"Fear of Novel Coronavirus Reduces Outings and Traffic Accidents"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] It has been revealed that the number of traffic accidents decreased as people refrained from going out due to the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia).

According to the insurance industry on the 10th, the total number of traffic accidents reported to the top five non-life insurance companies?Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, KB Insurance, DB Insurance, and Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance?during the first weekend after the Lunar New Year holiday, January 1-2, was 22,387 cases.

This figure represents a 24.8% decrease compared to 29,771 cases recorded on the weekend immediately before the Lunar New Year holiday, January 18-19.

January 1 was a period when the spread of the novel coronavirus in China was rapidly accelerating. As of midnight on the 1st, the cumulative confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus across 31 provinces in China reached 11,791, with 259 deaths.

In South Korea, the first third-generation infection was confirmed at that time. It was verified that the 6th confirmed patient (second-generation infection), who had dined with the 3rd confirmed patient infected in China, transmitted the third-generation infection to his wife and son.

With the decrease in traffic accidents, insurance companies are also seeing the possibility of a decline in loss ratios.

This aligns with previous analyses suggesting that the spread of the novel coronavirus could lead to improvements in the loss ratios of non-life insurance companies.

On the 7th, Jeong Tae-jun, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, stated in a report, "Due to the fear of the novel coronavirus, the rate of increase in incurred losses for non-life insurance has slowed, making it highly likely that the annual loss ratio will improve," adding, "This is expected because hospital visits and vehicle operation are likely to decrease, similar to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak from May to December 2015."

He predicted, "If we enter a phase where the likelihood of loss occurrence itself decreases, as was the case during MERS, it could help improve the annual loss ratio."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.