The Kent Ridge Common, 3 May 2009, Kelvin Teo
SINGAPORE - The swine flu outbreak could not have come during a worse time like this when the worldwide economy is being battered. Originating in Mexico, it has now spread to North America (USA and Canada), Europe (Britain, Germany, France), Oceania (New Zealand) and Asia (Hong Kong).
The economic impact of such viral outbreaks cannot be underestimated. In a study by the World Bank last year, a global flu epidemic could cost nearly 5% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is more than USD$3 trillion. Of course such an estimate is derived from an outbreak whose magnitude is equivalent to the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak.
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