In October 2019, Dr. Janet Woodcock, the director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, testified before Congress that the United States “has become a world leader in drug discovery and development, but is no longer in the forefront of drug manufacturing.” 72% of API manufacturing takes place outside the U.S., and the use of foreign-sourced materials “creates vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain,” Woodcock concluded.

The ripple effect coming from one region in China is completely unprecedented,” Kamal said. “We’ve never seen anything like this.

The Governance Institute of Australia has released guidance for company directors and other governance professionals that breaks down the complexity of identifying and disclosing climate change-related risks.

The novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV continues to spread throughout China and other countries, seriously impacting business operations around the world. As governments and companies act to protect their citizens, operations and employees at home and abroad, these actions threaten to produce business interruptions, travel risks and other effects that could be detrimental to business continuity.

Here are three approaches to limit risk from the coronavirus:

• Take Travel Precautions
• Develop a Response Plan
• Consult Reputable Information Sources

Last week AEMO released a statement about the coming heatwave conditions in Victoria, stressing the importance of business continuity arrangements.

AEMO and the electricity industry are working together to minimise the impact on the community, particularly major health facilities, emergency services and public transport. However, these services can still be affected and should have business continuity arrangements in place.

Outbreaks of novel virus infections among people are always of public health concern. The risk from these outbreaks depends on characteristics of the virus, including whether and how well it spreads between people, the severity of resulting illness, and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, vaccine or treatment medications).

This is a very serious public health threat. The fact that this virus has caused severe illness and sustained person-to-person spread in China is concerning, but it’s unclear how the situation in the United States will unfold at this time. The risk to individuals is dependent on exposure. At this time, some people will have an increased risk of infection, for example healthcare workers caring for 2019-nCoV patients and other close contacts. For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus, the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV is considered low. The goal of the ongoing U.S. public health response is to prevent sustained spread of 2019-nCov in this country.

The Wuhan coronavirus has sickened more than 14,500 people in Asia, according to statements from health officials. Many other cases are suspected but not confirmed. As of Sunday afternoon, at least 305 people have died, all but one in China.