Travel bans and work stoppages are among some of the measures taken by German firms to protect their workers from being infected with the virus in China. So far, however, there's no reason to panic, they say.
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For China's travel industry, the outbreak of the SARS-like coronavirus couldn't have come at a worse time. Just as the Lunar New Year holiday season is fully kicking in, millions of Chinese travelling home to spend a few days of leisure with their families will find the gates of theme parks like Disneyland in Shanghai, movie theatres and even restaurants closed.
In total, some 50 million people are in quarantine in China. Wuhan, the Hubei province capital known to be the epicenter of the outbreak, has been locked down.
On Tuesday, the government in Beijing announced that the New Year holiday would be extended by one week and that travel to the financial hub of Hong Kong was restricted. Chinese airlines affected by the travel bans to restricted areas have begun to reimburse customers for cancelled flights.
As governments, global companies and international health organizations rush to contain the spread of the virus that has claimed more than 100 lives so far, businesses in Germany have begun to step up measures, too.
Cultural tour operator Studiosus has cancelled all of its guided tours to China up to mid-April, while Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa said it was noticing "slightly reluctant bookings" for China.
Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19
Since the first cases were confirmed in December 2019, the flu-like COVID-19 virus exploded into a global pandemic, killing tens of thousands of people and infecting around 800,000. Scientists scramble for a vaccine.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/SOPA Images/A. Marzo
Pneumonia-like virus hits Wuhan
On December 31, 2019, China notifies the World Health Organization of a string of respiratory infections in the city of Wuhan, home to some 11 million people. The root virus is unknown and disease experts around the world begin working to identify it. The strain is traced to a seafood market in the city, which is quickly shut down. Some 40 people are initially reported to be infected.
Image: Imago Images/UPI Photo/S. Shaver
First death in China
On January 11, China announces the first death from the coronavirus — a 61-year-old man, who had shopped at the Wuhan market, dies from complications with pneumonia. Like SARS and the common cold, scientists identified that the new virus is in the coronavirus family. It is temporarily named 2019-nCoV. Symptoms include fever, coughing, difficulty breathing, and pneumonia.
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Virus reaches neighboring countries
In the following days, countries such as Thailand and Japan begin to report cases of infections in people who had visited the same Wuhan market. In China, a second fatality is confirmed in the city. By January 20, three people have died in China and more than 200 are infected.
Image: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Millions under lockdown
China places Wuhan on quarantine on January 23 in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus. Transportation is suspended and workers attempt to quickly build a new hospital to treat infected patients, which total over 830 by January 24, as the death toll climbs to 26. Officials eventually extend the lockdown to 13 other cities, affecting at least 36 million people.
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A global health emergency?
More and more cases are confirmed outside of China, including in South Korea, the US, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. As the number of infections rises, the World Health Organization on January 23 determines that it's "too early" to declare a global public health emergency.
Image: Getty Images/X. Chu
Coronavirus reaches Europe
On January 24, French authorities confirm three cases of the new coronavirus within its borders, marking the disease's first appearance in Europe. Hours later, Australia confirms four people have been infected with the respiratory virus.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Mortagne
First cases confirmed in Germany
On January 27, Germany announces its first known case of the virus — a 33-year-old in Bavaria who contracted it during a workplace training with a visiting Chinese colleague. He is put under quarantine and observation at a Munich hospital. The following day, three of his colleagues are confirmed infected. The death toll in China reaches 132, with around 6,000 infected worldwide.
Image: Reuters/A. Uyanik
WHO declares global health emergency
On January 30, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) declares coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern in a bid to protect countries with "weaker health systems." However, WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus does not recommend trade and travel restrictions, saying these would be "an unnecessary disruption."
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First death outside China
The first death linked to the novel coronavirus outside of China is reported in the Philippines on February 2. A 44-year-old Chinese man had traveled from Wuhan to Manila before falling ill and being taken to hospital, where he later died of pneumonia.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Aljibe
Bad ending to a cruise
Also on February 3, the cruise ship Diamond Princess is quarantined off Yokohama in Japan after cases of the new coronavirus were found on board. As of February 17, the number of people infected has grown to more than 450, the largest cluster of cases outside of China. Several of the 3,700 passengers and crew onboard the ship are being or have been flown back to their home countries.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/kyodo
Italy under quarantine
Cases in Italy rise dramatically, with 77 deaths and thousands of confirmed cases by March 3. Many countries instigate travel restrictions to northern Italy and tourist numbers plummet. On March 8, the Italian government put the entire Lombardy region into quarantine, affecting 16 million people. March 10 sees 168 fatalities in Italy, the highest in a single day.
Image: Reuters/R. Casilli
Economic woes
European and US stock markets slump on March 6, leading to the worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The effect on global business has been significant, with many companies reporting losses and the tourism industry and airlines badly hit. The EU pledge €7.5 billion ($8.4 billion) on March 10 in an investment fund to try to stop the Eurozone falling into a recession.
Image: picture-alliance/Jiji Press/M. Taguchi
WHO declares outbreak as pandemic
As worldwide cases top 127,000 and deaths pass 4,700, the World Health Organization designates the global outbreak as a "pandemic" on March 11. US President Donald Trump announces a travel restriction on people coming from the Schengen Zone in Europe, annoying the EU. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces that in Germany, 70% of the population could get the virus.
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Public life on hold in Europe
On March 14, Spain joins Italy in imposing a near-total nationwide lockdown to prevent the virus spreading. The population of 46 million is told not to leave their homes unless for essential tasks. In France, cafés, restaurants and non-essential shops are closed as of March 15. Many public events in Germany are cancelled and schools close.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AAB. Akbulut
International travel severely restricted
As of March 15, many countries impose strict travel bans or restrictions in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19. For example, New Zealand and Australia require all international passengers to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival in the country. The US extends a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland.
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Germany imposes partial lockdown
In a landmark televised address German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces far-reaching restrictions on everyday life on March 22, banning meetings between more than two people not from the same household outside of the workplace. The country has a surprisingly low death rate, a phenomenon attributed to a high level of testing, and a high number of intensive care beds.
Image: picture-alliance/EibnerT. Hahn
Virus strikes at top as UK locks down
On March 23rd Britain becomes the latest country to impose restrictions on personal freedoms, with people only allowed to leave their homes in a limited number of circumstances. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is diagnosed with the viruson March 27, as well as heir to the throne Prince Charles on March 25. Meanwhile, there are complaints that not everyone is taking social distancing seriously.
Image: picture-alliance/R. Pinney
Grim milestone for the US
On March 27 the US overtakes China in terms of the number of people infected, making it the country with the most cases of COVID-19. This came as President Donald Trump claimed that the nation would get back to work "pretty quickly." At the same time, it emerged that more than 3 million Americans had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. New York is worst-hit, with a hospital ship sent to help out.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot/J. Fischer
Spain's surging death toll
Spain also overtakes China in the number of COVID-19 cases on March 30, as the government toughens the severity of its lockdown. All non-essential activities are halted. Only Italy has a higher death toll than Spain. Most affected is the capital, Madrid. With funeral services overwhelmed, officials turn the Palacio de Hielo ice skating rink into a temporary morgue.
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More than a million
On April 2nd the Johns Hopkins University announced on Thursday that there were more than a million confirmed coronavirus cases around the world. The US is the most affected with three times the number than China, where the virus emerged in December. Over 50.000 people have died — and the outlook remains grim.
Image: Reuters/J. Redmond
UK PM Boris Johnson hospitalized
The 55-year-old was admitted to the intensive care unit at London's St Thomas hospital on Monday evening (6.4.) and was given oxygen treatment after his condition worsened. He had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 27.
Image: AFP/10 Downing Street
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New Year shutdowns
For many German companies with operations in China, the country's main holiday season provides much-needed time to ride out the virus outbreak. Battery maker Hoppecke of Brilon, Germany, on Saturday closed its three factories for the holiday season, including its main production site in Wuhan, where about 500 workers assemble lead batteries.
"About 99% of our Chinese staff are on holidays," the company told DW in a statement, with its entire German staff having left China already. The firm says management is waiting to see how the situation develops and what German authorities will announce as far as travelling to China is concerned.
Swiss industrial conglomerate ABB told DW that its production facilities in Wuhan would continue to operate, and added that it was in permanent contact with its 100 staff there to inform them about preventative measures via mobile app.
Germany's top auto manufacturers, Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, as well as chemical giants Evonik and BASF, also told DW that they would closely follow the health guidance related to the outbreak provided by the World Health Organization, the German Foreign Ministry and the Robert-Koch-Institute, which is Germany's official health and disease control watchdog.
Refrigeration specialist Ziehl-Abegg has idled a truckload of its products destined for an important industry trade fair in ChinaImage: DW/Zhang Danhong
Staff health more important than business
Apart from those companies which have adopted a wait-and-see approach to the disease, there are also some firms which have already taken swift and more drastic action.
Global auto parts supplier Schaeffler already on Thursday last week banned its staff from travelling to China. A similar decision was made by air cooling and climate technology provider Ziehl-Abegg.
"The health of our workers is currently more important than commercial considerations," the firm's chairman Peter Fenkl said.
Ziehl-Abegg has even stopped container shipping of its latest products intended for Asia's biggest industry trade show for the sector, China Refrigeration, due to take place in Wuhan in April.
German wholesale giant Metro AG has more complex issues to tackle over the virus outbreak because it needs to protect not only its Chinese and foreign workers but also its customers. The company runs four marketplaces in Wuhan alone and has set up special checkpoints there to screen the body temperatures of staff and customers alike. In addition, the staff at its stores is required to wear face masks, while cleaning and disinfection intervals have been shortened.
Moreover, Metro's Chinese staff has been called upon to stay away from farms and local markets, and avoid contact with live animals in general. No infections have so far been reported by the wholesaler, although the company refused to tell DW whether the measures are impacting its sales at its Wuhan outlets.
Holidaymakers destined for Indonesia's Sumatra island are already being screened by health officers upon their arrival at Kualanamo International AirportImage: picture-alliance/Zumapress/A. I. Damnik
Germany prepares
Back in Germany, the country's biggest aviation hub, Frankfurt Airport, has so far avoided introducing temperature screening for passengers. In close coordination with health authorities, the airport is increasing displays of health and hygiene advice at its terminals, said Jana Schäfer, spokeswoman for the airport operator Fraport.
"We think we are well-prepared," she told DW, adding that this wasn't the first health crisis Fraport had to deal with, and that it had gained valuable experience during the 2003 outbreak of the SARS virus.
Frankfurt is one of altogether five so-called "sanitation airports" in Germany — alongside Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Munich — where specially trained medical personnel are available to screen suspect passengers for possible disease risks on board planes upon their arrival. The task forces there are warranted to enforce quarantine measures.
Meanwhile, the government in Berlin has established a disease control task force at the Robert-Koch-Institute charged with gathering information about the coronavirus and ensuring swift countermeasures to contain an outbreak in Germany.
Despite the measures taken by German companies and authorities against the disease, fears of the new virus migrating to Germany, too, are spreading. Germany has already confirmed human transmission of the virus. In the towns of Krefeld and Ulm, Chinese schools have canceled festivities marking the Lunar New Year — to be on the safe side, officials claimed. And Germany's blue-chip DAX index has followed stock markets around the world into negative territory amid fears that a coronavirus pandemic might prove a drag on global growth.
