Procter & Gamble Co. warns investors that the COVID-19 outbreak will materially impact earnings for the January to March quarter. China is the company’s second largest market. The number of new COVID-19 cases appeared to taper off on Thursday morning; however, that may be due to another change in how China’s Hubei Province is counting cases. COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December. Last week, Hubei began including in its case tally the people who have been diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scans in addition to laboratory tests. Doing so sharply increased the number of cases being reported by Hubei, the province that is home to Wuhan, and led to criticism. Going forward, Hubei only plans to count cases confirmed by lab tests, CBS News reported. There are 75,748 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 2,129 deaths, primarily in mainland China, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO). The number of newly confirmed cases worldwide (463 cases) is significantly smaller than the increase reported on Wednesday (1,871 cases). Outside of China, the outbreak has spread to 26 other countries, leading to 1,076 cases and seven deaths, including two recently reported deaths in Iran, WHO officials said Thursday. While health officials still say that the most severe cases and the largest number of cases are in China, they are also paying close attention to the 621 confirmed cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is docked at a port in Yokohama, Japan. At least two of those passengers, both in their 80s with underlying health conditions, have died, according to comments made by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a call with reporters on Thursday. The number of cases in South Korea has also increased by 22 overnight, now at a total of 104 cases. About 15 who attended a church service in Daegu have been diagnosed with the virus.
Adidas, Puma warn of coronavirus hit to China business
Berlin Germany (Reuters) – German sportswear makers Adidas (ADSGn.DE) and Puma (PUMG.DE) both said on Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak was hurting their business in China due to store closures and fewer Chinese tourists traveling and shopping in other markets. Adidas and Puma make almost a third of their sales in Asia, which has been the major growth market for the sporting goods industry in recent years. The region is also a key sourcing hub, with many sneakers produced in China and other Asian countries. Adidas said in a statement that its business in the Greater China area had dropped by about 85% year-on-year in the period since Chinese New Year on January 25. Adidas said it had also seen lower shopper traffic, mainly in Japan and South Korea, but added that it had not yet registered any major business impact beyond Greater China.
“The magnitude of the overall impact on our business for the full-year 2020 cannot be quantified reliably at this point in time,” it said, adding it would give more details when it publishes 2019 results on March 11.
Adidas sells its products from about 12,000 stores in China, most of them franchises plus less than 500 own-operated stores. Puma said it expected the virus outbreak to hit its sales and profits in the first quarter but it still hopes to reach its targets for 2020. Puma said more than half of its stores in China were temporarily closed and the decline of the Chinese tourism business was also hurting other markets, especially in Asia. It said the uncertainty about the duration of the virus made it difficult to forecast but it is working under the assumption that the situation will normalize in the short-term. In the fourth quarter, Puma reported its strongest sales growth in the Asia/Pacific region of a currency-adjusted 23%.
Asia stocks rise on lull in virus worry, euro still weak
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares and U.S. stock futures rose on Wednesday, as investors tried to shake off worries about the coronavirus epidemic after a slight decline in the number of new cases. Chinese shares erased early declines to trade 0.6% higher. Australian shares were up 0.37%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 0.95%. Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.65%, German DAX futures gained 0.67%, while FTSE futures were up 0.74%. The euro languished at a three-year low versus the dollar as disappointing data from Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has stoked fears that the euro zone is more vulnerable to external shocks than previously thought.
The Treasury curve remained inverted on Wednesday as yields on three-month bills traded above yields on 10-year notes in a sign that some investors remain cautious about the outlook.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is still struggling to get its manufacturing sector back online after imposing severe travel restrictions to contain a virus that emerged in the central province of Hubei late last year. Many investors view Chinese data on the virus, dubbed SARS-CoV-2, with a great deal of skepticism, but there are hopes that officials will roll out more stimulus to support the economy. “Part of the thinking that is supporting markets is the actions that China takes to support its economy,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. “Any investor concern around impact on demand globally from the virus will be offset by expectations that global central banks will ride to the rescue.” U.S. stock futures rose 0.3% in Asia on Wednesday. The S&P 500 fell 0.29% on Tuesday after Apple Inc said it would miss sales targets because the virus in China is pressuring its supply chain. Mainland China had 1,749 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the country’s National Health Commission said on Wednesday, down from 1,886 cases a day earlier and the lowest since Jan. 29. The death toll in China has topped more than 2,000 from the flu-like illness which has already spread to 24 other countries. The People’s Bank of China cut the interest rate on its medium-term lending on Monday, which is expected to pave the way for a reduction in the benchmark loan prime rate on Thursday, as policymakers try to ease financial strains caused by the virus. In the currency market, the euro was quoted at $1.0798, close to its lowest since April 2017. Sentiment remained weak after a survey on Tuesday showed a sharp deterioration in German investor sentiment due to the coronavirus. In the onshore market, the yuan briefly fell to a two-week low of 7.0136 per dollar as traders continued to ponder the economic impact of the virus and the chance for more monetary easing. The yield on three-month Treasury bills stood at 1.5949% in Asia on Wednesday, above the 10-year Treasury yield of 1.5661%. A yield curve inverts when short-term yields trade above long-term yields and is often considered a sign of recession in the next year or two. U.S. crude and Brent both rose more than 1% to $52.63 a barrel and $58.39 per barrel, respectively, as a reduction in supply from Libya offset concerns about weaker Chinese demand for commodities.
Expectations are that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers including Russia will cut output further should lend support to prices. OPEC+, will meet in Vienna on March 6.
Apple warns sales to fall short of target due to coronavirus impact
(Reuters) – Apple Inc warned on Monday it was unlikely to meet its March quarter sales guidance set just three weeks ago as the world’s most valuable technology firm became one of the biggest corporate casualties of China’s coronavirus epidemic.
The rapidly spreading virus has killed nearly 1,900 in China and stricken some 72,000 people, confining millions to their homes, disrupting supply chains and delaying reopening of factories after the extended Lunar New Year holiday break.
Manufacturing facilities in China that produce Apple’s iPhone and other electronics have begun to reopen, but they are ramping up more slowly than expected, Apple said. That will mean fewer iPhones available for sale around the world, making Apple one of the largest Western firms to be hurt by the outbreak. Some of its retail stores in the country remain closed or are operating at reduced hours, which will hurt sales this quarter. China accounted for 15% of Apple’s revenue, or $13.6 billion, last quarter, and supplied 18% of revenue in the year-ago quarter. In late January, Apple had forecast $63 billion to $67 billion in revenue for the quarter ending in March, which it said was a wider than normal range due to the uncertainty created by the virus. It did not offer a new revenue estimate nor provide a profit forecast on Monday.
“The magnitude of this impact to miss its revenue guidance midway through February is clearly worse than feared,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a note.
Apple, worth $1.4 trillion by market capitalization, could face a torrid market reaction on Tuesday, when Wall Street reopens after the Presidents Day holiday, analysts said. “If Apple shares were traded cheaply, that might not matter much. But when they are trading at a record high, investors will be surely tempted to sell,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Shares of its Asian suppliers fell on the news, with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) losing 2.4%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW) down 1.8% and SK Hynix (000660.KS) shedding 3.3%.
Analysts have estimated that the virus may slash demand for smartphones by half in the first quarter in China, the world’s biggest market for the devices. Apple said it will reopen China stores “as steadily and safely as we can,” while global supplies of iPhones will be limited as manufacturers work toward operating plants at full capacity. It plans to provide more information in April, when it releases first-quarter results. Wedbush said it remained optimistic that Apple would be able to recover from the coronavirus setback. “While trying to gauge the impact of the iPhone miss and potential bounce back in the June quarter will be front and center for the Street, we remain bullish on Apple for the longer term,” Ives said. The disruption follows a strong December quarter for iPhone sales, which were up for the first time in a year. That could provide an opening for mobile phone rival Samsung, which has invested in manufacturing capacity in Vietnam and elsewhere. Samsung launched smartphone delivery services for customers to test its new products this week, as the spread of the virus has prompted the South Korean firm to cancel promotional events and brace for weak store sales. Apple’s contract manufacturers have added far more locations inside China than outside, with major supplier Foxconn (2317.TW) expanding from 19 locations in 2015 to 29 in 2019 and another supplier, Pegatron Corp (4938.TW), going from eight to 12 locations, according to data from Apple. In contrast, Samsung had signaled early in the U.S.-China trade war that it could meet U.S mobile phone demand without China production. Samsung is also far less exposed to China as an end market. Fiat Chrysler, (FCHA.MI), Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and General Motors Co (GM.N) have said their auto production lines were, or could be, hit by Chinese factories that are slow to restart because of the virus.
It’s too soon to tell if decline in new cases will continue, health expert says
Here’s a look at the decline in cases, according to WHO data. These numbers may differ from those reported by national health authorities, who report updated totals at different times than the WHO.
Recent data from around the world — and in particular from China — appear to show a decline in new cases. The World Health Organization says the new data must be analyzed “cautiously.” “This trend must be interpreted very cautiously. Trends can change as new populations are affected. It’s too early to tell if this reported decline will continue. Every scenario is still on the table,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said during a press conference today. He added that the virus seems to be “not as deadly as other coronavirus including SARS and MERS.”
“More than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover. In about 14% of cases, the virus causes severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath. And about 5% of patients have critical diseases including respiratory failure, septic shock and multiorgan failure. In 2% of reported cases, the virus is fatal, and the risk of death increases the older you are. We see relatively few cases among children. More research is needed to understand why,” Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
WHO New Video Shows China’s ‘Wartime Controls’ To Fight Coronavirus Outbreak
Soldiers are enforcing curfews in Hubei province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, as millions are confined to their homes. Hospitals there are overwhelmed as the number of suspected cases grew by thousands overnight.
Chinese authorities are resorting to increasingly extreme measures in Wuhan to try to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, ordering house-to-house searches, rounding up the sick and warehousing them in enormous quarantine centres.
The urgent, seemingly improvised steps come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Wuhan, one exacerbated by tactics that have left this city of 11 million with a death rate from the coronavirus of 4.1 per cent as of Thursday — staggeringly higher than the rest of the country’s rate of 0.17 per cent.
With the sick being herded into makeshift quarantine camps, with minimal medical care, a growing sense of abandonment and fear has taken hold in Wuhan
Chinese authorities are resorting to increasingly extreme measures in Wuhan to try to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, ordering house-to-house searches, rounding up the sick and warehousing them in enormous quarantine centres. The urgent, seemingly improvised steps come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Wuhan, one exacerbated by tactics that have left this city of 11 million with a death rate from the coronavirus of 4.1 per cent as of Thursday — staggeringly higher than the rest of the country’s rate of 0.17 per cent.
With the sick being herded into makeshift quarantine camps, with minimal medical care, a growing sense of abandonment and fear has taken hold in Wuhan, fueling the sense that the city and surrounding province of Hubei are being sacrificed for the greater good of China.
The harsh new moves in Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, clearly signaled the ruling Communist Party’s alarm that it had failed to gain control of the coronavirus epidemic, which has overwhelmed the country’s health care system and threatened to paralyze China, the world’s most populous country and second-largest economy.
Xi’s early involvement in virus outbreak raises questions
BEIJING (AP) — A recent speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping that has been published by state media indicates for the first time that he was leading the response to a new virus outbreak from early on in the crisis. The publication of the Feb. 3 speech was an apparent attempt to demonstrate that the Communist Party leadership had acted decisively from the beginning, but also opens Xi up to criticism over why the public was not alerted sooner. In the speech, Xi said he gave instructions on fighting the virus on Jan. 7 and ordered the shutdown that began on Jan. 23 of cities at the epicenter of the outbreak. His remarks were published by state media late Saturday. “On Jan. 22, in light of the epidemic’s rapid spread and the challenges of prevention and control, I made a clear request that Hubei province implement comprehensive and stringent controls over the outflow of people,” Xi told a meeting of the party’s standing committee, its top body.
The number of new cases in mainland China fell for a third straight day, China’s National Health Commission reported Sunday. The 2,009 new cases in the previous 24-hour period brought the total to 68,500.
Commission spokesman Mi Feng said the percentage of severe cases has dropped to 7.2% of the total from a peak of 15.9% on Jan. 27. The proportion is higher in Wuhan, the Hubei city where the outbreak started, but has fallen to 21.6% from a peak of 32.4% on Jan. 28. “The national efforts against the epidemic have shown results,” Mi said at the commission’s daily media briefing. China reported 142 more deaths, almost all in Hubei, raising the mainland China death toll to 1,665. Another 9,419 people have recovered from COVID-19, a disease caused by a new coronavirus, and have been discharged from hospitals. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened an experts meeting to discuss measures to contain the virus in his country, where one person has died and more than a dozen cases emerged in the past few days without any obvious link to China.
“The situation surrounding this virus is changing by the minute,” Abe said.
Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the country is “entering into a phase that is different from before,” requiring new steps to stop the virus from spreading further. About 400 Americans on a quarantined cruise ship in Japan were awaiting charter flights home, as Japan announced another 70 infections had been confirmed on the Diamond Princess. Canada, Hong Kong and Italy said they were planning similar flights. Japan now has 412 confirmed cases, including 355 from the cruise ship, and one death from the virus. Xi’s role was muted in the early days of the epidemic, which has grown into one of the biggest political challenges of his seven-year tenure. The disclosure of his speech indicates top leaders knew about the outbreak’s potential severity weeks before such dangers were made known to the public. It was not until late January that officials said the virus can spread between humans and public alarm began to rise.Zhang Lifan, a commentator in Beijing, said it’s not clear why the speech was published now. One message could be that local authorities should take responsibility for failing to take effective measures after Xi gave instructions in early January. Alternatively, it may mean that Xi, as the top leader, is willing to take responsibility because he was aware of the situation, Zhang said.
Trust in the government’s approach to outbreaks remains fractured after the SARS epidemic of 2002 and 2003, which was covered up for months.
Authorities in Hubei and Wuhan faced public fury over their initial handling of the epidemic. Wuhan on Jan. 23 became the first city to impose an unprecedented halt on outbound transportation, a measure since expanded to other cities with a combined population of more than 60 million.
The anger reached a peak earlier this month following the death of Li Wenliang, a young doctor who was reprimanded by local police for trying to spread a warning about the virus. He ended up dying of the disease himself.In apparent response, the Communist Party’s top officials in Hubei and Wuhan were dismissed and replaced last week.
Even as authorities have pledged transparency through the current outbreak, citizen journalists who challenged the official narrative with video reports from Wuhan have disappeared and are believed to be detained.
The fall in new cases follows a spike of more than 15,000 on Thursday, when Hubei began to include cases that had been diagnosed by a doctor but not yet confirmed by laboratory tests. Overwhelmed by the number of suspected cases, the province has not been able to test every person exhibiting symptoms. The clinical diagnosis is based on doctors’ analyses and lung imaging and is intended to allow probable cases to be treated as confirmed ones without the need to wait for a lab result.
Over 1,700 frontline medics infected with coronavirus in China, presenting new crisis for the government
(CNN) Ning Zhu, a nurse in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the heart of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, is restless. Instead of helping on the frontlines, she has been under self-quarantine at home for weeks, after a chest scan on January 26 revealed that she had a suspected case of the novel Coronavirus. Zhu was told to wait for a nucleic acid test that would provide the final verdict, but it never came. “Right now, it’s really a problem. Our hospital already has more than 100 people who are quarantined at home,” she told CNN over the phone. An additional 30 medical workers have been confirmed to have the virus, she said. “If the tests are fine, we can go back to work. I actually don’t have any symptoms, there’s just a slight problem with my CT scan, it seems there’s a bit of infection,” she said. Zhu estimates that of the 500 medical staff at the hospital, more than 130 may have been stricken by the virus, which has so far infected more than 60,000 globally. She declined to publicize the name of her hospital and asked to use a pseudonym as she was not authorized to speak to the media. The situation at her hospital is not unique. A nurse from the Wuhan Central Hospital said on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, that around 150 colleagues at her hospital have been confirmed or suspected to be infected — including herself. The nurse, who had been under self-quarantine at home since being infected last month, was finally admitted into the hospital she works at for treatment on Tuesday. “The (in-patient) floor I live on is basically filled with colleagues from my hospital,” she wrote in a post on Wednesday. “These are mostly double or triple rooms, with my colleagues’ names and bed numbers clearly written in black and white on the doors.”
Every time fellow medics came to check on her, she said, she would hold her breath. “I’m afraid the virus inside my body will come out and infect these colleagues who are still standing fast on the frontline,” she wrote. On Friday, it was revealed that 1,716 healthcare workers nationwide had been infected by the virus, six of whom had died, according to China’s National Health Commission (NHC). Nearly 90% (87.5%) of those medics came from Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.
More than a thousand infected in Wuhan
Health care workers have long faced a high risk of infection during major outbreaks, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic that swept China from late 2002 to 2003. In Wuhan, the epicenter of the noval corronavirus outbreak, however, that risk is now exacerbated by a dire shortage of medical resources to cope with the influx of patients, as well as the government’s belated warning of the high-infection rate. In Wuhan alone, 1,102 medical workers have been infected, accounting for 73% of infections in the province and 64% nationwide. The city of 11 million people has 398 hospitals and nearly 6,000 community clinics. However, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission has designated nine hospitals to treat coronavirus cases, as well as an additional 61 hospitals whose outpatient clinics will receive patients with fever — believed to be a common symptom of the pneumonia-like illness. In some of these designated hospitals, medical staff have made up a significant percentage of infected patients. For example, at Zhongnan Hospital, one of the 61 hospitals dealing with cases, 40 health care workers had been infected, accounting for nearly 30% of the 138 coronavirus patients admitted by the hospital from January 1 to 28, according to a research paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week.
Peng Zhiyong, director of acute medicine at the Zhongnan Hospital who co-authored the paper, told Chinese investigative news magazine Caixin that “the ratio is already very small compared with other hospitals.” At the Wuhan No.7 Hospital, another of the 61 facilities, two thirds of the ICU staff were infected due to shortage of medical resources, Peng said, citing his deputy director who was sent to assist that hospital, according to the report. The Wuhan government has acknowledged the shortage of medical supplies, such as specialist N95 respiratory masks, goggles and protective suits. Hospitals across Wuhan have pleaded for help repeatedly on social media, calling for more donations of the protective gear, which are vital in protecting frontline staff from catching the virus from patients. The government’s initial delay in releasing information about the outbreak meant medical staff were unaware of the potential dangers during its early stages. Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang admitted on CCTV late last month that his government did not disclose information on the coronavirus “in a timely fashion.” Chinese authorities repeatedly stressed in the early days of the outbreak that no health care workers were infected — an important sign for possible person-to-person transmission used to suggest that the virus was not that contagious.
Coronavirus: UK conference attendees warned over case
Health officials have contacted hundreds of conference attendees in London, after it emerged one of them was later diagnosed with coronavirus. The person, who has not been identified, was at the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Conference Centre last week.Two Labour MPs who were also at the conference said they were well but cancelling public engagements until 20 February as a precaution. So far, nine people in the UK have tested positive for the virus. MP Lilian Greenwood – a former chair of the transport select committee – spoke at the 6 February conference in Westminster, which was attended by about 250 people from the bus and transport industry. She said on Twitter she was “feeling completely well” but to be “extra-cautious” she was cancelling her public engagements for two weeks from the date of the conference, in line with advice from Public Health England (PHE). Her colleague Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds North West, told BBC News he only found out through a journalist about the positive test and was “concerned” other attendees may still be unaware.Mr Sobel, who said he was not exhibiting any symptoms, called the NHS non-emergency 111 phone line to be “formally assessed” and has been “established as low risk”. He said he spent Friday afternoon in a room in his office away from staff but, after receiving the advice from 111, will not remain in isolation – although he has cancelled public engagements as a precaution. The government’s buses minister Baroness Vere – who was a keynote speaker at the conference – is “following Public Health England advice”, the Department for Transport said. Transport Times, the organiser of the conference, sent an email on Thursday afternoon to attendees informing them that a person confirmed to have coronavirus – which causes an illness now named Covid-19 – had been at the event. The email included advice from PHE urging delegates that no action was needed if they felt well, but if they developed symptoms such as a fever or cough they should stay indoors, avoid contact with others and call NHS 111. The letter told people to follow the advice until 20 February, “even if your symptoms are minor.”
US Military Issues Service-Wide Directives to Prepare for Coronavirus Pandemic
The US Northern Command has started preparing for a potential pandemic, as the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, which originated in China’s Hubei Province in December, continues to spread. The US Navy, Army and Marine Corps have also released service-wide messages on steps to contain and prevent the spread of the virus.
According to Military Times, an executive order issued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and approved by US Defense Secretary Mark Esper earlier this month advised Northern Command leaders to prepare for outbreaks of the virus.
The US Navy, Marine Corps and Army also issued service-wide messages on Tuesday and Wednesday referring to the executive order directing the US Northern Command to follow the guidelines outlined in a document titled, “Defense Global Campaign Plan for Pandemic Influenza and Infectious Diseases 3551-13.”
The document outlines directions to prepare for the widespread outbreaks of diseases. The US Northern Command also announced Wednesday that the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed them on February 1 to begin “prudent planning” for the disease. According to the Military Times, any service members who have been to China since February 2 will be confined to their residences. Any service members who live in an open barracks or share a bathroom with other members will be quarantined in a temporary lodging facility for two weeks. Any quarantined service members will also be assessed daily by medical personnel.
However, despite the fact that the US Northern Command has started planning for a pandemic, Navy Lieutenant Commander Mike Hatfield said in a statement to Military Times that the planning does not indicate a greater likelihood of an event developing.
“As military professionals, planning for a range of contingencies is something we owe the American people. We coordinate with other combatant commands to assess potential impacts in the event of a pandemic, and we ensure the US military is poised to respond as required. The military profession fosters a culture of planning, and the fact that we are coordinating planning efforts across the geographical combatant commands is consistent with how we prepare to respond, if directed,” Hatfield explained.
According to a document released Wednesday, titled “US Marine Corps Disease Containment Preparedness Planning Guidance for 2019 Novel Coronavirus,” commanders are expected to review disease containment plans and take precautionary actions to safeguard service members, installations and ships.
In addition, commanders are expected to “review, update and validate existing disease containment plans and policies in order to implement procedures for response, isolation, quarantine, restriction of movement, and community-based intervention.”
“The US Marine Corps will prepare for potential outbreaks of 2019-nCoV. If an outbreak occurs, the Marine Corps mitigates, responds and recovers from the effects in order to maintain force readiness,” the report adds.
Meanwhile, the Navy also issued a service-wide message this month that gives commanders discretion to decide whether they should confine service members. The directive also states that service members who have visited mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau since February 2 may be subject to quarantine.
The Army released a service-wide message January 31 outlining coronavirus symptoms and providing instructions on how to reduce the chance of infection.
Currently, six US bases are holding evacuees from China: March Air Reserve Base, Travis Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, all in California; Fort Carson in Colorado; Lackland Air Force Base in Texas; and Camp Ashland in Nebraska.
The US Defense Department announced last week that 11 more bases may be made available to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to quarantine more evacuees from China. The quarantine measures were announced on January 3.
Alex Azar, the US secretary of HHS, declared that any foreign nationals, other than immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents, who had traveled to China within the previous 14 days could be denied entry into the US. As for US citizens who have been in Hubei Province, they “will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine to ensure they’re provided proper medical care and health screening.”
According to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, more than 60,000 people worldwide have been infected with the coronavirus. The disease has led to 1,370 deaths, 1,310 of which occurred in Hubei.