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China accuses U.S. of whipping up panic over virus as stocks tumble

[February 03, 2020] By Kevin Yao and Winni Zhou

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China accused the United States on Monday of whipping up panic over a fast-spreading coronavirus with travel restrictions and evacuations as Chinese stocks plunged on the first day back from the extended Lunar New Year holiday.

The death toll in China from the newly identified virus, which emerged in Wuhan, capital of the central province of Hubei, rose to 361 as of Sunday, up 57 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared the flu-like virus a global emergency and it has since spread to 23 other countries and regions, with the first death outside of China reported on Sunday, that of a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines after travelling from Wuhan.

Wuhan and some other cities remain in virtual lockdown with travel severely restricted, and China is facing increasing international isolation.

China accused the United States of spreading fear by pulling its nationals out and restricting travel instead of offering significant aid. Relations between the two sides had just begun to recover after a long and bruising trade war.

Washington has "unceasingly manufactured and spread panic", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, noting that the WHO had advised against trade and travel curbs.

"It is precisely developed countries like the United States with strong epidemic prevention capabilities and facilities that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions contrary to WHO recommendations," she added, saying countries should make reasonable, calm and science-based judgements.

For a graphic comparing coronavirus outbreaks, see https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS-COMPARISON/0100B5BY3CY/
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'NO REASON' FOR TRAVEL CURBS

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking in Geneva, again said travel bans were unnecessary.

"There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade," he told the WHO's Executive Board. "We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent."

China's delegate said the international community needed to treat the new virus outbreak objectively, fairly and not "deliberately create panic" among the general public.

China would continue to take a "responsible attitude" towards its people's health, rigorously implement control measures and work to halt the spread of the virus, he said.

Chinese stocks closed down almost 8%, the yuan currency had its worst day since August, and Shanghai-traded commodities from oil to copper hit their maximum downward limits. A gauge of global stocks was near seven-week lows.

The wipeout in China came even as the central bank made its biggest cash input into financial markets since 2004 - with an injection of 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations - and despite apparent regulatory moves to curb selling.

Investors had been bracing for volatility when onshore trade in stocks, bonds, yuan and commodities resumed, following a steep global selldown on fears about the impact of the virus on the world's second-biggest economy.

Beijing also said it would help firms that produce vital goods resume work as soon as possible, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

But while stock markets reopened, most provinces have extended the holiday to try to contain the virus, with workers in Hubei not scheduled to return until after Feb. 13.

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Security personnel wearing masks walk along the Financial Street in central Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The number of new confirmed infections in China rose by 2,829, bringing the total to 17,205.

The WHO reported at least 151 confirmed cases have been reported in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

For a graphic tracking China’s novel coronavirus, click: https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html

CHINA OPENS FAST-BUILT HOSPITAL

A 1,000-bed hospital built in just eight days to treat people with the virus in Wuhan will begin to take patients on Monday, state media said. More than 7,500 workers took part in the project, launched on Jan. 25 and finished this weekend.

A second hospital in Wuhan with 1,600 beds is due to be ready on Feb. 5.

While countries have been trying to block the virus with travel bans, they have also been getting stranded citizens out of Wuhan.

The United States, which flew people out last week, is planning "a handful more flights" while Russia is due to start evacuating its citizens from Wuhan on Monday. It has also suspended direct passenger trains link.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, rocked by months of sometimes violent anti-China protests, announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China, leaving just three open. It stopped short of demands for the entire border to be closed.

Australia evacuated 243 people, many of them children, from Wuhan on Monday and will quarantine them on a remote island.

Australia on Saturday followed the United States in barring entry to all foreign nationals travelling from mainland China.

The virus is thought to have emerged late last year in a Wuhan market illegally trading wildlife. It can cause pneumonia and spreads between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes.

The number of deaths in China has now passed the total Chinese toll from the 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), another coronavirus that emerged from China and killed almost 800 people around the world.

Even so, Chinese data suggests the new coronavirus is less deadly than SARS, although such numbers can evolve rapidly.

Chinese authorities meanwhile sacked two officials in Hubei over the death of a cerebral palsy patient whose father and sole caretaker was taken into quarantine.

Yan Cheng, 16, was found dead on Wednesday, a week after his father was taken away.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao, Lusha Zhang and Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Yilei Sun, Leng Cheng, Brenda Goh, Winni Zhou in Shanghai, Martin Pollard in Jiujiang, Roxanne Liu, Pei Li, Gabriel Crossley and Muyu Xu in Beijing, Clare Jim and Noah Sin in Hong Kong, Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru, Maria Kiselyova in Moscow, Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Gayatri Suroyo in Jakarta, Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Writing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Hugh Lawson)

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