Athit Perawongmetha
Reuters
A man wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, stands in front of a screen showing the Nikkei index outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Wednesday.
European financial markets fell Wednesday, and U.S. futures tilted lower, as the economic costs of the coronavirus spooked investors, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average slumped to its largest two-day percentage decline in two years.
London’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.7 percent, while the benchmark Stoxx 600 index of European stocks shed 1.2 percent and U.S. crude-oil prices slid below $49.50 a barrel. Earlier, losses in Asia were milder, with Tokyo ending the day down 0.8 percent and Hong Kong closing 0.7 percent lower.
While economic alarms flashed, there was little sign that the epidemic was relenting after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of the “inevitable” spread in the United States of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, which has been designated as SARS-CoV-2.
France reported the first death of a French citizen from the epidemic as cases spread rapidly across Europe, with Spain confirming eight new cases in the past 24 hours and new infections reported in France, Croatia, Austria and Switzerland. Although China announced a decline in new confirmed cases on Wednesday, the number of infected people soared in South Korea to more than 1,200, with more expected in the coming days as the state attempts to test 200,000 people.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/health-science/the-coronavirus-and-other-outbreaks-are-hard-to-contain-heres-why/2020/02/06/8c69ef04-cbfd-4251-9323-a12e167ad082_video.html
Here are the latest developments:
● France reported the first coronavirus death of a French citizen amid a dramatic uptick in cases within Europe. Most new cases are connected to an outbreak in northern Italy, still the largest on the continent.
● Stocks fell in Europe, although indexes recovered some earlier losses. Asian markets registered modest drops. A day earlier, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 879 points, worrying the Trump administration.
● Statistics released by the Chinese government showed a decline in the number of new cases in mainland China; an additional 406 cases were reported Wednesday morning, along with 52 deaths. All but five of the new cases and all of the new deaths were in Hubei province.
● South Korea reported 284 additional cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, raising the national tally to 1,261. That number is expected to rise in coming days as the country begins the mass testing of more than 200,000 members of a messianic religious movement at the center of an outbreak in the city of Daegu.
6:55 AM: Britain to begin random coronavirus tests
LONDON — Britain will begin random testing of patients with flu-like symptoms as part of its latest measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, health officials announced Wednesday.
The ratcheting up of testing comes as the number of cases on the European continent has risen sharply in recent days. On Wednesday morning, France reported a death from the virus.
In England, random testing for the virus will take place at 11 hospitals and 100 general medical offices. Paul Cosford, Public Health England’s medical director, told the BBC on Wednesday that people who have similar symptoms to those caused by the coronavirus — a cough, shortness of breath, a fever — will be tested at random, even if they have not been to a “country of concern.”
“That’s to check whether we have any transmission that we are not aware of,” he said.
Andy Rain
EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Ambulances wait outside a National Health Service hospital in London, on Feb 10, 2020.
“This testing will tell us whether there’s evidence of infection more widespread than we think there is. We don’t think there is at the moment,” Cosford said. He added: “The other thing it will do is, if we do get to the position of more widespread infection across the country, then it will give us early warning that that’s happening.”
So far in Britain, 13 people have been infected with the virus.
On Tuesday, British government officials urged travelers who have flu-like symptoms returning from northern Italy to self-isolate. At least six schools in England have closed amid concerns that pupils could be infected following ski trips to Italy.
By: Karla Adam
6:27 AM: Japan’s Hokkaido urges some schools to close, announces first coronavirus death
TOKYO — The government of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido urged some schools Wednesday to temporarily close their doors, as it battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
It was the first prefecture-wide order to close schools in Japan since the epidemic began.
Shortly afterward, the prefectural government announced the first death from covid-19 on the island, saying that an elderly person who died on Tuesday was subsequently confirmed as having the virus.
Three more people on the island were also found to have the virus, bringing the total to 39 people in Hokkaido, including students, a teacher, a school bus driver and a child day care worker, Kyodo News reported.
The prefecture’s education board urged all 1,600 public elementary and junior high schools to close until March 4, but it exempted high schools since students are deemed old enough to decide for themselves if precautions are needed.
By: Simon Denyer
6:00 AM: Japan dismisses IOC member’s talk of canceling Olympics as unofficial, personal view
TOKYO — Japan dismissed comments from a senior member of the International Olympic Committee suggesting that the Tokyo Olympics might have to be canceled if the coronavirus epidemic still poses a threat in late May.
Dick Pound told the Associated Press that a decision would have to be made by late May and that a cancellation was more likely than a postponement or a decision to move the Games if the virus is not under “sufficient control.”
But Pound also stressed that athletes should continue to prepare for the Games, explaining that “all indications” were that they would still go ahead.
Athit Perawongmetha
Reuters
A man wearing a protective face mask stands in front of the Tokyo Olympic flag 1964 at the Olympics museum in Tokyo, Feb. 26, 2020.
Japan’s Olympics minister, Seiko Hashimoto, told parliament that organizers of Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Games had sought an explanation from the IOC about the comments and were told that Pound’s remarks did not represent an official view.
“All we’ll be doing is to prepare to host the Games with ease of mind and to satisfy the IOC,” said Hashimoto, a former Olympic speed skating medalist, according to Kyodo News.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike called Pound’s comments “personal views.”
“I have emails from IOC members in charge of the Tokyo Games telling me to work hard in preparing for the event,” she told reporters, according to Kyodo. “The metropolitan government will pursue measures against the virus.”
By: Simon Denyer
5:18 AM: Iran confirms 19th death, official tells state television
Nineteen people have died in Iran from the novel coronavirus outbreak, Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state television on Wednesday.
Iran has the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus outbreak outside China. Jahanpur said the number of confirmed cases in the country now stands at 139.
Atta Kenare
AFP/Getty Images
Tehran Municipality workers clean a metro train to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.
Jahanpur said Iranians should cancel nonessential travel and urged people to avoid Gilan and Qom, areas of the country with lots of confirmed coronavirus cases.
The large number of novel coronavirus infections in Iran has stretched the country’s health system, already under pressure from international isolation caused by punishing U.S. sanctions.
Speaking on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country would bring the outbreak under control within weeks.
Rouhani emphasized that more common illnesses such as influenza kill people every year, adding that deaths from the coronavirus “are no more than influenza.”
“The point I want to emphasize is that [the] coronavirus should not become a weapon at the hand of our enemies,” Rouhani told a cabinet session, according to a transcript on his website.
By: Adam Taylor
4:50 AM: France confirms three new coronavirus cases, one death
PARIS — The French Health Ministry confirmed three new cases of coronavirus in France on Wednesday, one of which led to the death of the first French citizen in the outbreak.
That patient, a 60-year-old man, died at a Paris hospital overnight. The other two new cases involved a 55-year-old man hospitalized in the northern French city of Amiens and a 36-year-old man hospitalized in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, said Jérôme Salomon, France’s director general of health.
The Strasbourg patient had recently returned from Lombardy in northern Italy, the center of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak, Salomon said. The Amiens patient was in critical condition and was placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit, he said.
These three new cases were the latest in a rapid spike of new coronavirus infections across Europe.
French Health Minister Olivier Véran is expected to announce further details Wednesday evening.
By: James McAuley
4:38 AM: Coronavirus cases rapidly spread across Europe
PARIS — Spain has confirmed eight new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours since a hotel in Tenerife was placed on lockdown after an Italian guest tested positive for the virus. Two of the new cases were confirmed in Madrid and one in Barcelona.
The numbers represented a dramatic uptick, with most new cases connected to an outbreak in northern Italy, still the largest in Europe.
Other European countries also reported new infections related to the Italian outbreak: France, Croatia, Austria and Switzerland all reported new cases late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
As in Tenerife, Austrian authorities placed a hotel in the Alpine city of Innsbruck under lockdown when a receptionist — an Italian who had recently visited Lombardy, one of the affected regions — tested positive for the virus.
The virus’s rapid European spread — and the mystery behind its arrival in Italy — have triggered anxieties across the continent. Government ministers have urged passengers not to pursue nonessential travel to affected regions, and other politicians have called for border closures.
“There is no prohibition,” said Spain’s health minister, Salvador Illa, according to El Pais. “But unless it is essential, do not go to a risk zone. It’s common sense.”
By: James McAuley
3:49 AM: Bahrain confirms 26 cases of coronavirus
BEIRUT — Bahrain said Wednesday the number of coronavirus infections in the tiny island nation has risen to 26 after three more cases were detected among people who had recently returned from Iran, according to the state news agency.
Bahrain now has the highest number of infections in the Middle East outside Iran, which is emerging as a new focal point of the virus. Cases linked to Iran have been detected in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman and Kuwait, which reported two new infections on Wednesday, bringing the total to 11.
Bahrain on Tuesday ordered all schools to close for two weeks, and airlines across the region have begun suspending flights to and from Iran, as well as to hubs that connect with Iran.
By: Liz Sly
3:34 AM: South Korea adds 115 more cases, bringing total to 1,261
SEOUL — South Korea confirmed 115 more cases of the novel coronavirus late Wednesday local time, as the U.S. military reported its first infection in a service member stationed in the Asian country.
The latest jump brought the number of confirmed the cases of the day to 284, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). More than half of South Korea’s 1,261 coronavirus cases are in southern city of Daegu.
The U.S. military command in South Korea, known as U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), said a 23-year-old soldier stationed at Camp Carroll near Daegu tested positive for the virus. The patient is in self-quarantine at his off-base residence, according to the military.
“KCDC and USFK health professionals are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether any others may have been exposed,” the military said in a statement.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said Tuesday that planned joint military exercises with South Korea could be scaled back because of concerns about the virus.
South Korea also reported its 12th death from the virus, a 73-year-old man. Additionally, it announced that a Mongolian man in his 30s who had the novel coronavirus died in Gyeonggi province near Seoul.
Except for the Mongolian man’s case, all of South Korea’s 12 fatalities occurred in Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang province.
The South Korean government has designated Daegu and North Gyeongsaang as “special care zones” where support will be concentrated.
By: Min Joo Kim
3:23 AM: Philippines imposes travel restrictions on South Korea
MANILA — As the number of cases of the novel coronavirus continues to grow in South Korea, Asian countries are responding with travel bans.
Kim Hyun-Tae
AP
A man wearing a face mask passes by empty ticket counters at the Daegu Airport in South Korea on Monday.
The Philippines on Wednesday announced an immediate ban on entry for travelers from North Gyeongsang province, where the coronavirus-hit city of Daegu is located, and said officials would consider widening the ban to other parts of South Korea.
Filipinos who are permanent residents, students and overseas workers are authorized to travel, provided they sign a declaration that they are aware of the risks.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters that officials expect tourism to take a hit due to the ban, but “the safety and security of Filipinos here and outside the Philippines remain our primary concern.” South Korea is one of the Philippines’ top sources of tourists, with more than 1.6 million visitors from the country in 2018.
The move comes as other countries impose restrictions on visitors from South Korea, which has the second-highest national tally of coronavirus cases after China.
Japan announced Wednesday that it would bar visitors who had traveled to the Daegu or Cheongdo, another afflicted city, in the past two weeks. Vietnam and Singapore have also imposed similar restrictions. In addition, Mongolia said it was suspending flights from Japan.
By: Regine Cabato
2:49 AM: Beijing asks banks to disinfect cash, keep notes stored for at least a week
BEIJING — Beijing is asking all banks in the region to disinfect paper cash and keep the notes in a dry place for at least seven days before putting them in circulation.
The request was made by Beijing’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau on Wednesday as it issued guidelines for controlling the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The bureau also asked financial institutions to intensify disinfection at counters and public facilities in all customer-facing banking and insurance establishments.
After cash is withdrawn from circulation, financial stitutions are required to disinfect the bills using ultraviolet light and keep them in a dry environment for at least a week.
Money returned from hospitals will be stored separately after disinfection, the bureau said.
Banks in other regions of China have installed similar measures in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. On Monday, China Construction Bank in the southeastern province of Fujian announced it had disinfected bank notes worth 6.9 billion yuan — roughly $980 million — between Jan. 28 and Feb. 23.
By: Wang Yuan
2:20 AM: Japan’s Abe wants to cancel major sporting, cultural events over crucial two-week period
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recommended on Wednesday that major sporting and cultural events in the country taking place over the next two weeks should be postponed or canceled to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Issei Kato
Reuters
A view of Japan’s new National Stadium, the main arena for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, on Dec. 15, 2019.
Abe’s government believes the next two weeks is a critical time for Japan as it seeks to limit the spread of the virus, reduce mortality rates and save the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Already Japan’s J-League soccer has postponed all matches until March 15, while the Yomiuri Giants announced they would play two preseason baseball games this weekend behind closed doors. Japan’s Rugby Football Union announced on Wednesday it would postpone two rounds of games due to have taken place over the next two weekends.
Concerts from Japanese boy bands NEWS and SixTONES as well as American rockers the Pixies have also been canceled in recent days.
Japan has announced 171 cases of coronavirus, including 14 of its citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, but not including more than 700 people who contracted the virus on board the cruise ship the Diamond Princess.
By: Simon Denyer
1:48 AM: Chinese Internet users now worry about their neighbors in South Korea and Japan
BEIJING — After a surge in coronavirus cases in South Korea and Japan, the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian on Wednesday announced a 14-day quarantine on all arrivals.
The move, which came a day after nearby Qingdao and Weihai imposed similar measures, shows how many in China are now less worried about the domestic spread of the novel coronavirus and more worried about it coming from abroad. Chinese social media users had appealed on local governments to protect China’s northeastern regions, which are home to a substantial number of Korean and Japanese expatriates and businesses.
Ahn Young-Joon
AP
Workers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus at a bus garage in Seoul on Wednesday.
“Please put those who return from overseas under centralized quarantine and keep our current promising situation,” wrote one user on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social network.
Another user also subscribed to the government resolution: “We cannot lose hold of our port of entry now, and we have to be restrict with the 14-day quarantine!”
Topics about South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak were among the most searched on Weibo on Wednesday, with many users expressing shock and concern for their neighbors.
“It wouldn’t be like this if only they copied our earlier method,” wrote one user who noted that South Korea’s numbers were growing too fast. South Korea, a democracy, has declined to mimic China’s approach of placing entire cities or regions under forced lockdown.
Chinese Internet users also discussed whether the Tokyo Olympics, due to be held this summer, would go ahead. “This is unfair to athletes,” one user complained.
Despite the large number of cases of novel coronavirus across China, outside of Hubei province many provinces have not announced new cases in several days. Confirmed cases in South Korea have surged passed 1,000 this week, while Japan has had 171 confirmed cases, not including the hundreds who eventually tested positive on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
By: Wang Yuan
1:26 AM: Over 400 Filipinos who had been on board Diamond Princess repatriated by government
MANILA — Over 400 Filipinos who were on board the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship arrived in the Philippines by Wednesday morning in government repatriation operations.
A total of 445 people were brought back on two flights, escorted by a four-member repatriation team and a nine-member health response team. Everyone will undergo two weeks of quarantine at the Athletes’ Village — a former Southeast Asian Games housing facility — in New Clark City, north of Manila.
Eighty out of 538 Filipinos on the Diamond Princess tested positive for the coronavirus. There are at least 70 who are still being treated in hospitals in Japan.
This is the second batch of repatriates since the Philippines brought home returnees from Wuhan, China.
By: Regine Cabato
1:16 AM: 13 Chinese provinces have lowered emergency response level
BEIJING — As of Wednesday, 13 Chinese provinces have lowered their emergency response level as they assess that the threat posed by the novel coronavirus has receded, according to the state-run People’s Daily.
China has a four-tier public health emergency alert levels, with level one the most serious.
All 31 provincial-level regions in China activated a first-level emergency response to contain the spread of the virus by Jan. 29.
Shanxi, Guangdong, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Anhui have adjusted their measures from level one to level two, while Gansu, Liaoning, Guizhou, Yunnan, Qinghai, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia have dropped theirs to level three.
The moves come as Beijing has tried to compel people in areas unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak to return to normal economic activity, hoping to avoid a prolonged downtown as the crisis drags on.
Though China continues to report hundreds of new coronavirus cases every day, almost all of these cases are in the epicenter of the outbreak, Hubei province, where strict quarantine requirements have been in place since Jan. 23.
By: Liu Yang
12:56 AM: Asian markets extend losses amid coronavirus fears
HONG KONG — Asian markets extended losses Wednesday, though the declines were modest compared with those on U.S. markets on Tuesday, when the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 879 points.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down about 1 percent in midafternoon trade, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.8 percent lower. Crude oil and U.S. stock futures were slightly higher.
The Chinese government announced a series of stimulus measures on Tuesday, encouraging financial institutions to defer loan payments and increase lending for small and medium sized businesses.
Hong Kong also announced its own stimulus package on Wednesday, including a payment of over $1,200 to all adult permanent residents.
By: Adam Taylor
12:30 AM: Number of South Korea coronavirus cases expected to jump as mass testing of more than 200,000 begins
SEOUL — The number of South Korean coronavirus cases is widely expected to jump in coming days, as the country begins the mass testing of more than 200,000 members of a messianic religious movement at the center of an outbreak in the city of Daegu.
South Korea reported 169 additional cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing up the national tally to 1,146.
Of latest cases, 134 are in southern city of Daegu, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
Kim Hong-Ji
Reuters
A woman walks through a market in Seoul on Wednesday as disinfection workers sanitize the area.
More than half of South Korea’s covid-19 cases have been traced to a regional branch of the secretive Shincheonji Church of Jesus, formally known as the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.
Shincheonji members believe leader Lee Man-hee is the second coming of Jesus. The church is widely considered a cult and some members have been accused of hiding from health workers.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the virus-hit city with aides on Tuesday. After one of attendees at a Daegu meeting with Moon tested positive for the virus, presidential aides and reporters who attended the meeting have been advised to quarantine themselves, according to South Korea’s state-funded Yonhap News Agency. A spokesman for the President said he could not confirm the media report.
South Korea’s military said 18 soldiers have been diagnosed with the virus as of Wednesday. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told soldiers not to leave their barracks other than for exceptional situations.
By: Min Joo Kim in Seoul and Adam Taylor in Hong Kong
12:20 AM: Hong Kong offers $1,280 handouts to residents to stimulate struggling economy
HONG KONG — In a bid to stem the financial damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak, Hong Kong’s government has announced a number of measures to aid individuals and firms.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed the measures in a speech on Wednesday, announcing that each adult permanent resident in the city would receive a handout of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, about $1,280.
Other measures included a full guarantee on loans of up to 2 million Hong Kong dollars — more than $250,000 — for small and medium-sized businesses, and government support for commercial utility payments.
Roy Liu
Bloomberg
People protested outside Hong Kong’s legislature on Wednesday ahead of the city’s announcement of economic relief measures.
Chan warned that the financial outlook for Hong Kong, already rough after the U.S.-China trade war and a police clampdown on pro-democracy protests last year, would be tough in 2020. Hong Kong’s economy contracted by 1.2 percent last year, the first annual decline since 2009, figures showed Wednesday.
“Hong Kong has been intensely affected by the profound changes in the international political and economic landscape,” Chan said. “Meanwhile, we had an extraordinary year with the occurrence of local social incidents.”
Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, is facing historically low popularity ratings over perceptions that she prioritizes the needs of Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party over those of residents. Authorities are likely hoping that the budget relief package will help quell the deep dissatisfaction and stave off further protests against the government.
“I believe that given the extraordinary challenges that our community is facing, this is a justifiable and effective measure,” Lam said. “For some people, the cash payout will help to make ends meet in their hour of need.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Hong Kong reached 85 on Tuesday, with two known deaths from the outbreak.
By: Adam Taylor and Shibani Mahtani
12:00 AM: China announces 406 new cases, 52 new deaths
HONG KONG — The Chinese government announced 406 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday morning, along with 52 deaths. As in line with a recent trend, all but five of the new cases were in Hubei province, the epicenter of the current outbreak; all of the deaths were in Hubei.
The numbers marked another dip in new cases, though health experts have cautioned against reading too much into the declining numbers, noting both the unpredictability of new outbreaks like this and the Chinese state’s opacity.
The new numbers mean that mainland China has seen a total of 78,064 infections and 2,715 deaths.
By: Adam Taylor
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2020-02-26 12:38:41Z
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