|
 The surge of infections outside mainland China triggered steep falls
in Asian shares and Wall Street stock futures as investors fled to
safe havens such as gold. Oil prices tumbled and the Korean won <KRW=>
fell to its lowest since August.
The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) said it no longer
had a process for declaring a pandemic but the coronavirus outbreak
remained an international emergency.
"We are specially concerned about the rapid increase in cases in ...
Iran, Italy and the Republic of Korea," WHO head Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Sweden via video link.
"The number of cases in those countries has increased significantly
in the last two to three days."
South Korea reported 231 new cases taking its total to 833, as its
hard-hit fourth-largest city of Daegu became more isolated with
Asiana Airlines <020560.KS> and Korean Air <003490.KS> suspending
flights there until next month.
Iran, which announced its first two cases on Wednesday, said it had
confirmed 43 cases and eight deaths. Most of the infections were in
the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Qom.
More cases appeared in the Middle East with Bahrain reporting its
first case, the state news agency said, and Kuwait reporting three
cases involving people who had been in Iran.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan imposed
travel and immigration restrictions on Iran. But Afghanistan
reported its first case on Monday, in the western border province of
Herat, again involving someone who had recently been in Iran,
officials said.
The WHO has been saying for weeks it dreads the disease reaching
countries with weak health systems.
Europe's biggest outbreak is in Italy with some 150 infections -
from just three before Friday - and a fourth death.
[Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open
https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.]
'SEVERE AND COMPLEX'
Scientists around the world are scrambling to analyze the virus, but
a vaccine is probably more than a year away.
"Worryingly, it seems that the virus can pass from person-to-person
without symptoms, making it extremely difficult track, regardless of
what health authorities do," said Simon Clarke, an expert in
cellular microbiology at Britain's University of Reading.
China postponed the annual meeting of its parliament and would ban
the illegal trade and consumption of wildlife, state media reported.
The virus originated late last year, apparently in an illegal
wildlife market in the city of Wuhan.
But in good news for China, more than 20 province-level
jurisdictions including Beijing and Shanghai, reported zero
infections, the best showing since the outbreak began.
[to top of second column] |
President Xi Jinping urged businesses to get back to work though he said the
epidemic was still "severe and complex, and prevention and control work is in
the most difficult and critical stage".
Excluding central Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, mainland China
reported 11 new cases, the lowest since the national health authority started
publishing nationwide figures on Jan. 20.
In the Hubei capital of Wuhan, where its 11 million people have been under
virtual lockdown for weeks, officials even said healthy people would be allowed
to leave the city for crucial operations, but authorities later revoked the
decision.
The coronavirus has infected nearly 77,000 people and killed more than 2,500 in
China, most in Hubei.
China reported 409 new cases on the mainland, down from 648 a day earlier,
taking the total number of infections to 77,150 cases as of Feb. 23. The death
toll rose by 150 to 2,592.
Xi said on Sunday the outbreak would have a relatively big, but short-term
impact on the economy and the government would step up policy adjustments to
help cushion the blow.
TOWNS SEALED
Outside mainland China, the outbreak has spread to about 29 countries and
territories, with a death toll of about two dozen, according to a Reuters tally.
Italy sealed off the worst-affected towns and banned public gatherings in much
of the north, including halting the carnival in Venice, where there were two
cases.
Austria briefly suspended train services over the Alps from Italy after two
travelers coming from Italy showed symptoms of fever.
The two tested negative for the coronavirus but Austrian Interior Minister Karl
Nehammer said a task force would meet on Monday to discuss whether to introduce
border controls with Italy.
In South Korea, authorities reported a seventh death and dozens more cases on
Monday. Of the new cases, 115 were linked to a church in the city of Daegu.
Japan had 773 cases as of late Sunday, mostly on a cruise ship quarantined near
Tokyo. A third passenger, a Japanese man in his 80s, died on Sunday.
(GRAPHIC: Tracking the novel coronavirus - https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html)
(Reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Additional
reporting by Judy Hua, Huizhong Wu, Yawen Chen, Lusha Zhang and David Kirton in
Beijing, Engen Tham in Shangai, Joyce Lee and Cynthia Kim in Seoul, Tom
Westbrook in Singapore, Kate Kelland in London, Simon Johnson in Stockholm;
Writing by Stephen Coates and Robert Birsel; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Simon
Cameron-Moore)
[© 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. |
