Here are the latest developments:
*The virus has killed 304 people in China, according to the country’s National Health Commission on Sunday.
*Across China, 2,590 new infections were confirmed on Saturday, the largest daily increase yet, bringing the total accumulated number so far to 14,380.
*Infections have been reported in Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Spain, Thailand, the United States and 14 other countries and regions outside mainland China.
*U.S. health officials on Saturday confirmed an eighth coronavirus case in the United States, and the Pentagon said it would provide housing for people arriving from overseas who might need to be quarantined.
*China’s financial markets will open on Monday after an extended Lunar New Year holiday due to the virus and there will be no further extensions, the country’s securities market regulator said in an interview published by the state-backed People’s Daily newspaper on Sunday.
*China’s central bank said it will inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.81 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations on Monday, after promising to provide monetary and credit support to companies struggling due to the virus.
*Chinese data suggest the virus is less deadly than the 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people of the some 8,000 it infected.
*The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
*The United States has reported its first case of person-to-person transmission inside its territory. Germany, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea have recorded similar infections, suggesting greater potential for spreading.
*China’s central city of Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei - the center of the epidemic - are under a virtual quarantine.
*Infections have jumped in two cities flanking Wuhan, health authorities said, raising concerns that new hot spots are emerging despite strict travel restrictions.
*The United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam are among countries that have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.
*Apple Inc said on Saturday it would close all its stores and offices in China until Feb. 9. Walmart Inc, Sweden’s IKEA and other companies have restricted travel and operations.
*Global airlines have suspended or scaled back direct flights to China’s major cities.
*Countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States are working to evacuate citizens from Wuhan or have already started doing so.
*China’s two entertainment industry associations have asked studios and actors to halt filming activity.
*Several high-profile sporting events have been moved or postponed in China, the latest a badminton Olympic qualifier in Hainan province.
*Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam rejected calls on Friday from a medical union to close the border with mainland China.
Source: Reuters; Compiled by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Christopher Cushing
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