Coronavirus would kill 21,000 Australians and slash $42billion off the GDP if the country was hit by a mild outbreak, shock study finds
- New study concludes mild coronavirus pandemic could kill 21,000 Australians
- A more severe outbreak could wipe out 68million globally and 96,000 locally
- So far the disease has infected 90,932 people and killed at least 3,125 globally
- On Tuesday, Australia registered its 34th victim - a 20-year-old Chinese student
A new study into the severity of coronavirus has determined even a mild outbreak in Australia could kill 21,000 people.
So far the disease has infected an estimated 90,932 people in 76 countries around the world.
At least 3,125 have died - primarily in mainland China, where the outbreak originated.
But research undertaken by former Reserve Bank of Australia's Warwick McKibbin suggests a global pandemic would be catastrophic for the human population.
The global coronavirus death toll surpassed 3,000 following a sudden spike in Italian cases
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the Federal Government will soon release a strategy outlining plans to help deal with the economic impact of the global coronavirus outbreak
Passengers from a China Cruise Ship are seen arriving at Sydney Opera House with no health screen checks amid fears of the coronavirus outbreak on February 27
A severe outbreak could wipe out 68million people worldwide, including 96,000 Australians.
Even a mild pandemic could kill 21,000 Australians and 15million globally.
The financial blow to the nation would also be devastating, the study concluded.
Australia’s gross domestic product would be slashed by at least two percentage points at best, which equates to about $42billion in 2020 alone.
The new research comes as medics in Australia diagnosed a 34th local case of coronavirus on Tuesday.
Australian evacuees who were quarantined on Christmas Island over concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus arrive at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Monday, February 17
Australians have been advised to avoid all travel to Iran (pictured, a hospital in Tehran) after more than 60 people died of coronavirus in the country
A 20-year-old Chinese student arrived in Australia after 'self-quarantining' in Dubai for 14 days carrying the disease.
The student is currently in a stable condition in isolation in the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
He was living in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong with a male housemate, who is now being assessed for the disease.
Shortly after the 34th case was announced, Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed Australia is considering travel bans for South Korea and Italy.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Morrison asked for a reassessment of travel and border control arrangements for higher risk groups in those countries.
'I would note that those cases are quite different to some of the others because we are dealing with more advanced health systems in those places,' he told reporters in Canberra.
Pictured: Flight attendants wearing face masks and gloves after a disembarking a plane
'We will continue to look to the health advice, which has not been - up until this point - to make any changes to those arrangements.'
The prime minister also consulted with supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths to discuss concerns over panic buying and dwindling supplies.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation admitted the world was now in 'unchartered territory', with the virus now spreading much more rapidly outside China than within the country.
Almost nine times as many cases had been reported in the past 24 hours beyond China than inside, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that the risk of coronavirus spreading was now very high at a 'global level'.
He said outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan were of greatest concern.
'We are in uncharted territory - we have never seen before a respiratory pathogen that is capable of community transmission,' he told a news briefing in Geneva.
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