The Coronavirus breakout in China has caused a surge in the price of electronic gadgets and smart phone accessories across Jharkhand, say retailers. It has also forced many smalltime businessmen here to grapple with the limited supply of products from Chinese manufacturers and cater to the high demand.
Danish Zehen, the owner of a shop at International Market on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Ranchi, on Wednesday said that the outbreak of the deadly virus in China and its impact on the economy there has directly affected the business in Ranchi. “The price of Chinese smart phones has increased. Even accessories like mobile covers have become dearer by 10 to 20 per cent,” he said, adding that screen guards and micro SD cards have also become dearer.
Novel Coronavirus, which was declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last month, has already claimed more than 2000 lives worldwide. While the virus has run the alarm bells for the health machinery across the globe, it has had a devastating impact on the second largest economy of the world, say reports. A special briefing issued by global data analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet has predicted that the virus outbreak is likely to have an impact on more than 5 million businesses across the world. Most of the companies crippled by the virus in China have units in the US, it added.
Shops in International Market — the go-to-place for tech-savvy smart phone enthusiasts for latest gadgets at an affordable price — have also started charging more for repairing phones and other electronic gadgets lately. This increase in the repairing cost, they said, is primarily due to the rise in the price of accessories and spare parts.
Besides electronic gadgets, the virus has also led to a fall in the supply of Chinese pichkari, which are quite popular among young children during Holi. The special pichkaris that come in different shapes and sizes are yet not being displayed at shops despite Holi being only 20 days away.
Coronavirus has also led to an increase of 40 per cent in the price of common drugs like paracetamol, which is used to treat flu and fever. The prices of many other analgesics have also increased across India, say medicine shop owners here.
Wuhan city in China is the epicenter of the Novel Coronavirus — a mysterious new virus that has killed more than 2,000 people across the world and infected at least 1.5 lakh. The virus has infected people in the USA, UK, Thailand, India and many other parts of the world. India has reported only three cases of the deadly virus so far, all from Kerala — a State that has declared Novel Coronavirus as a state emergency. No cases of Coronavirus have been detected in Jharkhand so far.
