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 Global stocks fell, oil prices hit three-month lows, and China's
yuan dipped to its weakest level in 2020 as investors fretted about
damage to the world's second-biggest economy from travel bans and
the Lunar New Year holiday, which China extended in a bid to keep
people at home.
The health commission of China's Hubei province said on Tuesday that
100 people had died from the virus as of Jan. 27, according to an
online statement, up from the previous toll of 76, with the number
of confirmed cases in the province rose to 2,714.
Other fatalities have been reported elsewhere in China, including
the first in Beijing, bringing the deal toll to 106 so far,
according to the People's Daily. The state newspaper put the total
number of confirmed cases in China at 4,193, though some experts
suspect a much higher number.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump offered China whatever help
it needed, while the State Department said Americans should
"reconsider" visiting all of China due to the virus.
Canada, which has two confirmed cases of the virus and is
investigating 19 more potential cases, warned its citizens to avoid
travel to China's Hubei province, at the heart of the outbreak.
Authorities in Hubei province are taking increasing flak from the
public over their initial response to the virus. Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan, epicenter of the outbreak, to
encourage medical workers and promise reinforcements.
Visiting Wuhan in blue protective suit and mask, Li praised medics,
said 2,500 more workers would join them in the next two days, and
visited the site of a new hospital to be built in days.
The most senior leader to visit Wuhan since the outbreak, Li was
shown on state TV leading medical workers in chants of "Wuhan jiayou!"
- an exhortation to keep their strength up.
China's ambassador to the United Nations, following a meeting with
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday, said "the Chinese
government attaches paramount importance to prevention and control
of the epidemic, and President Xi Jinping has given important
instructions. ...
"China has been working with the international community in the
spirit of openness, transparency and scientific coordination," he
said.
Guterres said in a statement, "The UN appreciates China's effort,
has full confidence in China's ability of controlling the outbreak,
and stands ready to provide any support and assistance."
MOUNTING ANGER
On China's heavily censored social media, officials have faced
mounting anger over the virus, which is thought to have originated
from a market where wildlife was sold illegally.
Some criticized the governor of Hubei province, of which Wuhan is
the capital, after he corrected himself twice during a news
conference over the number of face masks being produced.
"If he can mess up the data multiple times, no wonder the disease
has spread so severely," said one user of the Weibo social media
platform.
In rare public self-criticism, Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang said the
city's management of the crisis was "not good enough" and indicated
he was willing to resign.
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The central Chinese city of 11 million people is in virtual lockdown
and much of Hubei, home to nearly 60 million people, is under travel
curbs.
Elsewhere in China, people from the region faced questioning about
their movements. "Hubei people are getting discriminated against," a
Wuhan resident complained on Weibo.
Cases linked to people who traveled from Wuhan have been confirmed
in a dozen countries, from Japan to the United States, where
authorities said they had 110 people under investigation in 26
states. Sri Lanka was the latest to confirm a case.
INVESTORS WORRIED
Investors are worried about the impact. The consensus is that in the
short term, economic output will be hit as authorities limit travel
and extend the week-long New Year holiday - when millions
traditionally travel by rail, road and plane - by three days to
limit spread of the virus.
Asian and European shares tumbled, with Japan's Nikkei average
sliding 2%, its biggest one-day fall in five months. Demand spiked
for safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen and Treasury notes.
European stocks fell more than 2%.
The U.S. S&P 500 closed down nearly 1.6%.
"China is the biggest driver of global growth so this couldn't have
started in a worse place," said Alec Young, FTSE Russell's managing
director of global markets research.
During the 2002-2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),
which originated in China and killed nearly 800 people globally, air
passenger demand in Asia plunged 45%. The travel industry is more
reliant on Chinese travelers now.
Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, which has had eight cases, banned entry to
people who had visited Hubei recently.
Some European tour operators canceled trips to China, while
governments around the world worked on repatriating nationals.
Officially known as 2019-nCoV, the newly identified coronavirus can
cause pneumonia, but it is still too early to know just how
dangerous it is and how easily it spreads.
"What we know about this virus it that transmission occurs through
human contact but we are speaking of close contact, i.e. less than a
meter," said Jerome Salomon, a senior official with France's health
ministry.
"Crossing someone (infected) in the street poses no threat," he
said. "The risk is low when you spend a little time near that person
and becomes higher when you spend a lot of time near that person."
(Reporting by Winni Zhou, Sun Yilei, Cheng Leng and Josh Horwitz in
Shanghai; Cate Cadell, Gabriel Crossley and Yawen Chen in Beijing;
Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations,
Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo, Lidia Kelly in Sydney, Stephanie Nebehay in
Geneva, Kate Kelland in London, Ben Blanchard in Tapei, Waruna
Karunatilake in Colombo, Matthias Blamont in Paris; Writing by Tony
Munroe, Nick Macfie, Andrew Cawthorne, Lisa Shumaker and Leslie
Adler; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Stephen Coates)
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