China virus puts cruise ships in quarantine, hits carmakers, airlines
and Airbus
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[February 05, 2020]
By Se Young Lee and Winni Zhou
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Thousands of
passengers and crew on two cruise ships in Asian waters were placed in
quarantine for China's coronavirus on Wednesday as airlines, car
manufacturers and other global companies counted the cost of the
fast-spreading outbreak.
China said another 65 people had died as of Tuesday, the highest daily
total yet, taking the overall 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 an 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.
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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
of a disruption to 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
Planemaker Airbus <AIR.PA> has prolonged a planned closure of its final
assembly plant in Tianjin, China, it said.
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.
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![](../images/020520pics/news_q31.jpg)
People are transferred from cruise ship Diamond Princess to a patrol
ship, after ten people onboard the cruise have tested positive for
coronavirus, in Yokohama, Japan in this picture taken by Kyodo
February 5, 2020. Kyodo/via REUTERS
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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.
Japan's central bank was ready to ramp up stimulus measures for the
world's third-biggest economy, citing uncertainty over the virus.
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.
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.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus
a global emergency, but experts say its mortality and transmission
rates are unknown. Pregnant women may be able to pass it to their
unborn children, according to Chinese 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."
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Russia said it would take between eight and 10 months to develop a
vaccine, the Interfax news agency reported. Scores of Russians began
two weeks of quarantine in Siberia on Wednesday after being flown
home from Wuhan.
Beijing has criticized as an overreaction U.S. travel curbs that bar
foreign nationals who have visited China.
"We have the ability and confidence to finally win this war of
containment," China's state councillor Wang Yi told Thailand's
foreign minister.
A Thai taxi-driver who recovered from the infection told reporters
in Bangkok of his shock at catching it and 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, Gleb Stolyarov, Anton Kolodyazhnyy and
Katya Golubkova in Moscow, Hong Kong and Taipei newsrooms, David
Lawder, Andrea Shalal, Susan Heavey and Makini Brice in Washington;
Writing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez and Alex Richardson)
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