Category: Breaking News

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Health experts sounded the alarm Friday over the worldwide threat of the coronavirus, with officials warning of its “likely” community spread in the United States and the World Health Organization cautioning that “the window of opportunity is narrowing” for containing the outbreak worldwide. The COVID-19 coronavirus, which erupted in China in December, has killed at least 2,360 people and sickened at least 77,900 worldwide, the majority of cases in mainland China. Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters Friday that U.S. health officials are preparing for the coronavirus to become a pandemic.

“We’re not seeing community spread here in the United States, yet, but it’s very possible, even likely, that it may eventually happen,” she said. “Our goal continues to be slowing the introduction of the virus into the U.S. This buys us more time to prepare communities for more cases and possibly sustained spread.”

She said the CDC is working with state and local health departments “to ready our public health workforce to respond to local cases.” These measures include collaboration with supply chain partners, hospitals, pharmacies and manufacturers to determine what medical supplies are needed. She said the “day may come” here where we have to shut down schools and businesses like China has done. Meanwhile in Geneva, the director-general of the World Health Organization, alarmed by the recent spread of the coronavirus from Iran, warned Friday that while the chance to contain the virus globally still exists, “the window of opportunity is narrowing.”

“We still have a chance to contain it, but we have to prepare for other eventualities,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “This could go in many directions, it could be even messy.

It is in our hands now … we can reverse or avert serious crisis. If we don’t, if we squander this opportunity, then there could be a serious problem on our hands.” Among other measures, Tedros called for financial aid to help countries fighting the virus to buy critical medical equipment and to strengthen their health systems. The world community, he said, has a “fighting chance” to contain the spread of the virus, but we “must not look back and regret that we failed to take advantage of the window of opportunity that we have now.” Tedros, speaking to reporters in Geneva, said the new cases in Iran show how the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, is now moving not only to second countries, but to third countries in a lengthening chain of transmission. “The cases that we see in the rest of the world, although the numbers are small, but not linked to Wuhan or China, it’s very worrisome,” Tedros said. “These dots are actually very concerning.”

The Global Health Security Index, which was issued last year, found that only 13 of nearly 200 countries score in the top tier, suggesting that most of the world would struggle to deal with a major outbreak of a deadly infectious disease such as Ebola.

The index is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, with research by The Economist Intelligence Unit. The CDC reported that at least 35 people in the United States are infected with the virus. Of those, 14 were travelers who fell ill after returning from a trip abroad, while 21 were were people “repatriated” by the State Department. Messonnier, of the CDC, said more infections are expected from among passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and are in quarantine. She said they are “they are considered at high risk for infection” because they may have come in contact with infected persons on the ship.

A smartphone plant in the South Korean city of Gumi is temporarily closed so it can be disinfected after one employee tested positive for coronavirus, Samsung Electronics Co. confirmed on Saturday. The plant is scheduled to be reopened on Monday.Employees who have been in contact with their colleague in question have voluntarily quarantined themselves, Samsung claimed, adding that the production of smartphones is not likely to be affected. So far, two people in South Korea have died due to the virus, and 433 infections have been confirmed, although the latter figure could be higher.

VIENNA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the number of coronavirus cases with no clear epidemiological link, although the total number of cases outside China remains relatively small, its director general said on Saturday.

Cases with no clear link include those with no travel history to China or contact with a confirmed case, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing.

China has reported 75,569 cases to the WHO, including 2,239 deaths, he said. According to available data, the disease remains mild in 80% of coronavirus patients, and is severe or critical in 20% of patients, he said. The virus has been fatal in 2% of reported cases. The risk of death increases for older patients, Tedros said, adding there were relatively few cases among children. Outside China, there have been 1,200 cases in 26 countries, with eight deaths, Tedros said. That includes one confirmed case on the African continent, in Egypt, he said. He called the reported decline in new cases in China welcome news but said it had to be interpreted very cautiously, adding, “It is far too early to make predictions about this outbreak”. A WHO-led international team of experts, which has been on the ground in China for the past week, will travel to Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, on Saturday. “Our biggest concern continues to be the potential for COVID-19 to spread in countries with weaker health systems,” Tedros said. The WHO is calling for $675 million to support countries, especially those which are most vulnerable, he said, adding it has identified 13 countries in Africa that are seen as a priority because of their links to China. It has shipped more than 30,000 sets of personal protective equipment to several African countries, and is ready to ship almost 60,000 more sets to 19 countries in coming weeks, Tedros said. The WHO has also appointed two specialists as special envoys to help African countries prepare for the potential arrival of the virus: the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, and the director general of the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali, Samba Sow.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China reported a sharp decrease in the number of new deaths and new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, while its central bank predicted a limited short-term economic impact and said the country was confident of winning the fight against the epidemic. Mainland China had 397 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Friday, down from 889 a day earlier, with the vast majority of those in the epicenter of Hubei province, the National Health Commission said. The 31 new infections recorded in the rest of the country was the lowest since the commission started compiling nationwide data on Jan. 20, and sharply down from 258 new cases the previous day.

But the numbers continued to rise elsewhere, with outbreaks worsening in South Korea, Italy and Iran and Lebanon, prompting a warning from the World Health Organization that the window of opportunity to contain the international spread was closing..

South Korea saw another spike in infections with 142 confirmed cases, taking its tally to 346, about half related to people who attended a church service. Concerns about the virus weighed on U.S. stocks on Friday, driven by an earlier spike in cases in China and data showing stalling U.S. business activity in February. The virus has spread to some 26 countries and territories outside mainland China, killing 11 people, according to a Reuters tally, and among the WHO’s biggest concerns was cases without links to China. “We still have a chance to contain it,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said on Friday. “If we don’t, if we squander the opportunity, then there will be a serious problem on our hands.” An outbreak in northern Italy worsened with its first death, an elderly man, among 17 confirmed cases including its first known instance of local transmission. Japan confirmed four new coronavirus cases on Saturday, among those a teacher who had shown symptoms while working at her school. Japan is facing growing questions about whether it is doing enough to contain its spread, and unease about whether it could scupper this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Organizers of the games on Saturday postponed the start of training for volunteers. The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China rose to 76,288, with the death toll at 2,345 as of the end of Friday. Hubei reported 106 new deaths of which 90 in Wuhan.

But new, albeit isolated findings about symptoms of the coronavirus could complicate efforts to thwart it, including the Hubei government’s announcement on Saturday that an elderly man took 27 days to show symptoms after infection, almost twice the presumed 14-day incubation period.

That follows Chinese scientists reporting that a woman from Wuhan had traveled 400 miles (675 km) and infected five relatives without showing signs of infection, offering new evidence of asymptomatical spreading. State television on Saturday showed the arrival in Wuhan of the “blue whale”, the first of seven river cruise ships it is bringing in to house medical workers, tens of thousands of which have been sent to Hubei to contain the virus. Senior Chinese central bank officials sought to ease global investors’ worries about the potential damage to the world’s second-largest economy from the outbreak, saying interest rates would be guided lower and that the country’s financial system and currency were resilient Chen Yulu, a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said policymakers had plenty of tools to support the economy, and that they were fully confident of winning the war against the epidemic. Some analysts believe China’s economy could contract in the first quarter from the previous three months due to the combined supply and demand shocks caused by the epidemic and strict government containment measures. On an annual basis, some warn growth could fall by as much as half from 6% in the fourth quarter. Most expect a rebound in the spring if the outbreak can be contained soon and factories can return to normal production. However, transport restrictions remain in many areas and while more firms are reopening, the limited data available suggests manufacturing is still running at low levels and disruptions are starting to spillover into global supply chains. Finance leaders from the Group of 20 major economies were set to discuss risks to the world economy in Saudi Arabia this weekend. Another center of infection has been the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan since Feb. 3, with more than 630 cases accounting for the biggest cluster outside China. Four more Australian evacuated from the ship tested positive, in addition to two previously identified. A second plane with 82 Hong Kong residents returned home on Saturday and 35 British passengers were due to arrive home. U.S. health officials said they were preparing for the possibility of the spread of the coronavirus through communities and would force closures of schools and businesses.

The United States has 13 cases within the country and 21 among Americans repatriated on evacuation flights from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess.

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.

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%.

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.

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.

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.