After 3+ years of negotiation, Brexit Day finally arrives for the U.K. - CBS News

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2020-01-31 16:18:18Z
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Live updates: Coronavirus deaths soar as U.S. warns against China travel - The Washington Post

Glenn Hunt EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Flight attendants in protective face masks walk through Brisbane airport in Australia on Friday. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases soared to almost 10,000, with more than 213 deaths recorded in China.

As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak passed 200 Friday, all of the fatalities in China, the State Department told Americans not to travel to the country and advised those in China to consider departing. Here is what we know:

●The United States has issued a “Level 4” travel advisory for China, its highest level of caution, over the rapidly spreading outbreak. Japan followed suit, urging citizens to avoid non-urgent trips, while Singapore banned Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city.

●Two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Britain, and the first case in Russia was confirmed. South Korea reported an 11th case.

●China, anxious to shield Communist Party leaders from blame, dismissed a public health official over her handling of the crisis.

●The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global public health emergency, requiring states to ramp up their responses.

●In Hong Kong, officials closed schools until March as the number of confirmed cases rose to 12 and residents faced supply shortages.

WHO declares global emergency | U.S. reports first person-to-person transmission | Trump under growing pressure | U.S. airports screen travelers | Mapping the spread

10:25 AM: Major African carriers cancel flights; Myanmar turns China Southern plane away

WASHINGTON — On Friday, two major African carriers, Kenya Airways and RwandAir, said they were suspending all flights to and from China amid concerns that passengers could be carrying the virus.

There have been no cases of the virus in Africa, despite regular flights between major African and Chinese business hubs. Kenya Airways normally flies to Guangzhou each day, with a stopover in Bangkok. The first leg of that trip will continue as usual. RwandAir normally flies to Guangzhou three times a week. Earlier this week, Air Tanzania postponed upcoming plans to launch new regular flights to China.

Other flight paths have also been disrupted.

On Friday, Myanmar forced almost all passengers on a China Southern flight that originated in Guangzhou to turn back, after a passenger on board began displaying symptoms similar to those of coronavirus. The passenger disembarked in Yangon and is being treated in a hospital there.

Two Myanmar citizens who were on board the flight were allowed to enter the country but will be isolated for two weeks. Everyone else flew back to China, although none of them were displaying symptoms and it was not immediately clear whether the passenger who became sick was infected with coronavirus.

By: Siobhán O’Grady

10:24 AM: China’s foreign ministry criticizes U.S. for travel restrictions, ‘unfriendly comments’

WASHINGTON — China’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has criticized U.S. officials for making “unfriendly comments” during the coronavirus outbreak, suggesting that some Americans were making remarks that were “neither factual nor appropriate.”

In a series of English-language messages on Twitter, the ministry’s spokesman also criticized a U.S. warning against travel to China. “In disregard of WHO recommendation against travel restrictions, the US went the opposite way,” the account said. “Where is its empathy?”

The United States has issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit China, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, speaking on Fox Business on Thursday, said the coronavirus could “help” to bring jobs to the United States because companies would be moving operations away from affected areas.

By: Adam Taylor

10:12 AM: China to repatriate Wuhan residents, citing “practical difficulties” that they’ve encountered abroad

WASHINGTON — Chinese authorities are preparing to repatriate citizens from Wuhan who recently traveled out of China due to the “practical difficulties recently encountered” abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

The ministry said officials are planning to charter flights and bring back residents from Hubei province who left before travel restrictions were put in place “as soon as possible.”

Chinese authorities have placed some 50 million people in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan under quarantine in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Nonetheless, authorities said some 5 million people traveled out of the area before to the restrictions but after the disease had already started spreading.

As the virus has reached other countries, international airplane carriers have canceled or cut down on flights to China, while some neighboring countries, like Russia and North Korea, have sealed off borders or limited entry from China. That’s in turn made it harder for Chinese people abroad to return.

The virus has also unleashed a global wave of fear and uncertainty — and incidents of racism and xenophobia toward Chinese people. Chinese students and tourists abroad have reported incidents of being denied entry to establishments and scapegoated as carriers of the disease just because of their nationality.

By: Miriam Berger

10:03 AM: Global markets sink on coronavirus fears

WASHINGTON — Global stocks sank Friday as investors confronted slowing economic growth in the U.S. and Europe, which could be compounded by the coronavirus outbreak that has forced China and its powerful economy into lockdown.

The deadly virus presents a huge threat to the global economy, as it paralyzes China’s workforce and dampens its powerful manufacturing industry, while forcing global firms with roots in the country to freeze operations and seek out ways to reorient supply chains. From an economic perspective, the outbreak’s timing is especially punishing, dragging down growth prospects and taking a bite out of corporate earnings just when investors had hoped for a boost after the truce in the U.S.-China trade war.

“Companies are taking decisive action over their exposure to China, such as canceling flights, closing stores and shutting factories,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, wrote Thursday in a note to investors. “It is already clear that earnings will be hit as a result of the coronavirus, and we still don’t know when the health incident will be contained.”

China’s markets are closed for an extended holiday, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent. Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 index was down 0.4 percent in midday trading, and Britain’s FTSE 100 was off 0.7 percent on the long-awaited official day of Brexit.

Read more here: “Global markets sink on slowing growth, coronavirus fears”

By: Taylor Telford

9:48 AM: North Korea, already isolated, takes further measures to seal itself off from outbreak

SEOUL — North Korea is taking all-out measures to seal itself off from the outside world as the coronavirus spreads to areas near the country’s border with China.

North Korea has not reported any case of coronavirus infection, but scores of cases have been confirmed in the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin, which border the isolated nation.

North Korea’s official party daily newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, ran a story Friday titled “A big strength to prevent the novel coronavirus.” The story cited the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, calling for a development in health care for the North Korean people. Rodong Sinmun stressed the “very important duties” of North Korean authorities “to completely block the novel coronavirus from entering our country.”

North Korea announced that air and train routes between North Korea and China are temporarily suspended as of Friday, according to travel advisories issued Thursday by the U.K. government and the Indian Embassy in North Korea. The travel advisories said all foreigners entering North Korea from China, or from Russia and having passed through China, will be quarantined for a month.

North and South Korea have agreed to temporarily shut down the joint liaison office in the border city of Kaesong in a move to fend off any further spread of the virus. Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday that a new hotline has been opened to carry on the liaison effort between the two Koreas.

Via the hotline, North Korea has notified the South that it has postponed plans to demolish South Korean facilities at its Mount Kumgang resort to prevent the virus spreading.

By: Min Joo Kim

9:40 AM: India bans export of face masks, evacuates nationals

NEW DELHI — India’s Commerce Ministry banned the export of personal protection equipment, including N95 face masks and other protective clothing, in an order issued Friday.

The move follows a spike in demand for such products as cases of coronavirus spread to 22 countries outside mainland China. Indian authorities have confirmed one coronavirus case in the southern state of Kerala.

India also joined a growing list of countries evacuating nationals from China as coronavirus cases continued to surge in the country. A flight from Wuhan carrying more than 350 people, many of them students, is scheduled to land in New Delhi early Saturday morning local time. Incoming passengers will be quarantined for 14 days in Manesar, 55 miles outside the capital, New Delhi.

Two camps have been set up by the country’s armed forces, which will manage the facilities along with the Health Ministry. Those showing symptoms of coronavirus will be shifted to a hospital for treatment.

By: Niha Masih

9:35 AM: Risk of infection remains very low in Britain, chief medical officer says

WASHINGTON — After the United Kingdom confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus Friday, the country’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said that the risk of infection there remained low — but that the chance of China losing control of the epidemic was his main concern.

“The risk comes from the situation in China going out of control, despite best efforts by the Chinese government, and spreading more widely,” Whitty said. “So that is the thing for which we are planning, that is the risk.”

Public health officials around the world have grappled with how to keep people continually informed about the outbreak, while at the same time not stoking undue panic. So far, the disease and deaths from it have remained centered in China, where authorities initially did not share news about the emerging new virus, which consequently made it harder to control as potentially infected populations continued to move around.

In contrast, countries such as the U.K. have put in place preemptive screening and testing procedures for high-risk travelers, techniques that public health officials say can dramatically reduce the risk of an outbreak.

By: Miriam Berger

9:34 AM: Germany confirms child of patient has virus

BERLIN — The number of coronavirus cases in Germany increased to six Friday, as authorities confirmed that the child of a patient in Bavaria had been diagnosed.

All five infected adults work for Webasto, an automotive supplier near Munich. Their condition is stable, authorities said.

A 33-year-old man became the country’s first confirmed coronavirus patient Monday, after being infected by a female business visitor from Shanghai.

She and the 33-year-old met at a workshop in the offices of the German automotive supplier.

Authorities said Tuesday that around 40 individuals had come into close contact with him and the Chinese visitor. Webasto temporarily closed its headquarters near Munich on Wednesday.

By: Rick Noack

8:41 AM: Italian government sets six-month state of emergency

ROME — The Italian government said it will impose a six-month state of emergency, as the country confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus.

The declaration — set to be officially announced later Friday — will free up funding and resources aimed at preventing the virus from spreading.

The Italian move came in response to WHO’s declaration of a “public health emergency of international concern,” which requires countries to ramp up their crisis response.

“In light of WHO’s international emergency we have activated all of the precautionary legal tools allowed by our country in such cases, just like in 2003 with the SARS outbreak,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement.

Italy also suspended “all plane connections between Italy and China, until further notice,” according to a statement by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.

States of emergency are declared relatively frequently in Italy, compared to other major European nations. A similar emergency was declared in Venice in November, when floods engulfed the city.

Even though both France and Germany have reported more coronavirus cases than Italy, neither have taken steps comparable to the Italian declaration.

By: Stefano Pitrelli and Rick Noack

8:10 AM: First coronavirus cases confirmed in Russia

MOSCOW — The first two coronavirus cases in Russia have been recorded, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters Friday. Both are Chinese citizens, she said.

One case is in Russia’s Far East Transbaikal Territory, a region that borders China, while the other is in the Tyumen Region, about 1,300 miles east of Moscow.

Golikova also announced that most flights to and from China have been suspended. The exceptions are Aeroflot’s regular routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou and Chinese Airlines’ flight to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Other preventive measures include imposing stricter border-crossing restrictions for those traveling from Mongolia.

Russia has already closed its entire 2,600-mile border with China over concerns of a coronavirus outbreak, and the country put out an advisory Friday for citizens to avoid hugging, kissing and literally letting their hair down to prevent the spread of the disease.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer health regulator, suggested that people refrain from displays of affection, including handshakes, and secure their hair to limit contact with the face. It also advised people not to touch railings or doorknobs with bare hands.

Golikova said a decision on if to postpone an investment forum in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi amid concerns of a coronavirus outbreak will be made on Monday. The Russian Investment Forum is scheduled for Feb. 12, and one argument for pushing it back is the large Chinese delegation that was due to attend. Russia and China did $110 billion in trade last year.

By: Isabelle Khurshudyan

8:09 AM: Japan to tighten restrictions on Chinese nationals, Abe says

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday his government would bar foreigners from entering the country if they had been in the virus-hit Chinese city in the previous two weeks and would also exclude any Chinese national whose passport was issued by the provincial government of Hubei, media reports said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the plan to tighten immigration controls would be officially announced at midnight Japan time. In a statement, it said Abe told a specially constituted task force dealing with the crisis to implement measures so that “people infected with the virus will be denied entry into Japan.” Abe added that immigration controls must be strengthened even when the presence of the infection cannot be confirmed. Nikkei and NHK both reported details of the new plan.

Singapore on Friday banned all Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city-state, as well as any travelers who have been in mainland China in the past two weeks.

By: Simon Denyer

7:45 AM: China dismisses public health official

HONG KONG — Mindful of the political danger, China dismissed a public health official — her departure publicized by state mouthpieces in a rare, officially sanctioned show of accountability. Tang Zhihong, the health commission head of Huanggang, a city in Hubei province with the second-largest number of cases after Wuhan, was interviewed by a state broadcaster and fumbled her answers on the city’s response to the crisis. She could not state the number of available hotel beds in her city, nor its capacity to test for the virus.

After the clip was viewed some 40 million times, Tang was dismissed on Thursday night, becoming the first Chinese official to lose her job over the crisis. Her removal was carried in English by the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper, which described her as “bumbling.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:30 AM: First cases confirmed in Britain add to global spread

HONG KONG: The outbreak, meanwhile, continues to spread. Britain on Friday confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in England. “We have been preparing for U.K. cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately,” chief medical officer Chris Whitty said.

In South Korea, health officials reported an 11th case. Earlier Friday, 368 South Korean evacuees from Wuhan arrived home on a government-chartered flight. They were screened for symptoms, with 18 taken to the hospital and the remainder placed in quarantine.

Germany and India, which have each confirmed cases of coronavirus, were preparing to evacuate their citizens in Wuhan by plane. More than 350 names were featured on a list drawn up by Indian officials, while Germany was planning to retrieve about 100 people.

Elsewhere, Mongolia extended the closure of its border crossings with China until March 2 and said it would not allow Chinese citizens to enter the country. Pakistan said it was halting flights to and from China with immediate effect.

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:15 AM: Significant fallout for Chinese travelers globally

HONG KONG — The fallout has been significant for Chinese travelers globally. Dozens of airlines have suspended flights to the country and many companies have urged their staff to stay away. From Italy to the Philippines, hotels and ports have been turning away Chinese citizens over fears that they may be infected.

The response at times has morphed into outright racism. In France, the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus — “I am not a virus” — began trending, with those of Asian descent sharing their experiences of racism after a newspaper used the headline “Yellow Alert” to describe the outbreak.

Restaurants in South Korea have put up signs turning away Chinese clients. A student in Britain wrote in the Guardian that commuters have avoided sitting next to him because of his ethnicity. And after 7,000 people were held on a cruise ship in an Italian port over unfounded fears that two of its Chinese passengers were infected with the virus, officials have warned of latent and widespread racism against the Chinese community.

By: Shibani Mahtani

5:00 AM: State Department travel advisory an ‘extreme’ step, expert warns

HONG KONG — The State Department issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit China, the highest level of caution that is in place against only a handful of countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, as the numbers of those infected by the deadly coronavirus continued to soar.

The U.S. travel advisory, analysts say, represents a strong reaction from Washington amid rivalry with Beijing and pressure from the Trump administration for American businesses to shift production back home. The step is likely to have substantial implications for the Chinese economy, even though the warning is not mandatory for U.S. travelers to observe.

But James Zimmerman, partner in the Beijing office of law firm Perkins Coie LLP and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in light of the departure arrangement, the State Department’s travel warning appeared “extreme.”

It is “premature and suspect, and overreacting at best,” he said Friday. “The advisory is a clear reflection of how fear and a lack of trustworthy information can be an insidious combination.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

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2020-01-31 15:32:00Z
52780579291157

Live updates: Coronavirus deaths soar as U.S. warns against China travel - The Washington Post

Glenn Hunt EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Flight attendants in protective face masks walk through Brisbane airport in Australia on Friday. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases soared to almost 10,000, with more than 213 deaths recorded in China.

As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak passed 200 Friday, all of the fatalities in China, the State Department told Americans not to travel to the country and advised those in China to consider departing. Here is what we know:

●The United States has issued a “Level 4” travel advisory for China, its highest level of caution, over the rapidly spreading outbreak. Japan followed suit, urging citizens to avoid non-urgent trips, while Singapore banned Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city.

●Two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Britain, and the first case in Russia was confirmed. South Korea reported an 11th case.

●China, anxious to shield Communist Party leaders from blame, dismissed a public health official over her handling of the crisis.

●The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global public health emergency, requiring states to ramp up their responses.

●In Hong Kong, officials closed schools until March as the number of confirmed cases rose to 12 and residents faced supply shortages.

WHO declares global emergency | U.S. reports first person-to-person transmission | Trump under growing pressure | U.S. airports screen travelers | Mapping the spread

10:25 AM: Major African carriers cancel flights; Myanmar turns China Southern plane away

WASHINGTON — On Friday, two major African carriers, Kenya Airways and RwandAir, said they were suspending all flights to and from China amid concerns that passengers could be carrying the virus.

There have been no cases of the virus in Africa, despite regular flights between major African and Chinese business hubs. Kenya Airways normally flies to Guangzhou each day, with a stopover in Bangkok. The first leg of that trip will continue as usual. RwandAir normally flies to Guangzhou three times a week. Earlier this week, Air Tanzania postponed upcoming plans to launch new regular flights to China.

Other flight paths have also been disrupted.

On Friday, Myanmar forced almost all passengers on a China Southern flight that originated in Guangzhou to turn back, after a passenger on board began displaying symptoms similar to those of coronavirus. The passenger disembarked in Yangon and is being treated in a hospital there.

Two Myanmar citizens who were on board the flight were allowed to enter the country but will be isolated for two weeks. Everyone else flew back to China, although none of them were displaying symptoms and it was not immediately clear whether the passenger who became sick was infected with coronavirus.

By: Siobhán O’Grady

10:24 AM: China’s foreign ministry criticizes U.S. for travel restrictions, ‘unfriendly comments’

WASHINGTON — China’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has criticized U.S. officials for making “unfriendly comments” during the coronavirus outbreak, suggesting that some Americans were making remarks that were “neither factual nor appropriate.”

In a series of English-language messages on Twitter, the ministry’s spokesman also criticized a U.S. warning against travel to China. “In disregard of WHO recommendation against travel restrictions, the US went the opposite way,” the account said. “Where is its empathy?”

The United States has issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit China, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, speaking on Fox Business on Thursday, said the coronavirus could “help” to bring jobs to the United States because companies would be moving operations away from affected areas.

By: Adam Taylor

10:12 AM: China to repatriate Wuhan residents, citing “practical difficulties” that they’ve encountered abroad

WASHINGTON — Chinese authorities are preparing to repatriate citizens from Wuhan who recently traveled out of China due to the “practical difficulties recently encountered” abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

The ministry said officials are planning to charter flights and bring back residents from Hubei province who left before travel restrictions were put in place “as soon as possible.”

Chinese authorities have placed some 50 million people in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan under quarantine in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Nonetheless, authorities said some 5 million people traveled out of the area before to the restrictions but after the disease had already started spreading.

As the virus has reached other countries, international airplane carriers have canceled or cut down on flights to China, while some neighboring countries, like Russia and North Korea, have sealed off borders or limited entry from China. That’s in turn made it harder for Chinese people abroad to return.

The virus has also unleashed a global wave of fear and uncertainty — and incidents of racism and xenophobia toward Chinese people. Chinese students and tourists abroad have reported incidents of being denied entry to establishments and scapegoated as carriers of the disease just because of their nationality.

By: Miriam Berger

10:03 AM: Global markets sink on coronavirus fears

WASHINGTON — Global stocks sank Friday as investors confronted slowing economic growth in the U.S. and Europe, which could be compounded by the coronavirus outbreak that has forced China and its powerful economy into lockdown.

The deadly virus presents a huge threat to the global economy, as it paralyzes China’s workforce and dampens its powerful manufacturing industry, while forcing global firms with roots in the country to freeze operations and seek out ways to reorient supply chains. From an economic perspective, the outbreak’s timing is especially punishing, dragging down growth prospects and taking a bite out of corporate earnings just when investors had hoped for a boost after the truce in the U.S.-China trade war.

“Companies are taking decisive action over their exposure to China, such as canceling flights, closing stores and shutting factories,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, wrote Thursday in a note to investors. “It is already clear that earnings will be hit as a result of the coronavirus, and we still don’t know when the health incident will be contained.”

China’s markets are closed for an extended holiday, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent. Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 index was down 0.4 percent in midday trading, and Britain’s FTSE 100 was off 0.7 percent on the long-awaited official day of Brexit.

Read more here: “Global markets sink on slowing growth, coronavirus fears”

By: Taylor Telford

9:48 AM: North Korea, already isolated, takes further measures to seal itself off from outbreak

SEOUL — North Korea is taking all-out measures to seal itself off from the outside world as the coronavirus spreads to areas near the country’s border with China.

North Korea has not reported any case of coronavirus infection, but scores of cases have been confirmed in the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin, which border the isolated nation.

North Korea’s official party daily newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, ran a story Friday titled “A big strength to prevent the novel coronavirus.” The story cited the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, calling for a development in health care for the North Korean people. Rodong Sinmun stressed the “very important duties” of North Korean authorities “to completely block the novel coronavirus from entering our country.”

North Korea announced that air and train routes between North Korea and China are temporarily suspended as of Friday, according to travel advisories issued Thursday by the U.K. government and the Indian Embassy in North Korea. The travel advisories said all foreigners entering North Korea from China, or from Russia and having passed through China, will be quarantined for a month.

North and South Korea have agreed to temporarily shut down the joint liaison office in the border city of Kaesong in a move to fend off any further spread of the virus. Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday that a new hotline has been opened to carry on the liaison effort between the two Koreas.

Via the hotline, North Korea has notified the South that it has postponed plans to demolish South Korean facilities at its Mount Kumgang resort to prevent the virus spreading.

By: Min Joo Kim

9:40 AM: India bans export of face masks, evacuates nationals

NEW DELHI — India’s Commerce Ministry banned the export of personal protection equipment, including N95 face masks and other protective clothing, in an order issued Friday.

The move follows a spike in demand for such products as cases of coronavirus spread to 22 countries outside mainland China. Indian authorities have confirmed one coronavirus case in the southern state of Kerala.

India also joined a growing list of countries evacuating nationals from China as coronavirus cases continued to surge in the country. A flight from Wuhan carrying more than 350 people, many of them students, is scheduled to land in New Delhi early Saturday morning local time. Incoming passengers will be quarantined for 14 days in Manesar, 55 miles outside the capital, New Delhi.

Two camps have been set up by the country’s armed forces, which will manage the facilities along with the Health Ministry. Those showing symptoms of coronavirus will be shifted to a hospital for treatment.

By: Niha Masih

9:35 AM: Risk of infection remains very low in Britain, chief medical officer says

WASHINGTON — After the United Kingdom confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus Friday, the country’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said that the risk of infection there remained low — but that the chance of China losing control of the epidemic was his main concern.

“The risk comes from the situation in China going out of control, despite best efforts by the Chinese government, and spreading more widely,” Whitty said. “So that is the thing for which we are planning, that is the risk.”

Public health officials around the world have grappled with how to keep people continually informed about the outbreak, while at the same time not stoking undue panic. So far, the disease and deaths from it have remained centered in China, where authorities initially did not share news about the emerging new virus, which consequently made it harder to control as potentially infected populations continued to move around.

In contrast, countries such as the U.K. have put in place preemptive screening and testing procedures for high-risk travelers, techniques that public health officials say can dramatically reduce the risk of an outbreak.

By: Miriam Berger

9:34 AM: Germany confirms child of patient has virus

BERLIN — The number of coronavirus cases in Germany increased to six Friday, as authorities confirmed that the child of a patient in Bavaria had been diagnosed.

All five infected adults work for Webasto, an automotive supplier near Munich. Their condition is stable, authorities said.

A 33-year-old man became the country’s first confirmed coronavirus patient Monday, after being infected by a female business visitor from Shanghai.

She and the 33-year-old met at a workshop in the offices of the German automotive supplier.

Authorities said Tuesday that around 40 individuals had come into close contact with him and the Chinese visitor. Webasto temporarily closed its headquarters near Munich on Wednesday.

By: Rick Noack

8:41 AM: Italian government sets six-month state of emergency

ROME — The Italian government said it will impose a six-month state of emergency, as the country confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus.

The declaration — set to be officially announced later Friday — will free up funding and resources aimed at preventing the virus from spreading.

The Italian move came in response to WHO’s declaration of a “public health emergency of international concern,” which requires countries to ramp up their crisis response.

“In light of WHO’s international emergency we have activated all of the precautionary legal tools allowed by our country in such cases, just like in 2003 with the SARS outbreak,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement.

Italy also suspended “all plane connections between Italy and China, until further notice,” according to a statement by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.

States of emergency are declared relatively frequently in Italy, compared to other major European nations. A similar emergency was declared in Venice in November, when floods engulfed the city.

Even though both France and Germany have reported more coronavirus cases than Italy, neither have taken steps comparable to the Italian declaration.

By: Stefano Pitrelli and Rick Noack

8:10 AM: First coronavirus cases confirmed in Russia

MOSCOW — The first two coronavirus cases in Russia have been recorded, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters Friday. Both are Chinese citizens, she said.

One case is in Russia’s Far East Transbaikal Territory, a region that borders China, while the other is in the Tyumen Region, about 1,300 miles east of Moscow.

Golikova also announced that most flights to and from China have been suspended. The exceptions are Aeroflot’s regular routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou and Chinese Airlines’ flight to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Other preventive measures include imposing stricter border-crossing restrictions for those traveling from Mongolia.

Russia has already closed its entire 2,600-mile border with China over concerns of a coronavirus outbreak, and the country put out an advisory Friday for citizens to avoid hugging, kissing and literally letting their hair down to prevent the spread of the disease.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer health regulator, suggested that people refrain from displays of affection, including handshakes, and secure their hair to limit contact with the face. It also advised people not to touch railings or doorknobs with bare hands.

Golikova said a decision on if to postpone an investment forum in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi amid concerns of a coronavirus outbreak will be made on Monday. The Russian Investment Forum is scheduled for Feb. 12, and one argument for pushing it back is the large Chinese delegation that was due to attend. Russia and China did $110 billion in trade last year.

By: Isabelle Khurshudyan

8:09 AM: Japan to tighten restrictions on Chinese nationals, Abe says

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday his government would bar foreigners from entering the country if they had been in the virus-hit Chinese city in the previous two weeks and would also exclude any Chinese national whose passport was issued by the provincial government of Hubei, media reports said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the plan to tighten immigration controls would be officially announced at midnight Japan time. In a statement, it said Abe told a specially constituted task force dealing with the crisis to implement measures so that “people infected with the virus will be denied entry into Japan.” Abe added that immigration controls must be strengthened even when the presence of the infection cannot be confirmed. Nikkei and NHK both reported details of the new plan.

Singapore on Friday banned all Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city-state, as well as any travelers who have been in mainland China in the past two weeks.

By: Simon Denyer

7:45 AM: China dismisses public health official

HONG KONG — Mindful of the political danger, China dismissed a public health official — her departure publicized by state mouthpieces in a rare, officially sanctioned show of accountability. Tang Zhihong, the health commission head of Huanggang, a city in Hubei province with the second-largest number of cases after Wuhan, was interviewed by a state broadcaster and fumbled her answers on the city’s response to the crisis. She could not state the number of available hotel beds in her city, nor its capacity to test for the virus.

After the clip was viewed some 40 million times, Tang was dismissed on Thursday night, becoming the first Chinese official to lose her job over the crisis. Her removal was carried in English by the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper, which described her as “bumbling.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:30 AM: First cases confirmed in Britain add to global spread

HONG KONG: The outbreak, meanwhile, continues to spread. Britain on Friday confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in England. “We have been preparing for U.K. cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately,” chief medical officer Chris Whitty said.

In South Korea, health officials reported an 11th case. Earlier Friday, 368 South Korean evacuees from Wuhan arrived home on a government-chartered flight. They were screened for symptoms, with 18 taken to the hospital and the remainder placed in quarantine.

Germany and India, which have each confirmed cases of coronavirus, were preparing to evacuate their citizens in Wuhan by plane. More than 350 names were featured on a list drawn up by Indian officials, while Germany was planning to retrieve about 100 people.

Elsewhere, Mongolia extended the closure of its border crossings with China until March 2 and said it would not allow Chinese citizens to enter the country. Pakistan said it was halting flights to and from China with immediate effect.

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:15 AM: Significant fallout for Chinese travelers globally

HONG KONG — The fallout has been significant for Chinese travelers globally. Dozens of airlines have suspended flights to the country and many companies have urged their staff to stay away. From Italy to the Philippines, hotels and ports have been turning away Chinese citizens over fears that they may be infected.

The response at times has morphed into outright racism. In France, the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus — “I am not a virus” — began trending, with those of Asian descent sharing their experiences of racism after a newspaper used the headline “Yellow Alert” to describe the outbreak.

Restaurants in South Korea have put up signs turning away Chinese clients. A student in Britain wrote in the Guardian that commuters have avoided sitting next to him because of his ethnicity. And after 7,000 people were held on a cruise ship in an Italian port over unfounded fears that two of its Chinese passengers were infected with the virus, officials have warned of latent and widespread racism against the Chinese community.

By: Shibani Mahtani

5:00 AM: State Department travel advisory an ‘extreme’ step, expert warns

HONG KONG — The State Department issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit China, the highest level of caution that is in place against only a handful of countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, as the numbers of those infected by the deadly coronavirus continued to soar.

The U.S. travel advisory, analysts say, represents a strong reaction from Washington amid rivalry with Beijing and pressure from the Trump administration for American businesses to shift production back home. The step is likely to have substantial implications for the Chinese economy, even though the warning is not mandatory for U.S. travelers to observe.

But James Zimmerman, partner in the Beijing office of law firm Perkins Coie LLP and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in light of the departure arrangement, the State Department’s travel warning appeared “extreme.”

It is “premature and suspect, and overreacting at best,” he said Friday. “The advisory is a clear reflection of how fear and a lack of trustworthy information can be an insidious combination.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

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2020-01-31 15:21:00Z
52780579291157

Live updates: Coronavirus deaths soar as U.S. warns against China travel - The Washington Post

Glenn Hunt EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Flight attendants in protective face masks walk through Brisbane airport in Australia on Friday. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases soared to almost 10,000, with more than 213 deaths recorded in China.

As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak passed 200 Friday, all of the fatalities in China, the State Department told Americans not to travel to the country and advised those in China to consider departing. Here is what we know:

●The United States has issued a “Level 4” travel advisory for China, its highest level of caution, over the rapidly spreading outbreak. Japan followed suit, urging citizens to avoid non-urgent trips, while Singapore banned Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city.

●Two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Britain, and the first case in Russia was confirmed. South Korea reported an 11th case.

●China, anxious to shield Communist Party leaders from blame, dismissed a public health official over her handling of the crisis.

●The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global public health emergency, requiring states to ramp up their responses.

●In Hong Kong, officials closed schools until March as the number of confirmed cases rose to 12 and residents faced supply shortages.

WHO declares global emergency | U.S. reports first person-to-person transmission | Trump under growing pressure | U.S. airports screen travelers | Mapping the spread

9:35 AM: Risk of infection remains very low in Britain, chief medical officer says

WASHINGTON — After the United Kingdom confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus Friday, the country’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said that the risk of infection there remained low — but that the chance of China losing control of the epidemic was his main concern.

“The risk comes from the situation in China going out of control, despite best efforts by the Chinese government, and spreading more widely,” Whitty said. “So that is the thing for which we are planning, that is the risk.”

Public health officials around the world have grappled with how to keep people continually informed about the outbreak, while at the same time not stoking undue panic. So far, the disease and deaths from it have remained centered in China, where authorities initially did not share news about the emerging new virus, which consequently made it harder to control as potentially infected populations continued to move around.

In contrast, countries such as the U.K. have put in place preemptive screening and testing procedures for high-risk travelers, techniques that public health officials say can dramatically reduce the risk of an outbreak.

By: Miriam Berger

9:34 AM: Germany confirms child of patient has virus

BERLIN — The number of coronavirus cases in Germany increased to six Friday, as authorities confirmed that the child of a patient in Bavaria had been diagnosed.

All five infected adults work for Webasto, an automotive supplier near Munich. Their condition is stable, authorities said.

A 33-year-old man became the country’s first confirmed coronavirus patient Monday, after being infected by a female business visitor from Shanghai.

She and the 33-year-old met at a workshop in the offices of the German automotive supplier.

Authorities said Tuesday that around 40 individuals had come into close contact with him and the Chinese visitor. Webasto temporarily closed its headquarters near Munich on Wednesday.

By: Rick Noack

8:41 AM: Italian government sets six-month state of emergency

ROME — The Italian government said it will impose a six-month state of emergency, as the country confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus.

The declaration — set to be officially announced later Friday — will free up funding and resources aimed at preventing the virus from spreading.

The Italian move came in response to WHO’s declaration of a “public health emergency of international concern,” which requires countries to ramp up their crisis response.

“In light of WHO’s international emergency we have activated all of the precautionary legal tools allowed by our country in such cases, just like in 2003 with the SARS outbreak,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement.

Italy also suspended “all plane connections between Italy and China, until further notice,” according to a statement by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.

States of emergency are declared relatively frequently in Italy, compared to other major European nations. A similar emergency was declared in Venice in November, when floods engulfed the city.

Even though both France and Germany have reported more coronavirus cases than Italy, neither have taken steps comparable to the Italian declaration.

By: Stefano Pitrelli and Rick Noack

8:10 AM: First coronavirus cases confirmed in Russia

MOSCOW — The first two coronavirus cases in Russia have been recorded, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters Friday. Both are Chinese citizens, she said.

One case is in Russia’s Far East Transbaikal Territory, a region that borders China, while the other is in the Tyumen Region, about 1,300 miles east of Moscow.

Golikova also announced that most flights to and from China have been suspended. The exceptions are Aeroflot’s regular routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou and Chinese Airlines’ flight to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Other preventive measures include imposing stricter border-crossing restrictions for those traveling from Mongolia.

Russia has already closed its entire 2,600-mile border with China over concerns of a coronavirus outbreak, and the country put out an advisory Friday for citizens to avoid hugging, kissing and literally letting their hair down to prevent the spread of the disease.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer health regulator, suggested that people refrain from displays of affection, including handshakes, and secure their hair to limit contact with the face. It also advised people not to touch railings or doorknobs with bare hands.

Golikova said a decision on if to postpone an investment forum in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi amid concerns of a coronavirus outbreak will be made on Monday. The Russian Investment Forum is scheduled for Feb. 12, and one argument for pushing it back is the large Chinese delegation that was due to attend. Russia and China did $110 billion in trade last year.

By: Isabelle Khurshudyan

8:09 AM: Japan to tighten restrictions on Chinese nationals, Abe says

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday his government would bar foreigners from entering the country if they had been in the virus-hit Chinese city in the previous two weeks and would also exclude any Chinese national whose passport was issued by the provincial government of Hubei, media reports said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the plan to tighten immigration controls would be officially announced at midnight Japan time. In a statement, it said Abe told a specially constituted task force dealing with the crisis to implement measures so that “people infected with the virus will be denied entry into Japan.” Abe added that immigration controls must be strengthened even when the presence of the infection cannot be confirmed. Nikkei and NHK both reported details of the new plan.

Singapore on Friday banned all Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city-state, as well as any travelers who have been in mainland China in the past two weeks.

By: Simon Denyer

7:45 AM: China dismisses public health official

HONG KONG — Mindful of the political danger, China dismissed a public health official — her departure publicized by state mouthpieces in a rare, officially sanctioned show of accountability. Tang Zhihong, the health commission head of Huanggang, a city in Hubei province with the second-largest number of cases after Wuhan, was interviewed by a state broadcaster and fumbled her answers on the city’s response to the crisis. She could not state the number of available hotel beds in her city, nor its capacity to test for the virus.

After the clip was viewed some 40 million times, Tang was dismissed on Thursday night, becoming the first Chinese official to lose her job over the crisis. Her removal was carried in English by the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper, which described her as “bumbling.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:30AM: First cases confirmed in Britain add to global spread

HONG KONG: The outbreak, meanwhile, continues to spread. Britain on Friday confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in England. “We have been preparing for U.K. cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately,” chief medical officer Chris Whitty said.

In South Korea, health officials reported an 11th case. Earlier Friday, 368 South Korean evacuees from Wuhan arrived home on a government-chartered flight. They were screened for symptoms, with 18 taken to the hospital and the remainder placed in quarantine.

Germany and India, which have each confirmed cases of coronavirus, were preparing to evacuate their citizens in Wuhan by plane. More than 350 names were featured on a list drawn up by Indian officials, while Germany was planning to retrieve about 100 people.

Elsewhere, Mongolia extended the closure of its border crossings with China until March 2 and said it would not allow Chinese citizens to enter the country. Pakistan said it was halting flights to and from China with immediate effect.

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:15 AM: Significant fallout for Chinese travelers globally

HONG KONG — The fallout has been significant for Chinese travelers globally. Dozens of airlines have suspended flights to the country and many companies have urged their staff to stay away. From Italy to the Philippines, hotels and ports have been turning away Chinese citizens over fears that they may be infected.

The response at times has morphed into outright racism. In France, the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus — “I am not a virus” — began trending, with those of Asian descent sharing their experiences of racism after a newspaper used the headline “Yellow Alert” to describe the outbreak.

Restaurants in South Korea have put up signs turning away Chinese clients. A student in Britain wrote in the Guardian that commuters have avoided sitting next to him because of his ethnicity. And after 7,000 people were held on a cruise ship in an Italian port over unfounded fears that two of its Chinese passengers were infected with the virus, officials have warned of latent and widespread racism against the Chinese community.

By: Shibani Mahtani

5:00 AM: State Department travel advisory an ‘extreme’ step, expert warns

HONG KONG — The State Department issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit China, the highest level of caution that is in place against only a handful of countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, as the numbers of those infected by the deadly coronavirus continued to soar.

The U.S. travel advisory, analysts say, represents a strong reaction from Washington amid rivalry with Beijing and pressure from the Trump administration for American businesses to shift production back home. The step is likely to have substantial implications for the Chinese economy, even though the warning is not mandatory for U.S. travelers to observe.

But James Zimmerman, partner in the Beijing office of law firm Perkins Coie LLP and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in light of the departure arrangement, the State Department’s travel warning appeared “extreme.”

It is “premature and suspect, and overreacting at best,” he said Friday. “The advisory is a clear reflection of how fear and a lack of trustworthy information can be an insidious combination.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

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2020-01-31 14:45:00Z
52780579291157

Live updates: Coronavirus deaths soar as U.S. warns on China travel - The Washington Post

Glenn Hunt

EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Flight attendants in protective face masks at Brisbane airport in Australia on Friday. The number of confirmed cases soared to almost 10,000, with more than 213 deaths recorded in China.

As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak passed 200 on Friday, all of the fatalities in China, the State Department told Americans not to travel to the country and advised those in China to consider departing. Here is what we know:

●The United States has issued a “Level 4” travel advisory for China, its highest level of caution over the rapidly spreading outbreak. Japan followed suit, urging citizens to avoid non-urgent trips, while Singapore banned Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city.

●Two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Britain. South Korea reported an 11th case.

●China, anxious to shield Communist Party leaders from blame, dismissed a public health official over her handling of the crisis.

●The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global public health emergency, requiring states to ramp up responses.

●In Hong Kong, officials closed schools until March as the number of confirmed cases rose to 12 and residents faced supply shortages.

WHO declares global emergency | U.S. reports first person-to-person transmission | Trump under growing pressure | U.S. airports screen travelers | Mapping the spread

8:41 AM: Italian government sets six-month state of emergency

ROME — The Italian government said it will impose a six-month state of emergency, as the country confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus.

The declaration — set to be officially announced later Friday — will free up funding and resources aimed at preventing the virus from spreading.

The Italian move came in response to WHO’s declaration of a “public health emergency of international concern,” which requires countries to ramp up their crisis response.

“In light of WHO’s international emergency we have activated all of the precautionary legal tools allowed by our country in such cases, just like in 2003 with the SARS outbreak,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement.

Italy also suspended “all plane connections between Italy and China, until further notice,” according to a statement by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.

States of emergency are declared relatively frequently in Italy, compared to other major European nations. A similar emergency was declared in Venice in November, when floods engulfed the city.

Even though both France and Germany have reported more coronavirus cases than Italy, neither have taken steps comparable to the Italian declaration.

By: Stefano Pitrelli and Rick Noack

8:10 AM: First coronavirus cases confirmed in Russia

MOSCOW — The first two coronavirus cases in Russia have been recorded, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters Friday. Both are Chinese citizens, she said.

One case is in Russia’s Far East Transbaikal Territory, a region that borders China, while the other is in the Tyumen Region, about 1,300 miles east of Moscow.

Golikova also announced that most flights to and from China have been suspended. The exceptions are Aeroflot’s regular routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou and Chinese Airlines’ flight to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Other preventive measures include imposing stricter border-crossing restrictions for those traveling from Mongolia.

Russia has already closed its entire 2,600-mile border with China over concerns of a coronavirus outbreak, and the country put out an advisory Friday for citizens to avoid hugging, kissing and literally letting their hair down to prevent the spread of the disease.

Along with a suggestion to cut down on the displays of affection, including handshakes, and securing hair back to limit contact with the face, Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer health regulator, said not to touch railings or doorknobs with bare hands.

Golikova said a decision on if to postpone an investment forum in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi amid concerns of a coronavirus outbreak will be made on Monday. The Russian Investment Forum is scheduled for Feb. 12, and one argument for pushing it is the large Chinese delegation that was due to attend. Russia and China did $110 billion in trade last year.

By: Isabelle Khurshudyan

8:09 AM: Japan to tighten restrictions on Chinese nationals, Abe says

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday his government would bar any foreigner from entering the country if they had been in the virus-hit Chinese city in the previous two weeks and would also exclude any Chinese national whose passport was issued by the provincial government of Hubei, media reports said.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the plan to tighten immigration controls would be officially announced at midnight Japan time. In a statement, it said Abe told a specially constituted task force dealing with the crisis to implement measures so that “people infected with the virus will be denied entry into Japan.” Abe added that immigration controls must be strengthened even when the presence of the infection cannot be confirmed. Nikkei and NHK both reported details of the new plan.

Singapore on Friday banned all Chinese nationals from entering or transiting through the city-state, as well as any travelers who have been in mainland China in the past two weeks.

By: Simon Denyer

7:45 AM: China dismisses public health official

HONG KONG — Mindful of the political danger, China dismissed a public health official — her departure publicized by state mouthpieces in a rare, officially sanctioned show of accountability. Tang Zhihong, the health commission head of Huanggang, a city in Hubei province with the second-largest number of cases after Wuhan, was interviewed by a state broadcaster and fumbled her answers on the city’s response to the crisis. She could not state the number of available hotel beds in her city, nor its capacity to test for the virus.

After the clip was viewed some 40 million times, Tang was dismissed on Thursday night, becoming the first Chinese official to lose her job over the crisis. Her removal was carried in English by the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper, which described her as “bumbling.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:30AM: First cases confirmed in Britain add to global spread

HONG KONG: The outbreak, meanwhile, continues to spread. Britain on Friday confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in England. “We have been preparing for U.K. cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately,” chief medical officer Chris Whitty said.

In South Korea, health officials reported an 11th case. Earlier Friday, 368 South Korean evacuees from Wuhan arrived home on a government-chartered flight. They were screened for symptoms, with 18 taken to the hospital and the remainder placed in quarantine.

Germany and India, which have each confirmed cases of coronavirus, were preparing to evacuate their citizens in Wuhan by plane. More than 350 names were featured on a list drawn up by Indian officials, while Germany was planning to retrieve about 100 people.

Elsewhere, Mongolia extended the closure of its border crossings with China until March 2 and said it would not allow Chinese citizens to enter the country. Pakistan said it was halting flights to and from China with immediate effect.

By: Shibani Mahtani

7:15 AM: Significant fallout for Chinese travelers globally

HONG KONG — The fallout has been significant for Chinese travelers globally. Dozens of airlines have suspended flights to the country and many companies have urged their staff to stay away. From Italy to the Philippines, hotels and ports have been turning away Chinese citizens over fears that they may be infected.

The response at times has morphed into outright racism. In France, the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus — “I am not a virus” — began trending, with those of Asian descent sharing their experiences of racism after a newspaper used the headline “Yellow Alert” to describe the outbreak.

Restaurants in South Korea have put up signs turning away Chinese clients. A student in Britain wrote in the Guardian that commuters have avoided sitting next to him because of his ethnicity. And after 7,000 people were held on a cruise ship in an Italian port over unfounded fears that two of its Chinese passengers were infected with the virus, officials have warned of latent and widespread racism against the Chinese community.

By: Shibani Mahtani

5:00 AM: State Department travel advisory an ‘extreme’ step, expert warns

HONG KONG — The State Department issued a travel advisory urging Americans not to visit China, the highest level of caution that is in place against only a handful of countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, as the numbers of those infected by the deadly coronavirus continued to soar.

The U.S. travel advisory, analysts say, represents a strong reaction from Washington amid rivalry with Beijing and pressure from the Trump administration for American businesses to shift production back home. The step is likely to have substantial implications for the Chinese economy, even though the warning is not mandatory for U.S. travelers to observe.

But James Zimmerman, partner in the Beijing office of law firm Perkins Coie LLP and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in light of the departure arrangement, the State Department’s travel warning appeared “extreme.”

It is “premature and suspect, and overreacting at best,” he said Friday. “The advisory is a clear reflection of how fear and a lack of trustworthy information can be an insidious combination.”

By: Shibani Mahtani

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2020-01-31 14:03:00Z
CAIiEBDW0zHzt862dZ-IDxnn1yUqGAgEKg8IACoHCAowjtSUCjC30XQwn6G5AQ

Britain is leaving the European Union. Here's how we got here - CNN

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2020-01-31 12:48:12Z
52780580075194

The coronavirus could cost China's economy $60 billion this quarter. Beijing will have to act fast to avert a bigger hit - CNN

The economic impact of the virus is still impossible to determine, but one state media outlet and some economists have said that China's growth rate could drop two percentage points this quarter because of the outbreak, which has brought large parts of the country to a standstill. A decline on that scale could mean $62 billion in lost growth.

China can ill afford that kind of hit. Growth last year was already the country's weakest in nearly three decades, as China contended with rising debt and the fallout from its trade war with the United States.

The coronavirus, which first appeared in the central city of Wuhan, has already killed more than 200 people and infected more people than the SARS outbreak in 2003. A disease of this magnitude wasn't even on China's radar. Before the outbreak, the government was more worried that social unrest could be its "black swan" problem — an improbable but chaotic event officials feared could be spurred by rising unemployment.

Now Beijing is scrambling to stop the virus from cratering its economy. The ruling Communist Party recently put Premier Li Keqiang in charge of virus control. The decision was a clear signal that stopping the virus is "the priority among priorities" for the government right now, the official People's Daily newspaper wrote in a recent commentary.

So far, policymakers have taken some steps to help the businesses that are most affected by the rapid spread of the disease.

Central and local governments have allocated $12.6 billion so far to spend on medical treatment and equipment.

Major banks have cut interest rates for small businesses and individuals in the worst-hit areas. And the Bank of China said it would allow people in Wuhan and the rest of Hubei province to delay their loan payments for several months if they lose their source of income because of the disruption.

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has said that it will ensure there is enough liquidity in the financial markets when they reopen next Monday after a 10-day Lunar New Year holiday. When Hong Kong's markets reopened earlier this week, the Hang Seng index (HSI) plunged nearly 6% in just a few days of trading.

Aggressive action

The government will likely have to be even more aggressive in the coming months to avert a more serious slowdown, according to Chinese economist Zhang Ming.

Zhang, who works at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote this week that he expects economic growth to slump by a percentage point to 5% in the first quarter, assuming the epidemic lasts until the end of March. He described that as his most optimistic scenario, but didn't give a specific forecast should the outbreak last even longer.

The government could cut taxes and boost spending on public healthcare and employment training, Zhang said. He also expects local governments to spend more on infrastructure. By boosting economic activity and creating jobs, he added, cities can offset any weakness in private investment in real estate and manufacturing.

The central bank is also likely to deliver more interest rate cuts to stabilize the economy, Zhang said. Altogether, he said such measures could help growth rebound next quarter and push annual GDP growth to around 5.7%. While that's lower than last year's 6.1% growth, it would be in line with many analyst expectations.

Others take a more pessimistic view.

Analysts at Nomura believe growth could drop by two percentage points or more in the first quarter. The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, wrote Friday that the outbreak could shave two percentage points off GDP growth this quarter, citing industry insiders. Government's efforts to contain the virus by extending Lunar New Year holidays and forcing factories to shut down could "take a piece out of the nation's manufacturing industry and disrupt the global supply chain."

Measuring the fallout

It's too early to say whether that level of upheaval is on the horizon. Tesla (TSLA) has been forced to close its new Shanghai-built factory temporarily. And Apple (AAPL) has lost production from suppliers in Wuhan. The longer term impact on both companies is much less clear.

Other sectors might have more to lose right now. Tourism — a multibillion-dollar industry during the Lunar New Year — has been decimated as the government quarantines major population centers and people avoid traveling for fear of becoming infected. Major travel companies, hotels and airlines have offered refunds through most of February, while some airlines have suspended services to and from China.

Holiday celebrations have been canceled and major tourism spots have been closed off. China's massive box office will also likely take a hit after several blockbuster movies set to release during the holiday season were pulled.

Zhang and other analysts suggested that the fallout could even be more serious than after SARS, the respiratory disease that caused China's economic growth to briefly plunge before rebounding nearly two decades ago.

The spread of the coronavirus threatens to cause job losses and push consumer prices higher, compounding economic woes that already exist.

The employment market is already under stress this year. Industries that traditionally create a lot of jobs, like the technology sector, have been hurt by the economic slowdown. The coronavirus outbreak will make things worse, according to Zhang.

China's 290 million migrant workers are among those most exposed to a slump. Many of them travel from rural areas to the cities to take on construction and manufacturing jobs or perform low paying but vital work, such as waiting tables in restaurants, delivering packages or acting as janitors.

But because many factories and businesses remain shut down, millions of those workers might find it hard to land a job after the extended Lunar New Year holiday ends. More than 10 million migrant workers from Hubei province alone might also face discrimination from employers fearful that they may spread the virus.

Zhang warned that China's unemployment rate — already a concern for officials — could reach a record high in the coming months. The rate traditionally has hovered around 4% or 5%.

He added the virus could also make consumer goods more expensive. Budgets are already tight because of rising debt, and a pork crisis brought on by the outbreak of African swine fever among China's pigs last year has caused the price of meat to skyrocket. Now vegetable prices have risen as people rush to buy basic necessities during the virus outbreak, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

Other challenges

Dealing with the disease will make some of China's other problems that much tougher to solve — including its tricky trade relationship with the United States.

As part of a truce reached earlier in January, Beijing agreed to buy $200 billion worth of US products in the next two years. Analysts have already said that shrinking domestic demand in China will make it tough for the country to hit those targets. If the virus weakens the country's buying power even more, those goals could move even further out of reach.

Substantial tariffs totaling hundreds of billions of dollars also remain in place on many Chinese goods. And Washington has made it clear that those will remain a form of leverage as the two sides negotiate the next phase of their agreement.

Even so, at least one analyst finds it unlikely that the trade war will escalate just because China is "temporarily" unable to honor its trade commitments. The United States is in an election year, and such an action could jeopardize President Donald Trump's campaign, said Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank.

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2020-01-31 12:30:00Z
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Brexit Live Updates: U.K.’s Final Hours in the E.U. - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• Britain approaches a historic change.
• “Dawn of a new era”: Johnson’s planned speech on Britain’s next act.
• Front pages reveal a divided Britain.
• Christine Lagarde offers reassurances, even as the specter of recession looms.
• E.U. leaders lament the loss and look to the future.

Flags were hung along the Mall, the ceremonial avenue leading up to Buckingham Palace in London, as part of the government’s muted celebrations.Credit...Peter Summers/Getty Images

Britain approaches a historic change.

At 11 p.m. on Friday — midnight in Brussels, and 6 p.m. in New York — Britain will officially depart from the European Union, 1,317 days after voting in favor of leaving the bloc in a referendum that plunged the country into a three-year-long debate over its future.

While this will be the official end of 47 years of Britain’s membership in what became the European Union, very little is set to change immediately. It’s the beginning of a transition period, scheduled to end on Dec. 31, during which London and Brussels must hash out the details of Britain’s future relationship with its European neighbors. Still, the moment carries enormous legal and symbolic weight.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cabinet were to begin their day with a meeting in Sunderland, the city in northern England that was the first to announce it had voted in favor of leaving the European Union on the night of the 2016 referendum.

It was the first of a handful of celebratory, but noticeably muted, official events to mark the day, suggesting that a pro-Brexit government is seeking to avoid the appearance of gloating. In the referendum, 48 percent of voters wanted to remain part of the European Union, and later polls suggest that number may have grown since.

Flags will line Parliament Square and The Mall, the ceremonial avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, and government buildings will be lit up in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack.

A countdown clock will be projected onto the front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, along with a commemorative light display to “symbolize the strength and unity” of the four nations of the United Kingdom, the government said.

But a campaign for a celebratory 11 p.m. chime from Big Ben — the great bell of Parliament’s clock tower, which is currently silenced for restoration work — did not succeed.

In Brussels, the three presidents of the European Union institutions will give a joint statement Friday morning, expected to reflect a jointly published article in which they detail a hopeful future for the union.

“Dawn of a new era”: Johnson’s planned speech on Britain’s next act.

In the years of debate over Britain’s exit from the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was never one for nuance, even declaring that he would “rather be dead in a ditch” than see Brexit delayed again.

But as the hour of reckoning approaches, Downing Street has been remarkably subdued, not wanting to rub salt in the still raw wounds of those who desperately wanted to remain — about half the country.

When he addresses the nation tonight at 10 p.m., Mr. Johnson will attempt to strike a hopeful and conciliatory note.

“Our job as the government, my job, is to bring this country together and take us forward,” he will say, according to excerpts released by his office. “This is not an end but a beginning. This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act.”

Of course, the next year of negotiations over Britain’s future trade relationship with the European Union will play a large role in determining what that new act might look like.

But that concern was for another day. Mr. Johnson, instead, will use his remarks to convince the public that Brexit is “not an end but a beginning.”

“This is the dawn of a new era in which we no longer accept that your life chances — your family’s life chances — should depend on which part of the country you grow up in,” he will tell the nation. “This is the moment when we begin to unite and level up.”

Front pages reveal a divided Britain.

The front pages of the country’s main newspapers offered several interpretations of Britain’s final day in the European Union.

Some celebrated the coming of a new dawn while others offered a bleak picture of the twilight of an era of cooperation.

“Yes, We Did It!” declared the tabloid Daily Express, while The Daily Mail, another conservative, pro-Brexit paper, lauded “A New Dawn for Britain,” with a photograph of the sunbathed white cliffs of Dover, 62 miles from the French coast.

The liberal and pro-European Guardian offered the headline “Small island,” with a miniature union flag planted in a crumbling sand castle on a beach, the same white cliffs visible in the distance. What comes next is uncertain, the paper wrote, calling Brexit the biggest gamble in a generation.

The I, another paper with liberal leanings, had “U.K.’s leap into the unknown” overlaid on a satellite view of Western Europe at night, a perspective that emphasized Britain’s physical closeness to its European Union neighbors.

The headline on the Edinburgh-based The Scotsman was “Farewell, not goodbye,” with the British, Scottish and European flags — a nod to reinvigorated calls for Scottish independence from Britain. Scots voted against independence in a 2014 referendum, but then voted strongly to remain in European Union two years later.

That divergence from England has helped fuel calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence, with the suggestion that an independent Scotland could then rejoin the European Union.

For those Britons already missing Europe, The Times of London promoted a travel supplement full of European escapes and the “Best places to stay in touch with the Continent.” And, finally, The Daily Star saw a reason to celebrate, but not the one other tabloids were highlighting.

“Tonight is a TRULY HISTORIC moment for our great nation,” blared the cover of what it called a souvenir edition. “That’s right, it’s the end of dry January.”

Christine Lagarde offers reassurances, even as the specter of recession looms.

Christine Lagarde, Europe’s top central banker, said she was sorry that Britain was leaving the European Union, but offered assurances that the split could take place without disrupting the financial system.

“It is with great regret that we see our British friends leave the European Union,” Ms. Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, said in a statement. “We will work hard to ensure Brexit causes as little disruption as possible for the citizens, employers and financial markets in the euro area and the rest of the E.U.”

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England have already set up a system to swap pounds and euros to ensure that banks don’t run short of either currency. Bank regulators on both sides have agreed to continue sharing information. And the European Central Bank has already issued licenses for 25 banks relocating from Britain to the euro currency zone.

Britain was never a member of the eurozone. But as a member of the European Union it contributed about 58 million euros, or $64 million, to the European Central Bank’s capital. It will now get that money back.

But fears that Brexit could hurt the European economy may already be proving justified. The eurozone grew only 0.1 percent during the last three months of 2019 compared with the previous quarter, according to official statistics published on Friday.

That was a significant slowdown from previous quarters and meant that the 19 countries in the eurozone grew only 1.2 percent during last year, according to a preliminary estimate.

“The specter of recession is back,” Christoph Weil, an economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said in a note to investors on Friday.

Eurostat, the official statistics agency, didn’t give a reason for the slowdown. But one factor was probably the uncertainty caused by Brexit, which has made businesses hesitant to hire or to invest in expansion. Trade between the European Union and Britain has also shrunk since the country voted to leave.

E.U. leaders lament the loss and look to the future.

In an opinion article published across the European press, the presidents of the three main European Union institutions called Brexit Friday a “new dawn” for Europe.

After offering kind words on Britain’s departure, Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission, Charles Michel of the European Council and David Sassoli of the European Parliament tried to strike an upbeat tone.

“We need to look to the future and build a new partnership between enduring friends,” they wrote. “Together, our three institutions will do everything in their power to make it a success. We are ready to be ambitious.”

The article was published alongside a cheery video touting the European Union’s economic and climate-friendly credentials and maintaining that its remaining 27 members were “#strongertogether.”

Brussels wants the message to be clear, because while Britain’s departure has yet to inspire strong withdrawal movements in other countries, as some expected immediately after the 2016 referendum, many Europeans are disillusioned with the project of ever closer union.

“We have a common vision of where we want to go and a commitment to be ambitious on the defining issues of our times,” the three presidents said. “That work continues as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”

Megan Specia, Elian Peltier, Jack Ewing, Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Michael Wolgelenter contributed reporting.

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2020-01-31 11:56:00Z
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