Mumbai, March 12: The scare around coronavirus is showing no signs to slow down as the number of infected people continues to spike in the country. The sale of electronic products including mobile handsets was down by around Rs 1,350 crore in the last two months, according to an Economic Times report. The reason behind the fall was because consumers are avoiding the purchase of China-made cost-effective products ever since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General at the Confederation of All India Traders (Cait) as quoted in the report said, "There is an estimated business loss of about Rs.1,000 crores of IT products as well as Rs 350 crore worth mobile handsets in January and February this year due to Coronavirus spread." Retail shops have also witnessed low footfalls as fewer people are preferring to buy. Coronavirus Scare in India: Consumption Across Malls And Restaurants Dips 15-25% in Two Weeks.

Brands like Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei have their manufacturing facilities in Wuhan, which is the epicentre of the virus. Samsung too had their South Korea facility temporarily shut after one of its employees was detected with COVID-19. In India, several companies are encouraging their employees to work from home to avoid the spread of the deadly virus.

Consumption Across Malls And Restaurants Dips 15-25% in Two Weeks

The consumption across malls and restaurants have fallen 15-25 percent over the last two weeks since the spread of novel coronavirus in India. The fall has been on the back of consumers avoiding crowded areas, as a result of which hotels across the country are witnessing cancellation of international delegations, board meetings, social gatherings and other big events.

Coronavirus Caes in India:

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India, including foreign nationals is 73.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2020 01:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).