S&P expects negative severe shock from Covid-19 to be temporary

People wearing face masks walk inside a subway station, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Shanghai, China February 17, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

KUALA LUMPUR: S&P Global Ratings expects the negative shock from the Covid-19 coronavirus – where the death toll in China has reached 1,770 -- to be severe but temporary and to be offset by a recovery starting in the last quarter of the year.

The rating agency said on Monday due to the continuing spread of the Covid-19 “uncertainty remains high regarding how long it will last”.