CORONAVIRUS | China reported 108 new coronavirus deaths on Feb 10, the highest daily increase so far, and up from 97 on the previous day, the health authority said on Tuesday.
Of the new deaths, 103 were in the province of Hubei, including 67 in the provincial capital of Wuhan where the epidemic is believed to have originated.
The other fatalities on Monday were in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Anhui and Henan and the cities of Tianjin and Beijing, the National Health Commission said.
The total toll on the mainland has now reached 1,016.
The commission said there were another 2,478 new confirmed cases on the mainland on Feb. 10, down from 3,062 on the previous day and bringing the accumulated total to 42,638.
The Diamond Princess cruise ship with 3,700 passengers and crew on board remained quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama, with 65 more cases detected, taking the number of confirmed cases from the Carnival Corp-owned vessel to 135.
During a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Monday, a group of leaders tasked with beating the virus said it would work to solve raw material and labour shortages and boost supplies of masks and protective clothing.
They said nearly 20,000 medical personnel from around the country had already been sent to Wuhan, and more medical teams were also on the way.
As scientists race to develop tests and treatments, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said 168 labs globally have the right technology to diagnose the virus. Companies have been struggling to find clinical virus samples needed to validate the diagnostic tests they have developed.
Worries about the coronavirus kept investors on edge with safe-havens like gold rising and the dollar hitting a four-month high against the euro on Monday.
In Europe, shares in car companies exposed to China slumped, while prices of oil, iron ore and copper fell on worries over weaker Chinese demand because of the outbreak.
Wall Street rose on optimism for corporate earnings and the economy, with the Nasdaq hitting a record high.
British Airways cancelled all its flights to mainland China until the end of March.
Wu Fan, vice-dean of Shanghai Fudan University Medical school, said there was hope of a turning point in the outbreak. But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday there had been “concerning instances” of transmission from people who had not been to China.
“It could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire,” Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.
An advance team of international WHO experts arrived in China to investigate the outbreak. Its death toll has now surpassed that of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), which killed hundreds worldwide in 2002/2003.
Nervous commuters
Chinese cities have become virtual ghost towns after Communist Party rulers ordered lockdowns, cancelled flights and closed factories and schools.
Ten extra days had been added to the Lunar New Year holidays that had been due to finish at the end of January to help slow the virus' spread. Even on Monday, many workplaces remained closed as people worked from home.
Few commuters braved the morning rush-hour on one of Beijing’s busiest subway lines. All wore masks.
One Beijing government official, Zhang Gewho, said it would be harder to curb the spread of the virus as people returned to work. “The capacity of communities and flow of people will greatly increase the difficulty,” he said.
Hubei, the province of 60 million people hardest hit by the outbreak, remains in virtual lockdown, with its train stations and airports shut and roads sealed.
China’s central bank has taken steps to support the economy, including reducing interest rates and flushing the market with liquidity, and will also now provide special funds for banks to lend to businesses.
President Xi Jinping said the government would prevent large-scale layoffs, Chinese state television reported.
Xi was shown on television inspecting the work of community leaders in Beijing and wearing a mask as he had his temperature taken. He said China would strive to meet economic and social targets for the year.
One senior economist has said growth may slow to five percent or less in the first quarter.
More than 300 Chinese firms including Meituan Dianping, China’s largest food delivery company, and smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp were seeking loans totalling at least 57.4 billion yuan, banking sources said.
E-commerce firm Alibaba said its affiliate, Ant Financial’s MYBank unit, would offer 20 billion yuan in loans to companies in China, with preferential terms for Hubei firms.
Apple’s biggest iPhone maker, Foxconn, won approval to resume production in the eastern central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, but only 10 percent of the workforce managed to return, a source said. Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, won approval to resume partial production in the southern city of Shenzhen from Tuesday.
A prolonged and widespread coronavirus outbreak could hit the Japanese economy, affecting tourism, retail and exports, an International Monetary Fund official said. Canada said the outbreak will hit tourism and its oil industry.
- Reuters
