|
 China's National Health Commission said another 65 people had died
as of Tuesday, a new daily record, taking the toll on the mainland
to 490, most in and around the locked-down central city of Wuhan,
where the virus emerged late last year.
There have been two deaths outside mainland China, both following
visits to Wuhan. A man in the Philippines died last week, and a
39-year-old man with underlying illness died in Chinese-ruled Hong
Kong on Tuesday.
The virus had disrupted air travel with more than two dozen airlines
suspending or restricting flights to China and several countries,
including the United States, banning the entry of anyone who has
been in China over the previous two weeks.
Taiwan banned the entry of mainland residents from Thursday.
The disruption spread to cruise ships this week, with about 3,700
people facing at least two weeks locked away on a liner anchored off
Japan after health officials confirmed that 10 people aboard had
tested positive for the virus.
Passengers on the Diamond Princess posted pictures online of
officials in masks and gowns conducting health checks and an empty
deck.
"This is not a good situation," British passenger David Abel said in
a video shot in his cabin and posted to Facebook.
In Hong Kong, 3,600 passengers and crew were confined to their ship
docked in the city for tests after three people on board had tested
positive earlier.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways <0293.HK> asked its 27,000
employees to take three weeks of unpaid leave, saying conditions
were as grave now as during the 2009 financial crisis.
American Airlines Group <AAL.O> and United Airlines <UAL.O> said
they would suspend flights to and from Hong Kong after this week, a
step that would leave no U.S. carriers flying passengers to the
Asian financial hub.
Nearly $700 billion was wiped off mainland Chinese stocks on Monday
with many factories shut, cities cut off and travel links
constricted, fuelling worries about global supply chains. Asian
stocks steadied on Wednesday.
Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> will suspend production in South Korea
because the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the supply of parts,
it said, becoming the first major carmaker to do so outside of
China.
Global carmakers have already extended factory closures in China in
line with government guidelines. These include Hyundai, Tesla <TSLA.O>,
Ford <F.N>, PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA>, Nissan <7201.T> and Honda
Motor <7267.T.>
IMPACT ON TRADE DEAL
Taiwan's Foxconn <2317.TW>, which makes phones for global vendors
including Apple <AAPL.O>, aims to gradually restart factories in
China next week but could take at least a week or two more to resume
full production, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the epidemic would
delay a surge in U.S. exports to China expected from a Phase 1 trade
deal set to take effect this month.
[to top of second column] |
Japan's central bank was ready to ramp up stimulus measures for the
world's third-biggest economy, Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe
said, citing uncertainty over the impact of the virus among its
woes.
Evidence of human-to-human spread outside China surfaced after an
international business gathering in Singapore in January was linked
to virus cases reported in Malaysia and South Korea, but authorities
did not comment on its nature or the industry involved.
Singapore - one of the worst hit countries outside China in the 2003
outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) - has reported
24 cases of the new coronavirus, including some domestic
transmissions.
Across mainland China, there were 3,887 new confirmed infections of
the coronavirus, making a total of 24,324. Nearly 230 cases have
been reported in some 27 countries and regions outside mainland
China, a Reuters tally based on official statements shows.
Macau, a gambling hub and like Hong Kong, a special administrative
region of China, ordered casinos to suspend operations on Tuesday,
effectively halting the lifeblood of its economy in a drastic bid to
contain the epidemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus
a global emergency, but experts say its mortality rate and
transmission routes are unknown. Pregnant women may be able to pass
it to their unborn child, doctors at the Wuhan Children Hospital
said on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Asked about various media reports of "drug breakthroughs", WHO
spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said: "There are no known effective
therapeutics against this 2019-nCoV... A master global clinical
trial protocol for research and prioritization of therapeutics is
ongoing at the WHO."
Beijing has criticized as an overreaction U.S. travel curbs that bar
foreign nationals who have visited China, and urged Washington to do
more to help.
"We have the ability and confidence to finally win this war of
containment," China's state councillor Wang Yi told Thailand's
foreign minister in a telephone call on Tuesday, according to
China's foreign ministry.
A Thai taxi-driver who recovered from the infection told a news
conference in Bangkok of his shock on catching it.
"I cried because I have to take care of my family," said the man,
who wore a mask to hide his identity, as he left hospital.
He said he had a message of support for Wuhan.
"If I can beat it, so can you."
(Reporting by Lusha Zhang, Ryan Woo, Roxanne Liu and Se Young Lee in
Beijing, Yilei Sun and Winni Zhou in Shanghai, Tom Westbrook in
Singapore, Jamie Freed in Sydney, Matthew Tostevin in Bangkok,
Chang-Ran Kim, Chris Gallagher, Linda Sieg and Ju-min Park in Tokyo,
Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Hong Kong and Taipei newsrooms, David
Lawder, Andrea Shalal, Susan Heavey and Makini Brice in Washington;
Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Nick
Macfie)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
