It seems new cases of Covid 19 in China are starting to reduce. And that is good news.Although there are fears of this virus in other parts of the world.

It seems new cases of Covid 19 in China are starting to reduce. And that is good news.

Although there are fears of this virus in other parts of the world. 

Coronavirus in China has disrupted many global companies’ supply chains over the past 2 months.

But this wasn’t reflecting in the markets or the global investor’s sentiments. 

Earlier this week, news of coronavirus spreading in Italy, South Korea, and Iran concerned investors.

Around the same time, a US citizen contracted the virus from the community. This spooked many investors in the US.

The US markets started to show effects. And since we’re all so well connected, our markets were affected too.

Over the past week, the Sensex is down around 5.8%.

So, what does this mean for a long-term investor?

The view held by many is that this is temporary; that in the long run, this downturn won’t affect things.

Warren Buffet, in an interview, said coronavirus was worrying but he wouldn’t be selling any of his stocks.

Some big-name investors in India have been busy buying stocks in big chunks.

The markets have fallen by this much many times in the past too. In those cases, the markets recovered.

Some analysts believe that the markets were due for a correction anyway.

Things have changed for the better in many parts of China.

New cases of coronavirus have slowed down considerably in China - but have picked up in South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

China seems to be inching back towards normalcy with rules being relaxed in many places and workers returning to workplaces. Though flights are still getting canceled and international trade is impacted.

Of around 83,000 people infected, around 36,000 (~42% of total) have already recovered. And more are recovering every day. But more than 2,800 have died so far.

Many “experts” are giving conflicting views.

Someone said hotter temperatures would kill this virus, while another said temperatures probably won’t do much.

And really, nobody is wrong here. The issue is so complex, it is very difficult to correctly say how things will turn out.

For now, there are no cases of the virus in India.

India is checking passengers from all affected countries for symptoms and quarantining accordingly. Let’s hope India stays free of this virus. 

In another news, India’s last quarter’s GDP improved from 4.5% to 4.7%. That is good news.

Not too much is know about this virus right now. Vaccines and medication is being developed.

Drugs used for treating Ebola and HIV have shown good results as has plasma treatment.

There’s no need to panic.

The need of the hour is to remain informed and take action if necessary.