Next two weeks will be critical for China in coronavirus outbreak, IMF chief says

The next two weeks will be crucial in determining the economic impact of the coronavirus, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Friday. In that time, factories are due to reopen in China, which would give a “better understanding on the resilience of China and on that basis, the spillover for the rest of the world,” Georgieva told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Munich Security Conference.She said the IMF was also watching how COVID-19 was spreading outside China, saying it was “not a major issue for now” but that could change if it spreads into “weak health system countries, for example in Africa.”

China’s National Health Commission on Friday reported an additional 121 deaths nationwide, with 5,090 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Read more