First person outside of mainland China dies of Wuhan coronavirus - CNN

Philippines health officials announced Sunday that a 44-year-old Chinese man had died the day before from coronavirus after flying into the country from Wuhan, the Chinese city of 11 million at the center of the outbreak.

There are more than 14,300 confirmed cases around the world, and 305 people have died. All but one of the deaths have been in mainland China.

Within China, almost 60 million people remain on effective lockdown as the country battles to contain the virus amid reports its health system is on its knees, running out of beds and supplies.

International response

There are now more than 160 confirmed cases in 26 countries or territories outside of mainland China. And as the virus continues to spread around the world, governments are stepping up their responses.

The United States, Australia and New Zealand have all announced that they will not allow foreign nationals who have traveled from or transited through China to enter. All three countries will continue to allow citizens who have visited China to enter, although they will need to be quarantined.

Some governments have also raised their travel advisory warnings. The US, for instance, has labeled China a "do not travel" destination -- the highest possible warning.

A number of countries have evacuated their citizens from Wuhan. The US evacuated 195 Americans, who are under a 14-day quarantine on an air force base in California.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has also approved a request to provide military housing for up to 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined after arriving in the US from overseas travel, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Fears over the pandemic have rattled global stock markets and forced both US and global carriers to amend flight schedules as demand for China travel declines.

Major airlines -- including British Airways and Australia's Qantas -- have announced they will no longer fly to mainland China. Delta said it will suspend flights between the US and China starting on Sunday until at least April 30, according to a press release.

Chinese response

In mainland China, tens of millions of people remain under effective quarantine after the government imposed travel restrictions on a number of cities in Hubei province. Wuhan -- where the outbreak was first reported -- is the capital of Hubei province.

Although the outbreak has spread to every province and region of China, the outbreak remains worst in Hubei, where more than 7,100 have been diagnosed with coronavirus and 249 people have died.

A total of 57 million people across 15 cities in Hubei are on some form of lockdown. Huanggang -- a city of 7.5 million in Hubei province -- is only allowing one representative from each household to leave their home every other day to go out for grocery shopping in order to minimize the flow of people in the city.

The unprecedented decision to shut down entire cities comes as the country faces a shortage of medical supplies. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has even asked the European Union to help China procure medical supplies, according to a Chinese government statement.

Patients and medical staff have also told CNN of delays in testing for the virus, raising concerns that the outbreak in China may be worse than is reported.

CNN's Yong Xiong and Steven Jiang in Beijing; and Carly Walsh in Hong Kong contributed reporting.

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2020-02-02 13:20:00Z
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First person outside of mainland China dies of Wuhan coronavirus - CNN

Philippines health officials announced Sunday that a 44-year-old Chinese man had died the day before from coronavirus after flying into the country from Wuhan, the Chinese city of 11 million at the center of the outbreak.

There are more than 14,300 confirmed cases around the world, and 305 people have died. All but one of the deaths have been in mainland China.

Within China, almost 60 million people remain on effective lockdown as the country battles to contain the virus amid reports its health system is on its knees, running out of beds and supplies.

International response

There are now more than 160 confirmed cases in 26 countries or territories outside of mainland China. And as the virus continues to spread around the world, governments are stepping up their responses.

The United States, Australia and New Zealand have all announced that they will not allow foreign nationals who have traveled from or transited through China to enter. All three countries will continue to allow citizens who have visited China to enter, although they will need to be quarantined.

Some governments have also raised their travel advisory warnings. The US, for instance, has labeled China a "do not travel" destination -- the highest possible warning.

A number of countries have evacuated their citizens from Wuhan. The US evacuated 195 Americans, who are under a 14-day quarantine on an air force base in California.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has also approved a request to provide military housing for up to 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined after arriving in the US from overseas travel, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Fears over the pandemic have rattled global stock markets and forced both US and global carriers to amend flight schedules as demand for China travel declines.

Major airlines -- including British Airways and Australia's Qantas -- have announced they will no longer fly to mainland China. Delta said it will suspend flights between the US and China starting on Sunday until at least April 30, according to a press release.

Chinese response

In mainland China, tens of millions of people remain under effective quarantine after the government imposed travel restrictions on a number of cities in Hubei province. Wuhan -- where the outbreak was first reported -- is the capital of Hubei province.

Although the outbreak has spread to every province and region of China, the outbreak remains worst in Hubei, where more than 7,100 have been diagnosed with coronavirus and 249 people have died.

A total of 57 million people across 15 cities in Hubei are on some form of lockdown. Huanggang -- a city of 7.5 million in Hubei province -- is only allowing one representative from each household to leave their home every other day to go out for grocery shopping in order to minimize the flow of people in the city.

The unprecedented decision to shut down entire cities comes as the country faces a shortage of medical supplies. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has even asked the European Union to help China procure medical supplies, according to a Chinese government statement.

Patients and medical staff have also told CNN of delays in testing for the virus, raising concerns that the outbreak in China may be worse than is reported.

CNN's Yong Xiong and Steven Jiang in Beijing; and Carly Walsh in Hong Kong contributed reporting.

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2020-02-02 10:25:00Z
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Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas threatens to cut security ties over U.S. MidEast plan - NBCNews.com

CAIRO — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened Saturday to cut security ties with both Israel and the U.S. in a speech at an Arab League meeting in which he denounced the White House plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The U.S. plan would grant the Palestinians limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank, while allowing Israel to annex all its settlements there and keep nearly all of east Jerusalem.

The summit of Arab foreign ministers in Egypt’s capital Cairo was requested by the Palestinians, who responded angrily to the American proposal.

Abbas said he told Israel and the U.S. that “there will be no relations with them, including the security ties” following the deal that Palestinians say heavily favors Israel.

The Western-backed Palestinian leadership has been under mounting pressure from ordinary Palestinians and its rivals in the Islamic militant group Hamas to cut off security ties with Israel and the U.S. or even dismantle the increasingly unpopular Palestinian Authority.

Jan. 28, 202001:25

That would leave Israel responsible for the complicated and expensive task of providing basic services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Abbas could also cut off agreements with U.S. intelligence agencies to combat extremism.

There was no immediate comment from U.S. or Israeli officials on Abbas’ statement.

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The Palestinian leader said he refused to take U.S. President Donald Trump’s phone calls and messages “because I know that he would use that to say he consulted us.”

“I will never accept this solution,” Abbas said. “I will not have it recorded in my history that I have sold Jerusalem.”

He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas speaks with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit as they arrive to attend an Arab League emergency meeting in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday.KHALED DESOUKI / AFP - Getty Images

Abbas received a long applause from the Arab foreign ministers in attendance after his speech.

Abbas said the Palestinians wouldn’t accept the U.S. as a sole mediator in any negotiations with Israel. He said they would go to the United Nations Security Council and other world and regional organizations to “explain our position.”

The Arab League’s head, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, said the proposal revealed a “sharp turn” in the long-standing U.S. foreign policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“This turn does not help achieve peace and a just solution,” he declared.

Aboul-Gheit said that the Palestinians reject the proposal. He called for the two sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians, to negotiate to reach a “satisfactory solution for both of them.”

President Trump unveiled the long-awaited proposal Tuesday in Washington. It would allow Israel to annex all its West Bank settlements — which the Palestinians and most of the international community view as illegal — as well as the Jordan Valley, which accounts for roughly a fourth of the West Bank.

In return, the Palestinians would be granted statehood in Gaza, scattered chunks of the West Bank and some neighborhoods on the outskirts of Jerusalem, all linked together by a new network of roads, bridges and tunnels. Israel would control the state’s borders and airspace and maintain overall security authority. Critics of the plan say this would rob Palestinian statehood of any meaning.

The plan would abolish the right of return for Palestinian refugees displaced by the 1948 war and their descendants, a key Palestinian demand. The entire agreement would be contingent on Gaza’s Hamas rulers and other armed groups disarming, something they have always adamantly rejected.

Jan. 27, 2020

Ambassadors from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman attended the Tuesday unveiling in Washington, in a tacit sign of support for the U.S. initiative.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Arab states that are close U.S. allies, said they appreciated President Trump’s efforts and called for renewed negotiations without commenting on the plan’s content.

Egypt urged in a statement Israelis and Palestinians to “carefully study” the plan.

Jordan, meanwhile, warned against any Israeli “annexation of Palestinian lands” and reaffirmed its commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, which would include all the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel.

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2020-02-01 15:31:00Z
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Coronavirus live updates: Delta speeds up China flight suspensions, Beijing cancels tariffs on US anti-virus products - CNBC

Police officers in plainclothes raid a medical supply shop for allegedly hoarding and overpricing face masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grows, on January 31, 2020 in Manila, Philippines.

Ezra Acayan | Getty Images

All times below in U.S. eastern standard time.

Roughly 2,100 new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in China, raising the global total to nearly 12,000, according to the Chinese and World Health Organization. The death toll has reached 259. Here are the latest updates:

11:30 am: Delta accelerates plans to suspend all U.S.-China flights

Delta said it will accelerate its plan to temporarily suspend flights between the U.S. and China to Feb. 2, based on new U.S. requirements that deny entry to foreigners who have visited China in the past two weeks.

The last China-bound Delta flight from the U.S. leaves Feb. 1, and the last returning flight from China to the U.S. leaves Feb. 2. The airline's previous plan was to suspend flights starting Feb. 6.

8:00 am: Vietnam and Qatar Airways suspend flights to China

Vietnam banned all flights to China over coronavirus concerns, the government announced in a statement. Qatar Airways said it was suspending flights to China from February 3 until further notice.

These are the airlines that have suspended flights to China amid the virus outbreak:

Vietnam Airlines, Qatar Airways, Delta Airlines (until April 30), American Airlines (until March 27), Air France (until Feb. 9), British Airways, Air Seoul, Egyptair, Lion Air, Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines and Austrian Airlines (until end February), Kenya Airways, RwandAir (till further notice), Vietjet (effective Feb. 1), all Russian airlines (except Aeroflot).

7:30 am: China will strengthen financial support for anti-virus campaign

China's deputy central bank governor, Pan Gongsheng, said in an interview with state run news agency Xinhua that if needed, the bank would inject liquidity into the markets after the open on February 3 amid stress over the spread of the virus and declines on Wall Street.

6:40 am: China cancels tariffs on some virus prevention materials imported from U.S.

Beijing announced that U.S. imports that help to combat the virus will be exempted from retaliatory tariffs imposed during the U.S.-China trade war, including products like disinfectants.

2:16 am: Apple closes all stores in mainland China

Apple has temporarily shut down all its stores, corporate offices and contact centers in mainland China through Feb. 9, the company said on Saturday. The online store in China will stay open. The company operates 42 stores in mainland China.

This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.

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2020-02-01 15:09:00Z
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Over 75,000 people in Wuhan may be infected with coronavirus - New York Post

Scientists at Hong Kong University published research in a medical journal on Saturday that projects as many as 75,815 people in Wuhan, China, may have been infected with Coronavirus, the South China Morning Post reported.

The city of 11 million people has been on virtual lockdown for weeks as China seeks to stem the spread of the deadly virus. The death toll jumped overnight by 46 to 259 people, while the number of confirmed cases in China soared to 11,791. Around two dozen other countries have reported another 137 cases, Reuters reported.

Beijing has criticized Washington’s order barring entry to most foreigners who visited China in the past two weeks as “mean,” but on Saturday, Australia became the latest country to take a similar step. Japan and Singapore have enacted similar measures, according to the Associated Press.

The US is also quarantining those who return from China for two weeks.

Washington’s move came as the seventh case was confirmed in the US, a man in California’s Bay Area.

Other countries, like England, South Korea, Singapore and India, were evacuating hundreds of citizens out of Wuhan. Britain was withdrawing staff from its embassy and consulates in China, Reuters reported.

“In the event that the situation deteriorates further, the ability of the British Embassy and Consulates to provide assistance to British nationals from within China may be limited,” the UK government said in a statement.

The virus’s rapid spread in two months prompted the World Health Organization on Thursday to declare it a global health emergency. The agency is especially concerned about human-to-human transmission outside of China.

“Countries need to get ready for possible importation in order to identify cases as early as possible and in order to be ready for a domestic outbreak control, if that happens,” the WHO representative in Beijing, Gauden Galea, told the AP.

Poorer countries that might not be equipped to respond are a particular concern.

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2020-02-01 14:39:00Z
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US companies suspend China operations, restrict travel as coronavirus outbreak becomes global crisis - CNBC

Staff members, wearing protective suits, watch as a plane carrying 32 Mongolian citizens for their evacuation from the Chinese city of Wuhan arrives in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia on February 1, 2020.

Byambasuren Byamba-ochir | AFP | Getty Images

Disney, Tesla, countless airlines and other global companies with significant footprints in China are suspending operations, temporarily shutting factories and instituting travel restrictions as they grapple with the coronavirus outbreak that's derailed commerce in China and sent global markets spinning.

Infections from the virus skyrocketed this week, topping 11,000 as of Friday and surpassing the total number of infections from the nine-month SARS outbreak in less than a month. The World Health Organization formally declared the pneumonia-like virus a global health emergency on Thursday, citing concern that the outbreak continues to spread to other countries with weaker health systems. U.S. officials followed suit on Friday, imposing mandatory quarantines on U.S. citizens who have recently traveled to the Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Local governments in China have extended mandatory factory shutdowns for the Lunar New Year from Jan. 31 to Feb. 9, impacting U.S. companies from Walmart to Tesla. Analysts are beginning to sour on companies with exposure to China, pressuring some stocks. A slew of companies this week warned investors that as the impact of the virus continues to spread, and institutions respond, it threatens to disrupt sectors from travel and retail to technology that look to the Chinese market for consumer demand or cheaper manufacturing in China.

Most of the economic cost of the outbreak "is not related to the virus," said CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council Gloria Guevara, who was the tourism minister for Mexico during the H1N1 outbreak. "It's related to the panic," and it can take between ten months and 19 months for tourism and spending in an area to fully recover from a local outbreak.

Most of the consequences of an outbreak like this are caused by mismanagement, lack of communication and panicked responses, Guevara said. She pointed to the SARS outbreak of 2003 as one example, saying it cost the global economy between $40 billion and $60 billion and cost China 2.8 million jobs.

"The management of the crisis is crucial. They need to be proactive and transparent. They need to work closely with the private sector and we need to not panic," she said of international health officials. "They need to contain the spread of the virus and we fully support that, but at the same time we need to take the necessary measurements to protect the sector."

Each company is responding to the situation in its own way: suspending operations, restricting employee travel, canceling holiday celebrations and more. Here's how some companies have responded so far:

Airlines

Delta airplanes sit on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on January 31, 2020 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The airlines sector is feeling the immediate impact of the coronavirus. Demand for travel to China has plummeted as the virus spreads. Many airlines reduced service to China earlier in the week, but after the State Department placed a "Do Not Travel" warning on China Thursday, airlines began to cut service entirely to China.

• Air Canada said Wednesday it is suspending all flights to Beijing and Shanghai from Jan. 30 to Feb. 29.

• British Airways, KLM Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Turkish Airlines, Air France, Air Seoul, EgyptAir, Lion Air, Austrian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Vietjet and Lufthansa have also reduced or totally cut service to China.

Entertainment

People wearing protective masks sit with a Minnie Mouse balloon inside the departure hall at West Kowloon Station, operated by MTR Corp., in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.

Justin Chin | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Similarly to airlines, entertainment companies with offerings in China are responding to the outbreak by suspending service. Disney has closed both its Shanghai resort and its park in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, cruise lines with ships in China are halting service and refunding customers. Here's how major entertainment companies in China are responding:

• Disney closed its Shanghai Disney Resort on Jan. 25, and it will remain closed until further notice. The company added on Sunday that it will temporarily close its Hong Kong Disneyland Park.

• MGM Resorts said it scaled back a Chinese New Year celebration at its Macao resort this past weekend.

• Royal Caribbean announced the suspension of three scheduled voyages through Feb. 8 for its only ship home-ported in China. The company said it expects the outbreak to hurt its 2020 financial results by 10 cents per share. If the travel restrictions in China continue past February, the company said it could cost the cruise line another 10 cents per share.

Tech

Tech companies this week warned shareholders on their quarterly conference calls about how coronavirus might impact their bottom-lines to kick off the year. Production at Tesla's new Shanghai factory has helped boost the stock over the past few months. The factory, Tesla told shareholders this week, will remain closed amid the outbreak. Here's how other tech companies are responding:

• Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn said on the company's quarterly investor call Wednesday that its new factory in Shanghai will remain closed for an extra week to week-and-a-half due to government restrictions caused by the coronavirus. "This may slightly impact profitability for the quarter but is limited as the profit contribution from Model 3 Shanghai remains in the early stages," he said.

• Microsoft said employees should "cancel all non-essential business travel" and that employees in China should work from home until Feb. 9.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is restricting employee travel in China. The company closed all of its corporate offices, stores and contact centers in mainland China through February 9. Apple has "some suppliers" in the Wuhan area, Cook told investors on Apple's quarterly conference call, and added that at least some of its manufacturing facilities elsewhere in China will remain closed until Feb. 10. Apple set an unusually large guidance range for the next quarter, which Cook said reflects the coronavirus outbreak and "the uncertainty around that."

Autos

Car manufacturers have said the outbreak likely won't hit U.S. consumers or substantially impact company operations. However, the largest car companies all have exposure in China whether it be through manufacturing or supply chain. Here's how the biggest manufacturers are responding:

• Fiat Chrysler said it has restricted travel to Wuhan as well as ten other Chinese cities, adding that the number could change as the situation evolves.

• GM said last week it has placed a temporary restriction on travel to Wuhan, where the company has a manufacturing base as part of a joint venture with China's SAIC Motor.

• Ford Motor said Friday it is extending the Chinese New Year holiday for two days until Feb. 2 and asking employees in China to work from home Feb. 3 to Feb. 7. The company said it expects to resume normal operations on Feb. 10. Meanwhile, the company said it has suspended all business travel to Wuhan and requests employees who have traveled to China to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return.

• Toyota is keeping factories in China shut down until Feb. 9, a spokesperson said, adding that they "don't anticipate any impact to U.S. consumers."

Retail

A worker uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a customer as she enters a Starbucks shop as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 30, 2020.

A worker uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a customer as she enters a Starbucks shop as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 30, 2020.

Stores throughout the country are suspending operations and extending the Chinese New Year holiday for employees. The hardest-hit provinces have released official recommendations for company operations there, with some calling for suspension of operations and reduced hours at factories and stores. Here's how store owners are responding:

• Walmart, which has more than 400 retail locations throughout China, said last week it is following official recommendations but did not say if it has closed any locations.

• McDonald's said it has closed "several hundred" restaurants in Hubei province, the province of the epicenter of the outbreak, Wuhan. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors that while "China is a critical market for us and we're very concerned about the situation over there, its actual impact on our business is going to be fairly small."

• Starbucks said it has closed nearly half of its China retail locations. Executives said the Chinese locations that are still open have seen sales slow down.

• Coca-Cola has closed its China offices and a "good number" of factories are closed, CEO James Quincey said, adding that it's too early to determine the short-term economic impact.

— CNBC's Sunny Kim, Leslie Josephs, Amelia Lucas, Michael Wayland, Sarah Whitten, Dawn Kopecki and Reuters contributed to this report.

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2020-02-01 14:15:00Z
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US offers to supply Belarus with oil and gas - New York Post

It’s a new bond, cemented in oil.

US officials have told Belarus they would be happy to supply all oil and gas the Eastern European nation needs after its usual supplier — Russia —  turned off the spigot.

“The United States wants to help Belarus build its own sovereign country,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a joint presser with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei “Our energy producers stand ready to deliver 100% of the oil you need at competitive prices. We’re the biggest energy producer in the world and all you have to do is call us.”

Once a close Russian ally, Belarus has become more afraid of being absorbed by Russia after the nations couldn’t agree on new oil prices in 2020. Russia had insisted on greater economic integration as a condition for reduced rates.

The United States has historically had a fraught relationship with Belarus, imposing sanctions for more than a decade over human rights abuses. The country was called “Europe’s last dictatorship” by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who served in the administration of George W. Bush.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held power since 1994.

With Post wires 

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2020-02-01 13:47:00Z
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