Australia is already buckling under the weight of the coronavirus epidemic – with the stock market in free fall, supermarket shelves bare and a panic sale on flights.
With the world on the cusp of an unstoppable pandemic, experts warned every Australian could soon be struck down by the killer virus.
Families could soon see their supermarket bill balloon as worried households begin to stockpile food and medicines.
The Australian Securities Exchange has now fallen for the sixth straight session, shedding $221 billion in just one week.
It comes as the respiratory virus infected more than 82,000 people worldwide – including 23 in Australia – causing 2,804 deaths.
The deadly strain, known now as Covid-19, originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Coronavirus has killed more than 2,800 people globally and can cause severe lung damage and trigger multiple organ failure
The economic plunge threatened to get even worse after Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared a coronavirus pandemic is ‘very much upon us’.
Launching an emergency plan on Thursday afternoon, he said the government was identifying ‘gaps in capabilities’ within Australia’s state-based health services.
As residents prepare for the epidemic to hit, with 23 people already struck down on Australian soil, there is already evidence of panicked stockpiling.
Shocking photos emerged showing Woolworths shelves stripped of medicine, toilet paper and food staples.
Customers were greeted with near empty aisles when they arrived at the supermarket giant’s Bondi store in Sydney on Thursday night.
The grocery store appeared to be struggling to keep the shelves stocked with paracetamol, toilet paper, tea, milk, pasta, oats and rice crackers.
In just one week, the ASX 200 went from a record closing high of 7,162 last Thursday to 6,441 by 10am on Friday (stock image)
Coronavirus fears wiped an incredible $72 billion off the Australian stock exchange on Friday morning.
It tumbled from a record closing high of 7,162 last Thursday to just 6,441 at 10am on Friday.
The dollar has fallen below 66 US cents for the first time in a decade.
Indicating that businesses are struggling, Air New Zealand slashed prices to Australia to just $69 on Friday morning in a bid to boost sales.
The airline is offering $69 one way flights from Christchurch to Melbourne, while fares for Auckland to Sydney and Brisbane will set Kiwis back $79.
It’ll cost passengers just $69 to fly from Christchurch to Melbourne one way, and $79 to fly into Brisbane.
The cheap airfares are available for travel from mid-March.
Thanks to coronavirus travel bans, Air New Zealand, Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have reduced the amount of flights heading across the ditch.
But they are lowering ticket prices to fill up the remaining planes.
There are currently 23 cases of coronavirus in Australia, eight of which originated on the doomed Diamond Princess cruise ship.
At least 621 people on the ship tested positive for the virus, officially named Covid-19, making it the biggest cluster outside China.
There were a total of 223 Australians quarantined on the ill-fated ship in the Japanese port of Yokohama.
Eight Australians had been flown from the Diamond Princess cruise ship at Yokohama in Japan to a quarantine centre near Darwin (pictured), where they tested positive
Fears are growing for one 78-year-old man from Western Australia, who has been rushed into intensive care at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
Worldwide, the virus has killed more than 2,800 people and infected 82,000.
‘We believe that the risk of a pandemic is very much upon us,’ he told reporters in Canberra.
‘We need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic.’
An expert has issued a stark warning about the future of the virus, saying it is unlikely it will ever be contained and the world should prepare for the worst.
Pedestrian wearing face masks walk past a display promoting the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games on February 26
Minister for Health Greg Hunt, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly give an update on the coronavirus on Thursday (pictured)
Professor Ian Mackay, from the University of Queensland, said: ‘We’re likely to have the virus become what we call an endemic virus, or a virus that’s just with us for life,’ he told The Australian.
‘At some point in the coming months or years we’re all going to get infected because we’ve all been infected by these other endemic viruses.’
The World Health Organisation has not yet formally declared a global pandemic, but Mr Morrison said Australia was operating on the basis that there is one.
Basic medical supplies, toilet paper and food staples are flying off the shelves as panicked shoppers stockpile goods amid growing fear around the coronavirus (pictured)
Customers were greeted with near empty shelves when they arrived at Bondi Woolworths in Sydney on Thursday night (pictured)
Meanwhile Priceline stores have run out of hand sanitiser as fears grow over the development of a global pandemic.
Increased demand has forced some chemists to ration supplies, including a number of Priceline stores in Sydney which are limiting the number of products customers can buy.
The pharmacy chain is also experiencing shortages of the product online, with 26 different types of antibacterial hand sanitiser completely sold out.
26 different types of antibacterial hand sanitiser are completely sold out on Priceline Australia’s website (pictured)
Hand sanitiser sold out at the Chemist Warehouse in Chatswood (pictured)
Media agency OMD announced on Friday morning it was to close its office in Sydney, after one of its UK staff – who had visited the Sydney office – showed symptoms of the coronavirus.
In an email to staff, CEO Aimee Buchanan confirmed the office would be closed on Friday, and potentially on Monday.
She wrote: ‘You may have seen the news today that OMD UK closed their offices as one of their staff has come down with flu-like symptoms following a trip from Australia via Singapore.
‘Given the coronavirus breakout around the world, we will be acting with precaution and closing the OMD Sydney office until we have clearance from our UK office.’
Travellers at Brisbane International Airport on January 29 (pictured) before the travel ban came into place
Meanwhile Chinese students in Australia are being urged to ‘walk quickly’ to avoid spreading the deadly coronavirus.
Hundreds of Chinese high school students are set to stay with Australian families when arriving in the country to continue their year 11 and 12 courses.
They will spend two weeks in isolation after touching down, but are being told to walk fast around the house to reduce the risk of spreading the virus to their host family.