Mexico and America in 2009. While the Americas were most affected by the virus, research has also found that the economic cost of the virus in Korea was as high as 1 billion dollars.

In this interconnected world, any pandemic（流行病）is worldwide. Various economists have pointed out that most economic costs are not related to the virus directly, but the panic over it. Lack of confidence can also worsen the fragile world economy. 【小题5】