The World Health Organization was notified by China that 41 people in Wuhan, the country’s seventh most populous city, had been hospitalized with what appeared to be a mystery strain of pneumonia. Many were reported to be workers in or visitors to a live animal market.
Across China there have been 2,744 confirmed cases, of which 1,423 cases were in Hubei. Thailand and Hong Kong have each reported eight cases of infection; the United States, Taiwan, Australia and Macau have five each; Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia each have reported four; France has three; Canada and Vietnam have two, and Nepal and Cambodia each have one.
A Business Contingency Plan and Guidelines for Pandemic (Human &/or Environmental) is one of the mandatory policies within the BDP International organization to ensure that our business remains viable during the affected period.
Logistics operations and domestic trucking operations are currently impacted due to the long holiday Chinese New Year 2020 public holiday in China which began on January 24, 2020 and continues through February 2, 2020 (through February 9 in Shanghai).
Ocean Impact:
Customs Clearance
Customs brokerage agents will be closed from Jan 24th to Feb 2nd, 2020 due to Chinese New Year (CNY) and will resume normal operation from February 3 (February 10 in Shanghai), 2020.
Domestics Delivery Services
High demand and limited availability of trucks during +/- one week of the holiday due to the high volume of export shipments and shortage of labor as most laborers are off home for the celebration. No services or very limited from Jan 24th to Jan 30th, during the holiday.
Barge service in South China
South China barge service will be suspended during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. For DG shipments to South China, suggest avoiding to arrange the shipment with ETA from Jan 13th to Feb 2nd due to terminal restriction.
All services to Wuhan have been suspended. This includes any Wuhan inland cargo at Hubei Province until further notice.
All public transportation including railway, airports and cargo truck services are suspended from entering the city.
Update 1/27: Considering the Coronavirus outbreak, the Government of China has announced an extension of the CNY holiday until February 2 in an attempt to contain the virus. The ports and terminals will continue to operate and the customs department remains on duty for limited hours during the holiday period.
Sources: WHO, CNA, BDP International
BDP will continue to provide updates on the Coronavirus and the logistics planning operational updates as the situation develops.
