New Delhi: India reported its third positive case of the novel coronavirus (nCoV 2019) in Kerala on Monday, the union health ministry said.

The ministry has issued a new advisory urging Indians to avoid travel to China, the epicentre of the outbreak, adding that travellers on return could be quarantined.

“Anyone with travel history of China since 15th January, 2020, and from now on could be quarantined," the ministry said in the advisory issued on Sunday.

The outbreak has shown no signs of abating since it was discovered in late December. As of Monday, 17,348 people across 27 countries were reported to have tested positive for the virus, with death toll in China touching 362, and one death reported in The Philippines, according to the John Hopkins University’s real-time tracker for the disease.

After the World Health Organization (WHO), last week, declared the outbreak a global emergency, countries are free to decide on closing their borders, cancelling flights, screening people on arrival at airports and take other protective measures.

India has been cancelling flights to China and has evacuated over 600 people residing in Wuhan, where the virus erupted. The government on Monday said that e-visa facility for Chinese passport holders has been suspended along with submission of online applications for physical visa. Also, e-visas already issued to Chinese nationals will not be valid for the time being.

“Since complete isolation of travel is not practical, and in the absence of that from all countries, people who have a travel itinerary which (in part) included China but are now traveling from a different country, can be carriers. The concern for India is real, since India can be critically affected," said Debanshu Roy, a health economist and an engagement manager at University of Chicago Centre in Delhi.

“Many in this country are malnourished (wherein cases can become clinically severe) and we do not have a robust enough public health system at the lowest levels to manage severe cases. Additionally, with high population density, the transmission rate can be extremely fast. The stricter restrictions are not because we have low confidence in the Chinese measures already being taken, but additional measures are being taken in the interest of National Security," he said.

There have also been concerns that the deadly epidemic will hit trade and economy of countries involved with China.

While experts have claimed that novel coronavirus may hit India’s trade and economy due to its dependence on China, India's chief economic advisor KV Subramanian on Friday said, "I don't think there will be that big an impact on the economy."

In 2002-03, at the time of SARS outbreak, India’s total trade with China stood at a paltry $4.8 billion which has since expanded more than 18 times to have touched $87 billion in 2018-19.

The SARS outbreak had claimed over 800 lives in 2002-03, according to data available with WHO.

India exported mostly raw materials and industrial inputs to China such as organic chemicals ($3.2 billion), mineral fuels ($2.8 billion), cotton ($1.8 billion), ores ($1.2 billion), plastic materials ($1.1 billion) in 2018-19. On the other hand, the major items imported by India during the period include electronic items ($20.6 billion), machinery ($13.4 billion), organic chemicals ($8.6 billion) and plastic items ($2.7 billion).

“When the world’s largest manufacturer and a voracious consumer of goods shuts down temporarily, shock waves are felt across industries, markets and economies. Wuhan is a critical transportation hub that connects the gigantic internal Chinese market," said Ashish Bharadwaj, dean of Jindal School of Banking & Finance in India.

“The coronavirus outbreak will test the resilience of any firm, industry or nation that has forward or backward economic linkages with China. Let’s hope this is restricted to economic impact and doesn’t affect socio-cultural and trade relations of China’s trading partners," he added.

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