US companies suspend China operations, restrict travel as coronavirus outbreak becomes global crisis - CNBC

Staff members, wearing protective suits, watch as a plane carrying 32 Mongolian citizens for their evacuation from the Chinese city of Wuhan arrives in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia on February 1, 2020.

Byambasuren Byamba-ochir | AFP | Getty Images

Disney, Tesla, countless airlines and other global companies with significant footprints in China are suspending operations, temporarily shutting factories and instituting travel restrictions as they grapple with the coronavirus outbreak that's derailed commerce in China and sent global markets spinning.

Infections from the virus skyrocketed this week, topping 11,000 as of Friday and surpassing the total number of infections from the nine-month SARS outbreak in less than a month. The World Health Organization formally declared the pneumonia-like virus a global health emergency on Thursday, citing concern that the outbreak continues to spread to other countries with weaker health systems. U.S. officials followed suit on Friday, imposing mandatory quarantines on U.S. citizens who have recently traveled to the Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Local governments in China have extended mandatory factory shutdowns for the Lunar New Year from Jan. 31 to Feb. 9, impacting U.S. companies from Walmart to Tesla. Analysts are beginning to sour on companies with exposure to China, pressuring some stocks. A slew of companies this week warned investors that as the impact of the virus continues to spread, and institutions respond, it threatens to disrupt sectors from travel and retail to technology that look to the Chinese market for consumer demand or cheaper manufacturing in China.

Most of the economic cost of the outbreak "is not related to the virus," said CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council Gloria Guevara, who was the tourism minister for Mexico during the H1N1 outbreak. "It's related to the panic," and it can take between ten months and 19 months for tourism and spending in an area to fully recover from a local outbreak.

Most of the consequences of an outbreak like this are caused by mismanagement, lack of communication and panicked responses, Guevara said. She pointed to the SARS outbreak of 2003 as one example, saying it cost the global economy between $40 billion and $60 billion and cost China 2.8 million jobs.

"The management of the crisis is crucial. They need to be proactive and transparent. They need to work closely with the private sector and we need to not panic," she said of international health officials. "They need to contain the spread of the virus and we fully support that, but at the same time we need to take the necessary measurements to protect the sector."

Each company is responding to the situation in its own way: suspending operations, restricting employee travel, canceling holiday celebrations and more. Here's how some companies have responded so far:

Airlines

Delta airplanes sit on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on January 31, 2020 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The airlines sector is feeling the immediate impact of the coronavirus. Demand for travel to China has plummeted as the virus spreads. Many airlines reduced service to China earlier in the week, but after the State Department placed a "Do Not Travel" warning on China Thursday, airlines began to cut service entirely to China.

• Air Canada said Wednesday it is suspending all flights to Beijing and Shanghai from Jan. 30 to Feb. 29.

• British Airways, KLM Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Turkish Airlines, Air France, Air Seoul, EgyptAir, Lion Air, Austrian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Vietjet and Lufthansa have also reduced or totally cut service to China.

Entertainment

People wearing protective masks sit with a Minnie Mouse balloon inside the departure hall at West Kowloon Station, operated by MTR Corp., in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.

Justin Chin | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Similarly to airlines, entertainment companies with offerings in China are responding to the outbreak by suspending service. Disney has closed both its Shanghai resort and its park in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, cruise lines with ships in China are halting service and refunding customers. Here's how major entertainment companies in China are responding:

• Disney closed its Shanghai Disney Resort on Jan. 25, and it will remain closed until further notice. The company added on Sunday that it will temporarily close its Hong Kong Disneyland Park.

• MGM Resorts said it scaled back a Chinese New Year celebration at its Macao resort this past weekend.

• Royal Caribbean announced the suspension of three scheduled voyages through Feb. 8 for its only ship home-ported in China. The company said it expects the outbreak to hurt its 2020 financial results by 10 cents per share. If the travel restrictions in China continue past February, the company said it could cost the cruise line another 10 cents per share.

Tech

Tech companies this week warned shareholders on their quarterly conference calls about how coronavirus might impact their bottom-lines to kick off the year. Production at Tesla's new Shanghai factory has helped boost the stock over the past few months. The factory, Tesla told shareholders this week, will remain closed amid the outbreak. Here's how other tech companies are responding:

• Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn said on the company's quarterly investor call Wednesday that its new factory in Shanghai will remain closed for an extra week to week-and-a-half due to government restrictions caused by the coronavirus. "This may slightly impact profitability for the quarter but is limited as the profit contribution from Model 3 Shanghai remains in the early stages," he said.

• Microsoft said employees should "cancel all non-essential business travel" and that employees in China should work from home until Feb. 9.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is restricting employee travel in China. The company closed all of its corporate offices, stores and contact centers in mainland China through February 9. Apple has "some suppliers" in the Wuhan area, Cook told investors on Apple's quarterly conference call, and added that at least some of its manufacturing facilities elsewhere in China will remain closed until Feb. 10. Apple set an unusually large guidance range for the next quarter, which Cook said reflects the coronavirus outbreak and "the uncertainty around that."

Autos

Car manufacturers have said the outbreak likely won't hit U.S. consumers or substantially impact company operations. However, the largest car companies all have exposure in China whether it be through manufacturing or supply chain. Here's how the biggest manufacturers are responding:

• Fiat Chrysler said it has restricted travel to Wuhan as well as ten other Chinese cities, adding that the number could change as the situation evolves.

• GM said last week it has placed a temporary restriction on travel to Wuhan, where the company has a manufacturing base as part of a joint venture with China's SAIC Motor.

• Ford Motor said Friday it is extending the Chinese New Year holiday for two days until Feb. 2 and asking employees in China to work from home Feb. 3 to Feb. 7. The company said it expects to resume normal operations on Feb. 10. Meanwhile, the company said it has suspended all business travel to Wuhan and requests employees who have traveled to China to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return.

• Toyota is keeping factories in China shut down until Feb. 9, a spokesperson said, adding that they "don't anticipate any impact to U.S. consumers."

Retail

A worker uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a customer as she enters a Starbucks shop as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 30, 2020.

A worker uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a customer as she enters a Starbucks shop as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 30, 2020.

Stores throughout the country are suspending operations and extending the Chinese New Year holiday for employees. The hardest-hit provinces have released official recommendations for company operations there, with some calling for suspension of operations and reduced hours at factories and stores. Here's how store owners are responding:

• Walmart, which has more than 400 retail locations throughout China, said last week it is following official recommendations but did not say if it has closed any locations.

• McDonald's said it has closed "several hundred" restaurants in Hubei province, the province of the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors that while "China is a critical market for us and we're very concerned about the situation over there, its actual impact on our business is going to be fairly small."

• Starbucks said it has closed nearly half of its China retail locations. Executives said the Chinese locations that are still open have seen sales slow down.

• Coca-Cola has closed its China offices and a "good number" of factories are closed, CEO James Quincey said, adding that it's too early to determine the short-term economic impact.

— CNBC's Sunny Kim, Leslie Josephs, Amelia Lucas, Michael Wayland, Sarah Whitten, Dawn Kopecki and Reuters contributed to this report.

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2020-02-01 14:15:00Z
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US offers to supply Belarus with oil and gas - New York Post

It’s a new bond, cemented in oil.

US officials have told Belarus they would be happy to supply all oil and gas the Eastern European nation needs after its usual supplier — Russia —  turned off the spigot.

“The United States wants to help Belarus build its own sovereign country,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a joint presser with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei “Our energy producers stand ready to deliver 100% of the oil you need at competitive prices. We’re the biggest energy producer in the world and all you have to do is call us.”

Once a close Russian ally, Belarus has become more afraid of being absorbed by Russia after the nations couldn’t agree on new oil prices in 2020. Russia had insisted on greater economic integration as a condition for reduced rates.

The United States has historically had a fraught relationship with Belarus, imposing sanctions for more than a decade over human rights abuses. The country was called “Europe’s last dictatorship” by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who served in the administration of George W. Bush.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held power since 1994.

With Post wires 

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2020-02-01 13:47:00Z
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Trump’s expanded travel ban will hit Nigerians the hardest - Vox.com

No country has more to lose from President Donald Trump’s decision to expand the travel ban than Nigeria.

Starting February 22, Nigerians will no longer be able to obtain visas allowing them to immigrate to the US permanently. They can still travel to the US on temporary visas, such as those for foreign workers, tourists, and students. But for the large Nigerian diaspora in the US, the policy could erode their deep family and cultural ties to their home country, Africa’s most populous nation and one of its economic powerhouses.

Nigerians make up by far the largest population of African immigrants living in the US, numbering about 327,000. Cities with thriving Nigerian communities will be particularly hard hit, including Dallas, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, Phoenix and Houston, the latter of which has the largest Nigerian population outside Brazil and Africa.

Even more Nigerians have been choosing to settle here permanently in recent years: In 2018, the US granted Nigerians almost 14,000 green cards. By comparison, citizens from other countries included in the expanded travel ban were granted a combined total of fewer than 6,000 green cards. It’s also one of the top sending countries for foreign students, with almost 13,000 Nigerians students coming to the US last year.

But now, the Trump administration is preventing further legal immigration from Nigeria, citing concerns about the country’s security standards, as well as heightened terrorist threats. The administration wants to see Nigeria improve their information-sharing with US authorities and Interpol to help identify criminals and terrorists.

The situation has left many Nigerians wondering why they specifically have been targeted, when many other countries might pose similar security threats. Amaha Kassa, the executive Director of African Communities Together, which advocates for African immigrants and their families, told reporters Friday that, at the group’s latest meeting in New York City, dozens of Nigerians were asking one question: “Why single us out?”

Immigrant advocates say it’s based on discriminatory motivations.

“African immigrants in general and Nigerian immigrants in particular are among the most educated and successful immigrants in the United States,” Frank Sharry, the executive director of the immigration advocacy group America’s Voice, said in a statement. “But the success and contributions of African communities is beside the point for this administration. It’s not a policy announcement based on facts – it’s based on Trump’s desire to make America white again.”

The Trump administration has been looking to decrease immigration from Nigeria for a long time, dating back to a now-infamous meeting in the Oval Office in June 2017. Trump told his advisers at the time that Nigerians who set foot in the US would never “go back to their huts” in Africa, the New York Times reported.

His administration has been restricting Nigerian immigration in the years since, clamping down on visitor visas.

Most Nigerians come to the US with employment-based visas or B visas, which are offered to short-term visitors, including tourists, business travelers, and people seeking urgent medical care. But the Trump administration has been denying Nigerians’ applications for B visas at high rates over the last two years.

In 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, about 57 percent of B visa applications from Nigeria were denied, putting it among the countries with the highest denial rates. That might be because Nigerians had the highest numbers of visa overstays of any African country in 2018, as well as one of the highest rates of visa overstays of any country. The administration also increased fees for Nigerians associated with certain temporary visa applications last year, imposing a potential financial barrier.

The administration has targeted African migration more broadly. The administration has attempted to gut the diversity visa lottery, under which 50,000 applicants from countries with low levels of immigration are selected at random to be granted green cards. For many Africans, it’s the only way that they can immigrate to the US.

It’s also stripped citizens of Sudan and Liberia of Temporary Protected Status, a protection allowing them to legally live and work in the US typically offered to citizens of countries suffering from natural disasters or armed conflict.

And advocates are calling the newly expanded ban an “African ban” since about four in five of those affected are from African nations. It’s a callback to the first version of the ban, unveiled in January 2017, which they called a “Muslim ban” since it initially targeted Muslim-majority countries.

“It’s not a pivot in the administration’s policy — it’s an escalation,” Kassa said.

Trump’s proclamation instituting the expanded ban says that Nigeria fails to meet the US’s security standards in two ways: it doesn’t “adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information” and presents a “high risk, relative to other countries in the world, of terrorist travel” to the US.

It’s true that Nigeria has long been fighting homegrown terrorism. Boko Haram, one of Africa’s largest Islamic militant groups, has killed almost 38,000 people since 2011 and displaced another 2.5 million. The violence has subsided since its peak from 2014 to 2015 after the Nigerian military, backed by neighboring African countries, pushed Boko Haram into the north of the country. But the group continues to terrorize some communities in other provinces, kidnapping women and children and engaging in suicide bombings.

But Toyin Falola, a Nigerian historian and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said that few migrants from northern Nigeria, Boko Haram’s stronghold, come to the US. Moreover, Nigeria has been working with the US in its counterterrorism efforts and to build up its border security — Trump even acknowledges Nigeria as an “important strategic partner in the global fight against terrorism” in the proclamation.

Still, Trump says it isn’t enough: “These investments have not yet resulted in sufficient improvements in Nigeria’s information sharing with the United States for border and immigration screening and vetting,” he writes. He has consequently barred all permanent immigration to the US from Nigeria, except for those who are eligible for special immigrant visas based on providing assistance to the US government.

Still, if keeping out Nigeria’s terrorists is one of the primary purposes of the ban, it’s not clear why the Trump administration has chosen only to bar immigrants seeking to settle in the US permanently. A terrorist could just as well enter on a tourist visa, which calls into question whether the national security rationale behind the ban is legitimate.

Houston’s Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, co-chair of the Congressional Nigeria Caucus, told reporters on Friday that the ban will have little benefit for the US’s fight against terrorism in Nigeria.

“Our efforts should be focused more on how we engage and help them [with the] internal and reckless actions by Boko Haram,” she said.

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2020-02-01 12:00:00Z
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Brexit: Macron 'deeply sad' as UK leaves the European Union - BBC News

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European leaders have expressed sadness at the UK leaving the EU, with France's Emmanuel Macron emphasising Britain's "unrivalled ties" with the French.

Mr Macron said he was "deeply sad" while the EU's Guy Verhofstadt pledged to try and "ensure the EU is a project you'll want to be a part of again".

Celebrations and anti-Brexit protests were held on Friday night to mark the UK's departure.

Ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis said everyone would be a winner in the end.

The UK officially left the European Union on Friday at 23:00 GMT after 47 years of membership, and more than three years after it voted to do so in a referendum.

Brexit parties were held in some pubs and social clubs as well as in London's Parliament Square, as the country counted down to its official departure.

In Scotland, which voted to stay in the EU, candlelit vigils and anti-Brexit rallies were held.

In a message released on social media an hour before the UK left, Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to bring the country together and "take us forward".

"For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come," he said. "And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss."

'Not leaving Europe'

In an open letter to the British public, French President Mr Macron said he was thinking of the millions of Britons "who still feel deeply attached to the European Union".

"You are leaving the European Union but you are not leaving Europe," he said. "Nor are you becoming detached from France or the friendship of its people.

"The Channel has never managed to separate our destinies; Brexit will not do so, either."

Mr Macron also said the EU must learn lessons from the "shock" of Brexit, adding: "I am convinced therefore that Europe needs new momentum."

And he defended the way France acted in the Brexit negotiations, saying neither the French nor anyone else in the EU was "driven by a desire for revenge or punishment".

Meanwhile, the EU Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator Mr Verhofstadt responded to a message which had been projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover by a pro-EU group.

"We will look after your star and work to ensure the EU is a project you'll want to be a part of again soon," he said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Davis - who quit as Brexit secretary in protest at former prime minister Theresa May's Brexit plan - said it would be a "fair race" to reach a trade deal with the EU by the end of 2020 but "it can be done".

The UK is aiming to sign a permanent free trade agreement with the EU, along the lines of the one the EU has with Canada, by the end of the transition period in December.

Mr Davis said reaching a deal was "not a charitable exercise, this is an exercise of both sides recognising their own best interests".

European leaders have warned that the UK faces a tough battle to get a deal by that deadline.

Mairead McGuinness, the vice president of the European Parliament, said progress to agree a trade deal "might be left to the very last minute".

"Normally in trade negotiations we're trying to come together," she told BBC Breakfast. "For the first time we're going try and negotiate a trade agreement where somebody wants to pull away from us. I can't get my head around that and I think it's going to be quite complicated."

Celebrations and protests

Thousands gathered in Parliament Square to celebrate Brexit on Friday night, singing patriotic songs and cheering speeches from leading Brexiteers, including Nigel Farage.

The Brexit Party leader said: "This is the greatest moment in the modern history of our great nation."

Pro-EU demonstrators earlier staged a march in Whitehall to bid a "fond farewell" to the union.

Police in Whitehall arrested four men and also charged one man with criminal damage and being drunk and disorderly, while in Glasgow one man was arrested.

Meanwhile, other symbolic moments on a day of mixed emotions included:

• The Union flag being removed from the European Union institutions in Brussels
• The Cabinet meeting in Sunderland, the first city to declare in favour of Brexit when the 2016 results were announced
• A light show illuminating 10 Downing Street and Union flags lining The Mall
• A 50p coin to mark the occasion entering circulation
• The building of the UK government's delegation to the EU changed its name and sign

In Northern Ireland, the campaign group Border Communities Against Brexit staged a series of protests in Armagh, near to the border with the Irish Republic.

The Irish border - now the UK's land border with the EU - was a major sticking point in the Brexit divorce talks.

At 23:00 GMT, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted a picture of the EU flag, adding: "Scotland will return to the heart of Europe as an independent country - #LeaveALightOnForScotland".

Ms Sturgeon is calling for a new referendum on Scottish independence, arguing that Brexit is a "material change in circumstances".

Speaking in Cardiff, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said Wales, which voted to leave the EU, remained a "European nation".

We are separate after more than 40 years, but remember much of the status quo will hold for now - the UK and the EU, the awkward couple, finally divorced - but still sharing a house and the bills.

But what the prime minister hails as a new era, a bright new dawn, starts months of hard bargaining with our neighbours across the Channel.

Read more from Laura here.

UK citizens will notice few immediate changes now that the country is no longer in the European Union.

Most EU laws will continue to be in force - including the free movement of people - until 31 December, when the transition period comes to an end.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen paid tribute to UK citizens who had "contributed to the European Union and made it stronger" and said the UK's final day in the EU was "emotional".

Whilst never the most enthusiastic member, the UK was part of the European project for almost half a century.

On a personal level, EU leaders tell me they'll miss having the British sense of humour and no-nonsense attitude at their table.

If they were to be brutally honest they'd have admitted they'll mourn the loss of our not-insignificant contribution to the EU budget too.

But now we've left the "European family" (as Brussels insiders sometimes like to call the EU) and as trade talks begin, how long will it take for warm words to turn into gritted teeth?

Read more from Katya here.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said he was "pleased" the UK and EU had agreed a Brexit deal and the US would continue to build its "strong, productive, and prosperous relationship with the UK".

Washington's ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, said Brexit had been "long supported" by President Donald Trump.

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2020-02-01 12:48:30Z
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Coronavirus: US bars foreigners who recently visited China - BBC News - BBC News

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2020-02-01 11:36:54Z
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China slams Trump's coronavirus travel limits: 'Not a gesture of goodwill' - Fox News

BEIJING — China’s death toll from a new virus rose to 259 on Saturday and a World Health Organization official said other governments need to prepare for“domestic outbreak control” if the disease spreads in their countries.

Beijing criticized Washington’s order barring entry to most foreigners who visited China in the past two weeks.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced similar measures on Saturday, following Japan and Singapore.

Meanwhile, South Korea and India flew hundreds of their citizens out of Wuhan, the city at the center of an area where some 50 million people are prevented from leaving in a sweeping anti-virus effort. The evacuees went into a two-week quarantine. Indonesia also sent a plane.

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Nearly 12,000 cases

The number of confirmed cases in China rose to 11,791, surpassing the number in the 2002-03 outbreak of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The virus’s rapid spread in two months prompted the World Health Organization on Thursday to declare it a global emergency.

That declaration “flipped the switch” from a cautious attitude earlier to recommending governments prepare for the possibility the virus might spread, said the WHO representative in Beijing, Gauden Galea. Most cases reported so far have been people who visited China or their family members.

The agency acted out of concern for poorer countries that might not be equipped to respond, said Galea. Such a declaration calls for a coordinated international response and can bring more money and resources.

WHO said it was especially concerned that some cases abroad involved human-to-human transmission.

“Countries need to get ready for possible importation in order to identify cases as early as possible and in order to be ready for a domestic outbreak control, if that happens,” Galea told The Associated Press.

“Countries need to get ready for possible importation in order to identify cases as early as possible and in order to be ready for a domestic outbreak control, if that happens.”

— Gauden Galea, WHO representative in Beijing

On Friday, the United States declared a public health emergency and President Donald Trump signed an order barring entry to foreign nationals, other than immediate family of American citizens and permanent residents, who visited China within the last 14 days, which scientists say is the virus’s longest incubation period.

'Unfriendly comments'

China criticized the U.S. controls, which it said contradicted the WHO’s appeal to avoid travel bans, and “unfriendly comments” that Beijing was failing to cooperate.

“Just as the WHO recommended against travel restrictions, the U.S. rushed to go in the opposite way. Certainly not a gesture of goodwill,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

“Just as the WHO recommended against travel restrictions, the U.S. rushed to go in the opposite way. Certainly not a gesture of goodwill.”

— Hua Chunying, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman

WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva that despite the emergency declaration, there is “no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade.”

Meanwhile, the ruling Communist Party postponed the end of the Lunar New Year holiday in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, for an unspecified “appropriate extent” and appealed to the public there to stay home.

Another locked-down city in Hubei, Huanggang, on Saturday banned almost all of its residents from leaving their homes in the most stringent controls imposed yet. The government said only one person from each household would be allowed out to shop for food once every two days.

“Others are not allowed to go out except for medical treatment, to do epidemic prevention and control work or to work in supermarkets and pharmacies,” it said in an announcement.

China’s increasingly drastic anti-disease controls started with the Jan. 23 suspension of plane, bus and train links to Wuhan, an industrial center of 11 million people. The lockdown has spread to surrounding cities.

The holiday, China's busiest annual travel season, ends Sunday in the rest of the country following a three-day extension to postpone the return to factories and offices by hundreds of millions of workers. The official Xinhua News Agency said people in Hubei who work outside the province also were given an extended holiday.

The party decision “highlighted the importance of prevention and control of the epidemic among travelers,” Xinhua said.

Americans returning from China will be allowed into the country, but will face screening and are required to undertake 14 days of self-screening. Those returning from Hubei province will be subject to a 14-day quarantine.

Beginning Sunday, the United States will direct flights from China to seven major airports where passengers can be screened.

Also Friday, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines suspended all flights between the United States and China. Other carriers including British Airways, Finnair and Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific also have canceled or cut back service to mainland China.

The U.S. order followed a travel advisory for Americans to consider leaving China. Japan and Germany also advised against non-essential travel to China and Britain did as well, except for Hong Kong and Macao.

A plane carrying Indians from Wuhan landed Saturday in New Delhi. The government said they would be quarantined in a nearby city, Manesar. Sri Lanka also pulled out more of its citizens and promised to bring out the remaining 204 students.

South Korea's second evacuation flight landed in Seoul with 330 people from Wuhan. They were to be screened for fever before being taken to two quarantine centers.

South Korea also reported its 12th virus case, which appeared to be a human-to-human transmission.

At least 23 countries have reported cases since China informed WHO about the new virus in late December.

The death rate in China is falling but the number of confirmed cases will keep growing because there are thousands of specimens from suspected cases yet to be tested, WHO's Galea said.

“The case fatality ratio is settling out at a much lower level than we were reporting three, now four, weeks ago,” he said.

Both the new virus and SARS are from the coronavirus family, which also includes those that cause the common cold. Experts say there is evidence the new virus is spreading among people in China.

Although scientists expect to see limited transmission of the virus between people with family or other close contact, they are concerned about cases of infection spreading to people who might have less exposure.

In Japan, a tour guide and bus driver became infected after escorting two tour groups from Wuhan. In Germany, five employees of a German auto parts supplier became ill after a Chinese colleague visited, including two who had no direct contact with the woman. She showed no symptoms until her flight back to China.

On Saturday, Japan reported its 17th case, a woman in her 20s who also worked as a guide for Wuhan tourists on the same bus as the two other cases.

Vietnam confirmed one more case for a total of six, and Australia counted its ninth infection.

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On Friday, Germany confirmed a sixth case, a child of one of the people already infected. In the United States, health officials issued a two-week quarantine order for the 195 Americans evacuated this week from Wuhan.

It was the first time a federal quarantine has been ordered since the 1960s, when one was enacted over concern about smallpox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

None of the Americans being housed at a Southern California military base has shown signs of illness, but infected people don't show symptoms immediately and may be able to pass on the virus before they appear sick.

Associated Press writers Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi, Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Hau Dinh in Hanoi, Vietnam, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.

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2020-02-01 10:22:27Z
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Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. and Australia Tighten Controls as Toll Passes 250 - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• U.S. and Australia bar foreigners who’ve recently been to China.
• More than 250 people have died, with nearly 12,000 infections confirmed.
• A Chinese doctor who called the virus ‘controllable’ regrets his words.
• A view of the epicenter from a New York Times reporter.
• Apple will close its China stores for a week.
• Chinese truckers bring food to a locked-down city.
• World leaders weigh the cost of China restrictions.

U.S. and Australia bar foreigners who’ve recently been to China.

Travelers at Kennedy International Airport in New York on Friday. The United States will funnel all flights from China to just a few airports, including Kennedy, O’Hare and San Francisco International.Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

The United States and Australia are temporarily denying entry to noncitizens who have recently traveled to China, hoping to limit the spread of the new coronavirus to their countries.

The American restrictions, announced on Friday, exempt immediate family members of American citizens and permanent residents. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia’s temporary ban on Saturday, saying that “Australian citizens, Australian residents, dependents, legal guardians or spouses” would still be allowed into the country.

American officials also said that any United States citizen returning home who has been in the Hubei province of China within the past 14 days — believed to be the virus’s incubation period — will be quarantined for up to 14 days. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, is in Hubei.

Those who have been to other parts of China within the past 14 days will be subject to “proactive entry screening” and up to 14 days of monitoring and self-quarantine.

The United States will also funnel all flights from China to just a few airports, including Kennedy in New York, O’Hare in Chicago and San Francisco International Airport.

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Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the American actions were being taken because there were “a lot of unknowns” surrounding the virus and its transmission path.

“The number of cases have steeply inclined with every day,” Dr. Fauci said.

The announcement came as major air carriers suspended flights between the United States and mainland China. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said direct air service would be halted for months, news that rattled the stock market and industries that depend on the flow of goods and people. Qantas followed suit on Saturday, announcing its own suspension of flights to China.

Vietnam banned all flights coming from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau until May 1, according to the United States Federal Aviation Administration. Only flights that have received approval from Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority will be allowed during the ban, which took effect on Saturday.

More than 250 people have died, with nearly 12,000 infections confirmed.

Chinese officials on Saturday reported the highest death toll so far in a 24-hour period.

◆ The 46 new deaths in China raised the toll to 259.

◆ About 2,100 new cases were also recorded in the country in the past 24 hours, raising the worldwide total to nearly 12,000, according to Chinese and World Health Organization data. The vast majority of the cases are inside China; about 100 cases have been confirmed in 21 other countries.

◆ All of China’s provinces and territories have now been touched by the outbreak.

◆ Countries and territories that have confirmed cases: Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, Malaysia, Macau, Russia, France, the United States, South Korea, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Britain, Vietnam, Italy, India, the Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Finland.

◆ Cases recorded in Thailand, Taiwan, Germany, Vietnam, Japan, France and the United States involved patients who had not been to China.

◆ No deaths have been reported outside China.

◆ China has asked the European Union for help in purchasing urgent medical supplies from its member countries, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

A Chinese doctor who called the virus ‘controllable’ regrets his words.

A prominent respiratory expert who originally told Chinese state media that the coronavirus was under control and preventable has admitted that his choice of words was inappropriate.

Wang Guangfa, head of the department of pulmonary medicine at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing, compared himself and other medical professionals tackling the outbreak to soldiers walking onto a battlefield.

“All the bullets are flying,” said Dr. Wang, in an interview with Jiemian, a finance-focused news site founded by Shanghai United Media Group, which is controlled by the government of Shanghai.

In many ways the doctor, who has been widely criticized for his reassuring early statements, has come to symbolize how slowly China recognized the urgency of the outbreak. Dr. Wang himself contracted the coronavirus, apparently during a visit to Wuhan.

As the virus began to spread through Wuhan in early January, people who spoke out about it online were silenced by censors and, in some cases, held by the police, accused of spreading rumors. When journalists from Hong Kong visited a Wuhan hospital, police officers detained them for hours. (The Hong Kong news media were among the first to shed light on the fast-spreading virus.)

Dr. Wang initially said that the virus could not be spread by human-to-human contact. But 11 days later, he confirmed to state media that he had the virus, and that he may have contracted it during a trip to Wuhan with a group of experts.

In his interview with Jiemian, published on Friday, Dr. Wang said he had misdiagnosed himself as having the common flu, and that he had waited days before checking himself into a hospital. He said he had since recovered and was discharged on Thursday.

Asked why he had originally called the coronavirus “preventable and controllable,” Dr. Wang blamed limited information at the time of his Wuhan visit. A clearer picture of the virus’s transmissibility would have required “epidemiological data, which is difficult to judge,” he said.

“These controversies may have been a kind of misunderstanding,” Dr. Wang said of the criticism he had received. He also defended his original phrasing, saying that many outbreaks of infectious diseases in history were ultimately controlled in the end.

His interview has been widely shared on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform. Some of the most popular comments are from angry users.

“‘Could be prevented and controlled,’ Wang Guangfa,” said one user, who wrote under a pseudonym based on “Gorbachev” in Chinese characters. “Because of this line, the most critical half-month was squandered! And resulted in this.”

A view of the epicenter from a New York Times reporter.

Amy Qin, who covers China from Beijing, on Friday arrived in Wuhan, the city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 250 people so far. Follow Amy as she reports around Wuhan.

Amy arrived in a wary city that has been cut off from the rest of the world for more than a week.

Streets were mostly empty as people avoided contact with one another and stayed fearfully at home. Not everybody could bear to stay inside, however.

All around the city, authorities and businesses have worked to create an air of normalcy.

It’s clear, however, that the city has been strained to its limits by the epidemic.

Apple will close its China stores for a week.

Apple on Saturday said it would close its stores in mainland China, one of its biggest markets, until Feb. 9.

In a statement, the iPhone maker said it was closing stores, corporate offices and contact centers “out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts.” Its online store will remain open, it said.

The company operates 42 stores in mainland China, though its iPhones and other devices are widely available through other retailers.

Apple generates about one-sixth of its sales and one-quarter of its operating income in China. While its results there fell last year, Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, told investors last week that the company’s new iPhone 11 was selling well in the country.

But he also cautioned that the coronavirus outbreak had kept the company from offering more specific guidance about its financial performance in the coming months.

Mr. Cook also said the company was looking for ways to minimize supply disruptions. Apple makes most of its iPhones and other gadgets in China, usually in factories owned by third-party contractors like Foxconn of Taiwan.

Apple is only one of a slew of global companies reconsidering their China operations as the outbreak has spread. A prolonged slowdown or closure in China could have a major impact on global economic growth.

China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, addressed such concerns on Saturday, pledging to make sure the country’s financial system had enough cash to deal with the economic blow. It also said it would lower lending rates for companies. Local regulators in Guangdong Province, as well as in Beijing and the city of Chengdu, have also announced efforts to support companies.

China’s Federation of Radio and Television Associations issued a notice on Saturday urging the suspension of all television and film production in the country, adding that actors, actresses and production crew members had a right to refuse work. “Companies or crews who continue production and lead to the spread of the epidemic will take responsibility for the consequences,” the association said.

Chinese truckers bring food to a locked-down city.

Early on Saturday, a group of truck drivers smoked cigarettes in the soft morning light as they waited to undertake a mission of national urgency: delivering fresh produce to the stricken city of Wuhan.

Broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, chili peppers and more were due to head there by the truckload from Shouguang, an eastern city that is one of China’s biggest vegetable producers.

The coronavirus is testing one of the Chinese government’s proudest achievements: its ability to feed its 1.4 billion people.

As anxious shoppers around the country load up on provisions, many shops and supermarkets have been selling out of fresh food each morning, leaving slim pickings by midday. Towns and villages in many places have also closed off roads to passing traffic, which has caused some truck shipments to take longer than usual.

So far, there have been no signs of a major breakdown in China’s food supplies. The government has ordered vendors to keep prices stable and punished stores that have gouged consumers.

Shouguang is one of several places in China that have donated vegetables to Wuhan in recent days. The Wuhan government has tasked three retailers with selling the goods and delivering the proceeds to the city’s virus-fighting budget.

On Saturday, the 10 or so trucks in Shouguang that were Wuhan-bound had been festooned with red banners that read, “Pull together in times of trouble, go Wuhan!” and “The people are united, fight the epidemic together.”

The journey would take four days in total. After the trip, the truck drivers would be sequestered at home for two weeks, because of the possibility that they’d been exposed to the virus. That might mean thousands of dollars in forgone wages.

Still, several of them said they had leapt at the opportunity to take part.

“I knew about the dangers,” said Ma Chenglong, a 34-year-old driver. “But when the country is in trouble, we common people have a duty.”

World leaders weigh the cost of China restrictions.

As the coronavirus continues to spread through China and globally, world leaders are finding themselves in the tricky position of having to weigh the economic cost of reacting by closing their borders to Chinese travelers.

The outbreak and China’s tightening of its own border are beginning to expose how dependent many nations are on China and the cash its selfie-snapping tourists bring in.

For Australia, which on Saturday joined the United States in temporarily barring foreigners who had recently been to China, China was the single largest source of visitors in 2018, and its tourists spent 12 billion Australian dollars, or about $8 billion, that year.

As some countries took drastic measures, their leaders acknowledged the economic impact of the moves. “It’s going to hurt us,” warned Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore, after announcing that the small island-state would bar all Chinese visitors and foreigners who had traveled to China within the past 14 days.

“China is a very big source of tourists for Singapore,” Mr. Lee told reporters on Friday. Restaurants, travel operators and hotels in Singapore were all “bound to be significantly affected,” he said.

Singaporean companies that rely on China, its biggest trading partners, for growth would also take a hit. “I expect the rest of the economy also to be affected with China in semi-lockdown mode now,” the prime minister said.

The authorities in Mongolia, which is heavily dependent on China’s demand for its coal and copper, closed their country’s border with China until March 2. Towns along the border typically brim with Chinese coal traders heading to Talvan Tolgoi, Mongolia’s biggest mine, and Mongolians traveling to China in pursuit of better-paying jobs.

Other countries and regions stopped short of closing borders entirely. The Hong Kong authorities have halved the number of flights from China, shut rail service to mainland China and limited visas to the semiautonomous region.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, has since received blowback for not taking more drastic measures. Trade unions, including rail and hospital workers, have threatened to strike if the government does not close the city off from the mainland to contain the spread of the virus

Cambodia’s leader, Hun Sen, has been defiant in his decision not to restrict Chinese tourists to his country, saying that doing so would “be an attack on the Cambodian economy.”

He said it would “kill the hospitality and service industry” and “strain relations” with China. Cambodia is home to many Chinese businessmen, and China is the country’s largest benefactor in terms of foreign investment.

“I don’t care what other countries think — Cambodia does not behave this way,” he said.

California health officials cast a wary eye.

A third confirmed case of coronavirus in California was announced on Friday, raising questions about the state’s vulnerability in the outbreak on the same day the federal government imposed a 14-day quarantine for the 195 people who arrived on an evacuation flight from Wuhan, China.

The three confirmed cases were in Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Clara Counties. In all, seven cases had been reported in the United States as of Friday night.

In Los Angeles County, the infected person reported to the authorities that he was feeling unwell as he was traveling back to Wuhan, China, the center of the outbreak. The patients in Orange County and Santa Clara County had also traveled to Wuhan.

Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a recorded video message that the health risk to the general public in California was low. “But we still consider this a serious public health concern,” Dr. Angell said.

The United States government has imposed a federal quarantine on the 195 people who were evacuated on Wednesday from Wuhan, China, to a California military base, officials said on Friday.

The group will be held at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., for 14 days, to ensure that they are not infected with the coronavirus.

Travel constraints could disrupt operations at the United Nations.

Around the world, the growing number of constraints on travelers from China because of the coronavirus outbreak has reverberated to the United Nations, a hub of international diplomacy with operations that involve travel in all 193 member states.

In an advisory issued Friday evening, the organization’s headquarters in New York told staff members and their families that “they may be subjected to travel restrictions and health screening measures implemented by local authorities for travelers entering or exiting the country.”

While United Nations diplomats and other personnel were not banned from traveling, the advisory warned that “it would be prudent to make contingency arrangements should the need arise.” A page on the United Nations website provided staff members with practical steps and advice.

Reporting was contributed by Alexandra Stevenson, Elaine Yu, Amy Qin, Raymond Zhong, Michael Corkery, Annie Karni, Russell Goldman, Thomas Fuller and Carlos Tejada. Wang Yiwei contributed research.

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2020-02-01 09:39:00Z
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