Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering, and as the death toll in China rose on Tuesday by a new daily record to more than 420.
** First case of coronavirus confirmed in Belgium.
** Hong Kong reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday, a 39-year-old male who had been suffering from an underlying illness and had visited China’s Wuhan city in January, taking the total death toll to 427.
** The death toll in China rose to 425 as of the end of Monday, up by a record 64 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.
** The total number of infections in China rose by 3,235 on Tuesday to 20,438, and there are at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Britain.
** Japan’s government said on Monday it would quarantine a Yokohama-bound cruise ship with more than 3,000 onboard, after a Hong Kong man who sailed on it last month tested positive for coronavirus.
** The first death outside of China was reported on Sunday – a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines after traveling there from Wuhan.
** 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.
** China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering.
** Asian stocks bounced on Tuesday with Chinese markets reversing some of their previous plunges amid official efforts to calm virus fears.
** China’s central bank injects 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) worth of liquidity into money markets, after promising to help companies struggling due to the virus.
** Oil hit 13-month lows as the coronavirus throttled demand in the world’s biggest importer of fuel. [O/R]
** The German fashion house Hugo Boss closed some stores in China, the Swiss watch producer Swatch canceled a retail event in Zurich.
** Business jet manufacturers Bombardier Inc, Textron Inc and General Dynamics Corp’s Gulfstream division said they would stay away from the Singapore Airshow.
** 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 – although it appears to spread much faster.
** The United States, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and South Korea have recorded person-to-person transmission 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.
** Global airlines have suspended or scaled back direct flights to China’s major cities. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) said on Tuesday it plans to cut around 30% of its capacity over the next two months, including around 90% of its flights to mainland China.
** Countries including Russia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States are working to evacuate citizens from Wuhan or have already done so.
