Coronavirus infects 100,000-plus worldwide, 21 cases found on ship off
San Francisco
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[March 07, 2020]
By Lawrence White and Dan Whitcomb
LONDON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Twenty-one
people aboard a cruise ship that was barred from docking in San
Francisco have tested positive for coronavirus, U.S. officials said on
Friday, adding to the more than 100,000 cases of the fast-spreading
illness across the world.
Vice President Mike Pence, recently appointed as the U.S. government's
point man on the outbreak, said the cruise ship Grand Princess will be
brought to an unspecified non-commercial port where all 2,400 some
passengers and 1,100 crew members will now be tested.
"Those that need to be quarantined, will be quarantined. Those that
require additional medical attention will receive it," Pence told
reporters at the White House.
The outbreak has killed more than 3,400 people and spread across more
than 90 nations, with seven countries reporting their first cases on
Friday. The economic damage has also intensified, with business
districts starting to empty and stock markets continuing to tumble.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed a bill to provide $8.3 billion
to bolster the capacity to test for coronavirus and fund other measures
in the United States. Cases have now been reported in more than half of
the 50 U.S. states. Fifteen people have died in the country.
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In many affected countries, people were being asked to stay home from
work, schools were closed, large gatherings and sports and music events
were canceled, stores were cleared of staples like toiletries and water,
and face masks became a common sight.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said every country should make
containing the epidemic its top priority, pointing to Iran's national
action plan to combat one of the worst outbreaks after a slow start.
Iran's death toll from the virus jumped to 124, as more than 1,000 new
cases were diagnosed over 24 hours.
The Vatican reported its first case, a patient in its health services,
worsening the prospects of the virus having already spread further in
the Italian capital, since most employees in the walled city-state live
in Rome, and those who live in the Vatican frequently go in and out to
the city that surrounds it.
Italy is the worst-hit European country, with a death toll as of Friday
of 197.
South Korea on Saturday reported 174 additional cases from late Friday,
taking the national tally to 6,767. Mainland China, where the outbreak
started, reported 99 new confirmed cases but about a quarter of them
came from outside the country, data showed.
About 3.4% of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the
virus, have died, far above seasonal flu's fatality rate of under 1%,
the WHO said this week.
SUPPLY CHAINS BROKEN
Moves by some major economies, including the United States, to cut
interest rates and pledge funds to fight the epidemic have done little
to allay fears about the spread of the disease and the economic fallout.
Supply chains have been crippled around the world.
"There's concern that while there has been a response from the Fed,
given the nature of the problem, is this something the central bank can
really help with?" said John Davies, G10 rates strategist at Standard
Chartered Bank in London.
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![](../images/030720pics/news_L21.jpg)
An ambulance drives away with a resident at the Life Care Center of
Kirkland, a long-term care facility linked to several confirmed
coronavirus cases, in Kirkland, Washington, U.S. March 6, 2020.
REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson
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In New York, JPMorgan <JPM.N> divided its team between central
locations and a secondary site in New Jersey, while Goldman Sachs <GS.N>
sent some traders to nearby secondary offices in Greenwich,
Connecticut, and Jersey City.
Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> is splitting its trading force from
Monday and sending 100 New York-based staff to nearby Stamford,
Connecticut, sources familiar with the matter said.
In London, Europe's financial capital, the Canary Wharf district was
unusually quiet. S&P Global's large office stood empty after the
company sent its 1,200 staff home, and HSBC asked around 100 people
to work from home after a worker tested positive for the illness.
France's prime minister said nurseries and schools would close for
15 days from Monday in the two areas worst hit by coronavirus
infections, one north of Paris and the other in the northeastern
part of the country.
The South by Southwest music and tech festival in Austin, Texas, and
two music festivals in Florida were canceled over concerns about
events that bring crowds of people into close proximity. The NCAA
Division III men's basketball tournament was scheduled to go ahead
at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore this weekend, but without
spectators.
Saudi Arabia will suspend public attendance at all sports events
starting Saturday, the ministry of sports said.
The United Nations said it had canceled some meetings in Bonn,
Germany, and elsewhere planned in the run-up to a crucial U.N.
climate summit to be held in Scotland in November.
MARKETS HIT
Yields on U.S. Treasuries plunged to historic lows on fears the
outbreak will slam the global economy, and MSCI's gauge of stocks
across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 3.10%. [MKTS/GLOB]U.S. stocks
fell but ended well above their session lows. [.N]
Airline and travel stocks have been among the worst affected as
people canceled non-essential travel. Norwegian Air Shuttle <NWC.OL>,
the hardest-hit stock among European carriers, lost more than
quarter of its market value on Friday and has fallen almost 70%
since the start of February.
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"If this really ramps up, we could see a lot more kitchen-sinking
updates from the travel industry and airlines," said Chris
Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
(Additonal reporting by Steve Gorman and Cath Turner in Los Angeles,
Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo, Pamela Barbaglia, Karin Strohecker,
Thyagaraju Adinarayan, Ritvik Carvalho, Kate Kelland and Tommy
Wilkes in London, Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and Stephanie Nebehay
in Geneva; Writing by Pravin Char, Nick Macfie and Sonya Hepinstall;
Editing by Mark Heinrich, Andrew Cawthorne, Bill Berkrot and Daniel
Wallis)
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