Eight more Americans diagnosed with coronavirus on cruise ship off Japan - NBC News

HONG KONG — Eight more Americans from a quarantined cruise ship off Japan have been confirmed to have new coronavirus, bringing the total number of U.S. citizens diagnosed on the liner to 11, the operator said on Friday.

One of them, Rebecca Frasure from Oregon, spoke to NBC News shortly after receiving her test results and as she waited to be airlifted to a Japanese hospital.

“Being alone in the hospital in a foreign country where people don’t speak my language that’s definitely a concern,” she told NBC News by phone from her cabin on the Diamond Princess.

Feb. 7, 202001:49

There are currently 12 diagnosed cases of the virus in the continental U.S.

Princess Cruises announced 41 new cases of the virus on board the vessel on Friday, of which eight were Americans, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 61. Most are Japanese citizens.

The 20 previous cases, including three Americans, were discovered in earlier batches of testing this week and the individuals were escorted off the ship. The vessel is quarantined off Yokohama, south of Tokyo, and has around 3,700 passengers and crew on board.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Frasure, 35, said she was worried about heading to the hospital alone, as her husband, Kent, had tested negative and had to stay on the ship.

“They just told me that they will need to keep me in the hospital for at least three days for treatment, and then if I get better then I will come back to the ship to finish up the quarantine in my cabin,” she said.

Frasure said she had been shocked to receive the positive test results, and did not remember coming into contact with anyone sick. Besides, she didn’t particularly feel unwell.

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The cruise ship Diamond Princess next to a bridge at Daikoku Pier in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan on Friday. Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

The global death toll from coronavirus has risen to at least 638, compared to 565 two days ago, and confirmed cases reach more than 31,000 on mainland China, compared to 28,000 on Wednesday.

On board the ship, the alarm was raised after a former passenger tested positive.

Passengers on the Diamond Princess said they were first told they would have to stay in their rooms on Wednesday, and that the crew had recently started bringing people out to the deck to get some fresh air and stretch their legs — prioritizing those without balconies.

Susan Archer from Marysville, Wash. said people had been quarantined to their rooms for 14 days and the reality of that was "starting to hit."

"It's kind of like a survivor show in a way," she said, adding that people had been really sanitary on the ship.

"I'm not worried at this point, but I don't like the solitary confinement," she said. "That is not a fun thing but I understand the necessity of it."

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Laundry, sheets and towels had not been changed, passengers said, but masks, gloves and thermometers had been distributed and passengers have been asked to regularly check their temperatures.

Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program told a news briefing Friday that a lot of support was being provided to help passengers with their physical and mental health.

"It's a very stressful situation," he said.

Meanwhile, another cruise ship, World Dream, remained quarantined in Hong Kong. Three people who had been on board the ship during a previous voyage tested positive for the virus, the operator Dream Cruises said in a statement Thursday.

The company later added that no Americans were on board.

Feb. 6, 202001:12

A third cruise operator, Holland America, said Thursday that one of its ships had been notified that it would not be permitted to call in Japanese ports. The Seattle-based operator denied anyone had the coronavirus on the ship, and said it was looking for a new port of disembarkation.

Princess Cruises, the operator of the ship docked in Japan, said that unless there were further developments, the quarantine on the Diamond Princess should last until Feb. 19.

On board the ship, cabin fever is beginning to set in as the days tick by.

“We want off now and we want permission from the various countries to do so,” said Gay Courter, 75, who is from Crystal River, Florida.

“The government took people out of Wuhan, China, they can take us too."

Molly Hunter and Yuka Tachibana reported from Hong Kong; Arata Yamamoto reported from Tokyo, Japan; and Saphora Smith and Daisy Tennant-Thomas reported from London.

Molly Hunter

Saphora Smith

Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital. 

Arata Yamamoto

Arata Yamamoto has been a NBC News producer in Tokyo since 1993.

Yuka Tachibana and Daisy Tennant-Thomas contributed.

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2020-02-07 13:43:00Z
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Death of doctor who warned about coronavirus triggers national backlash over China's censorship - USA TODAY

Doug Stanglin USA TODAY

Published 9:41 AM EST Feb 7, 2020

The death of a Chinese whistleblower doctor who was punished for trying to warn about the coronavirus has triggered a national backlash over freedom of speech and censorship that has overwhelmed official online attempts to contain or remove the expressions of anger.

The swell of indignation that washed across Chinese social media platforms began with conflicting reports over the death of Li Wenliang, 34, an ophthalmologist in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak.

Wuhan Central Hospital, where he had worked, finally confirmed that he had died of the virus early Friday, apparently after he contracted it from a patient.

Li had already become a national hero for alerting fellow doctors Dec. 30 in an online post about the emergence of a SARS-like illness, warning them to wear protective clothing to avoid infection. 

Li, along with seven others in Wuhan, were later arrested by local security police on charges of spreading rumors and forced to sign a document disavowing his statements and agreeing to quit speaking out.

Coronavirus outbreak: Everything you need to know about the deadly illness alarming the world

As news spread of his illness and subsequent death, online sites exploded with expressions of grief and support, overwhelming the "Great Firewall" that blocks access to certain websites and controls and censors views deemed inappropriate by Chinese authorities.

A post by one of Li's coworkers, an emergency room nurse, said the freezing Wuhan weather was "as gloomy as my mood." 

"To you, we are angels and so strong. But how strong a heart can watch the people around me fall one by one without being shocked?" wrote Li Mengping on her verified account on Sina Weibo, a microblogging service. 

"Countless young people will mature overnight after today: the world is not as beautiful as we imagined," one online commenter wrote, according to CNN. "Are you angry? If any of us here is fortunate enough to speak up for the public in the future, please make sure you remember tonight's anger."

Writing on Weibo, Zeng Guang, the chief epidemiologist for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, called Li "immortal" and a "hero" for acting so quickly to warn of the impending health crisis.

The outpouring of anger and grief also challenged the Great Firewall directly, demanding an end to censorship.

On Weibo, one of China's biggest social media platforms that's similar to Twitter, a user created the #wewantfreedomofspeech and within 5 hours had over 2 million views and over 5,500 posts, the New York Times reports. It was eventually deleted by censors, along with related topics.

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Wang Gaofei, the chief executive of Weibo, which must respond to orders from China's censors, asked in his own post what lessons China should learn from Li’s death. “We should be more tolerant of people who post ‘untruthful information’ that aren’t malicious,” he wrote, according to the Times. “If we’re only allowed to speak what we can guarantee is fact, we’re going to pay prices.”

Both the Chinese- and English-language Twitter accounts of People’s Daily tweeted that Li’s death had prompted “national grief,” the Times reports. The accounts, apparently after intervention by authorities, deleted those posts and substituted more neutral statements.

“I haven’t seen my WeChat timeline filled with so much forlornness and outrage,” Xu Daniel, founder of a social media analytics company, wrote on the messaging platform WeChat, the Times reports

“Tonight is a monumental moment for our collective conscience,” he wrote in a later post.

The official propaganda apparatus tried Friday to mollify the public. 

"Some of Li Wenliang's experiences during his life reflect shortcomings and deficiencies in epidemic prevention and control," said state television said on its website. 

The Chinese ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, said on Twitter, a service frequently blocked by Chinese authorities, "Really saddened by the death of Dr. Li Wenliang. He was a very devoted doctor. We are so grateful to him for what he has done in our joint efforts fighting against #2019nCoV."

The government announced a team from Beijing would be sent to Wuhan to investigate "issues reported by the masses involving Dr. Li Wenliang." 

Although local authorities later apologized for their actions against Li and the other whistleblowers, millions of Chinese remain unmoved.

Zeng, of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a recent interview with Global Times' editor-in-chief Hu Xijin that the eight Wuhan residents who were arrested should be highly praised.

"They were wise before the outbreak," Zengsaid, adding though that any judgment needs to be backed by scientific evidence.

The coronavirus outbreak has claimed 638 lives among more than 31,000 cases. The fatality rate is 2.1%; that compares to 9.6% for the SARS virus that created similar concern around the globe in 2002.

Contributing: Associated Press

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'Getting a little squirrely': Americans stuck in Wuhan are bored, hungry for coronavirus info

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2020-02-07 14:27:57Z
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MS Westerdam, cruise ship with 2,000 aboard, blocked from docking amid coronavirus fears - New York Post

Four countries have turned away a cruise ship carrying more than 2,000 people over coronavirus fears — even though the crew insists no one on board is infected, according to new reports.

Holland America’s MS Westerdam ship has been prohibited from docking in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and the US territory of Guam, The Daily Mail reported.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that foreign passengers would not be allowed to disembark, due to suspected coronavirus patients on board.

But Holland America said that is not the case.

“The ship is not in quarantine and there are no known cases of coronavirus on board,” the operator told the Mail.

The 14-day East Asia cruise left Hong Kong on Feb. 1, with 687 passengers still on board from a previous voyage, according to the Mail and USA Today.

The ship is hosting 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members — a total of 2,257 people.

Now Holland America is scrambling to come up with alternate plans for the remainder of the cruise, which already switched its disembarkation point from Shanghai, China to Yokohama, USA Today reported.

Holland America also said that it has canceled the next cruise that was scheduled to embark in Yokohama on Feb. 15 and that it will notify guests and travel agents.

Earlier, the ship’s itinerary was thwarted by the Philippines’ temporary ban on travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau, News.com.au reported.

President Rodrigo Duterte made the decision after the first coronavirus death outside China happened in the Philippines, according to the report.

“This is obviously a rapidly-evolving situation and we were also surprised by the decision from local authorities that we would not be able to call in Manila as had been previously confirmed,” a Holland America spokesperson told the outlet. “This decision does not only apply to Holland America Line and we are continuing to work to provide the best experience we can for our guests in these unusual and rapidly evolving circumstances.”

Japan has reported 86 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Thursday, according to USA Today. Including the one death, the Philippines has two.

Each of the countries on the Westerdam’s itinerary has had confirmed coronavirus cases — Hong Kong has reported 24 cases and one death. Twenty-five cases were reported in Thailand, 16 in Taiwan and 10 in Vietnam. In South Korea, which the ship has yet to visit, 23 cases have been confirmed. One case has been reported in Cambodia.

Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Tokyo, Japan.Reuters

Meanwhile, Japan has quarantined an entire cruise ship — the Diamond Princess, run by Carnival Japan Inc. — after a Hong Kong man who sailed on the vessel last month tested positive for the virus.

Sixty-one people on that cruise liner have tested positive for coronavirus, Japan’s health minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday, according to multiple reports.

Personnel clad in protective gear and tasked to provide care for suspected patients on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship prepare to conduct a transfer at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal.Getty Images

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2020-02-07 13:24:00Z
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White House announces al-Qaida leader tied to NAS Pensacola shooting has been killed - USA TODAY

Jim Little Pensacola News Journal

Published 8:22 AM EST Feb 7, 2020

The White House announced Thursday that the U.S. had killed the leader of the al-Qaida group who claimed responsibility for the attack on Naval Air Station  Pensacola.

The founder of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP, Qassim al-Rimi was killed in a counterterrorism operation in Yemen. He was a deputy to leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

The Associated Press reported Monday that the group claimed responsibility for the attack conducted by 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani that killed three people and wounded eight others before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Escambia County Sheriff's Office deputies.

AQAP has long been considered the global network's most dangerous branch and has attempted to carry out attacks on the U.S. mainland.

The group released an 18-minute video that claimed it was in communication with Alshamrani, who, the video claimed, was planning an attack for years.

The statement from the White House did not say when the operation that killed al-Rimi took place.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., issued a statement thanking President Donald Trump for taking action.

"On Sunday, Qasim al-Rimi, a co-founder of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack at NAS Pensacola in December," Gaetz said in the statement.

NAS Pensacola shooting: Pentagon plans new security protocols in wake of Pensacola attack

They were killed saving others. This is the story of the 3 heroes lost in Pensacola Navy shooting

"Today, Qasim al-Rimi is dead. On behalf of the thousands of patriots in Northwest Florida, I thank President Trump for his swift action in eliminating this brutal terrorist," he continued. 

The White House statement on the operation said al-Rimi joined al-Qaida in the 1990s, working in Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden. 

"His death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qaida movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security," the White House statement said.

Follow Jim Little on Twitter: @JimWLittle

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2020-02-07 12:39:58Z
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'A contaminated prison': Scared, angry passengers are trapped on three cruise ships amid coronavirus outbreak - CNN

Instead, American couple Kent and Rebecca Frasure found themselves quarantined on a cruise ship, staring at ambulances lined up on land ready to receive the increasing toll of passengers diagnosed with a deadly virus.

On Friday morning, Rebecca, 35, found out she had tested positive for Wuhan coronavirus and had to leave the ship immediately -- alone, as her husband Kent, 42, was still apparently uninfected.

Her only symptom when she tested positive was a cough.

"It is terrible, I could never imagine that this could be happening right now," she told CNN shortly before she left the boat. "(The hardest part) is the unknown. Like, I don't know what's going to happen an hour from now."

The Diamond Princess cruise ship, on which the Frasures were traveling, has been quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, near Tokyo, since Tuesday, after a former passenger tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are more than 3,700 people on board, including 2,600 passengers, of whom 428 are American. So far, 61 passengers have tested positive for the virus, and the quarantine is expected to last until at least February 19.

So far more than 31,400 people globally have been infected by the pneumonia-like coronavirus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and at least 630 have died, predominantly in mainland China.

Three cruise ships in Asia, including the Diamond Princess, have had their journeys disrupted or brought to a halt by the virus. In the middle of the East China Sea, the Westerdam is struggling to find a port to dock at after being turned away from both Taiwan and Japan over fears of passenger contamination.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the World Dream cruise ship has been held in quarantine since docking Wednesday, after eight former passengers tested positive for the virus.

Fear on the Diamond Princess

After Rebecca was diagnosed, Kent says no one came to disinfect the room the couple shared. He believes it is only a matter of time before he is diagnosed with the virus, too. "(But) you roll with the punches and try to make the best of things as you can," he said.

Information from the cruise staff has been scant and he only found out that a further 41 passengers had been diagnosed with the virus after talking to a reporter, he said.

"The only way anybody knows (what is happening) is when people that are infected tell other people they've been infected," he said.

American author Gay Courter is also among the more than 2,600 passengers trapped on board the Diamond Princess, which she described as a "contaminated prison."

"(My husband Philip and I) are 75 and 77 years old, we have health risks and we are a bad category to get sick ... We are not safe in our rooms," she said.

In an attempt to escape the infection, Courter said she had contacted her insurance company, Medjet, which is willing to send a crisis extraction team from the boat to evacuate her.

The US and Japanese governments, however, won't allow that to happen. Japanese health officials told CNN that any passengers of the Diamond Princess had to go through the quarantine process before they were allowed onto land and that the process was ongoing.

"We can be taken in quarantine, and extracted in quarantine and arrive in the United States safely," she said. "We are not sick at the moment but there is a major concern that circulating air on this ship can make people sick."

Courter said the US government could take them to the nearby Okinawa military base for evacuation, telling President Donald Trump that he could have another thousand US coronavirus cases on his hands if the ship wasn't emptied.

"This was a trip of a lifetime, and I used all of my credit card points. The way out was divine but right now I do not mind how I go home," she said.

Courter is afraid that if she becomes infected she may not survive. Older people are especially susceptible to the Wuhan coronavirus -- China's National Health Commission said Tuesday that 80% of all fatalities in mainland China were over the age of 60.

"I (just) do not want to go home in a box," she said.

Nightmare on board the Westerdam

The Westerdam cruise liner left Singapore on January 16 for what should have been a 30-day cruise around Asia. But after leaving Hong Kong on February 1, the ship has been turned away from the Philippines due to fears that there may be coronavirus cases on board. There is no suggestion that any passengers, current or former, have been infected.

Australian passenger David Holst, 63, who is traveling on the Westerdam with his wife Judy, said that the ship had briefly docked in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. But on February 6, Taiwan announced it would no longer allow international cruise ships to dock in its ports due to fears around the epidemic.

The Westerdam left Kaohsiung and was turned away from Taipei as well.

The ship, which is operated by Holland America, had been set to stop at five ports in Japan, but on Thursday the Japanese government said that it would not allow the Westerdam to call anywhere in their territory.

"No one wants us," Holst told CNN from the cruise ship, which is currently sailing through the East China Sea. "Holland America said they're in discussions with the US State Department, the US Navy, and the Dutch government to try and find a solution. I have no idea what that will be or when that would be."

Holst said he and his wife had spent more than $20,000 on the trip, including flights. But he said the past six or seven days had been a "nightmare."

"It keeps getting worse and everyone on board is just living in fear that the bell is going to ring and the captain is going to say, 'Return to your cabins, we're in quarantine and we've got a virus case on board,'" he said.

In a statement, Holland America said it understood that guests on board are concerned and it was doing everything it could to protect their health.

"We have implemented a significant number of measures. Our medical experts have been coordinating closely with global health authorities to implement enhanced screening, prevention and control measures for our ships," the statement said.

"We have no reason to believe there are cases of coronavirus on board."

The company added that all guests would receive a full refund of their cruise fare plus a future cruise credit of 100% of their cruise fare.

Holst criticized the ship for stopping in at Hong Kong and taking on new passengers there, despite the Chinese territory having coronavirus cases. "People are angry, I think the tension is rising and everyone on this boat for the last seven days has lived under the dark shadow of wondering whether we have the virus on board," he said.

In its statement, Holland America said it had followed US Centers for Disease and Control guidelines at the time the ship docked in Hong Kong on February 1.

Trapped in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the 3,600 people aboard the World Dream cruise liner have been under quarantine for three days after a number of passengers from a former voyage tested positive for the coronavirus.

Three crew members have been evacuated from the ship for treatment in hospital.

Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Hong Kong Department of Health said that all passengers would have to remain on board until "we complete the quarantine work." Chuang said 33 crew members had shown symptoms of illness at varying degrees, although most had tested negative for the coronavirus.

Before arriving in Hong Kong, the World Dream had docked at several ports across China and Vietnam. On January 24, after visiting those locations, more than 4,400 passengers disembarked mostly to return to mainland China.

Not long after, eight of those former passengers were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus, potentially leaving the ship contaminated.

Dream Cruises has said it is attempting to contact passengers who had previously been on board the World Dream "to inform them of the situation and seek professional health assistance."

There is no word yet when the World Dream may be allowed to leave Hong Kong.

CNN's Jake Kwon contributed to this article.

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2020-02-07 12:25:00Z
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Airliner carrying 172 passengers nearly shot down over Syria, Russia says - The Washington Post

SANA/AFP/Getty Images This image from a video released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Thursday shows an explosion following an Israeli airstrike on an undisclosed location in Syria.

MOSCOW — An Airbus A320 jet carrying 172 passengers was nearly shot down on its approach to the Syrian capital, Damascus, shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday after Syria fired antiaircraft missiles in response to an attack, according to a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Russian news agencies reported Friday.

Russia accused the Israeli air force of using the passenger plane as a shield from Syrian air defenses, mirroring an incident in 2018 in which Syrian forces accidentally shot down a Russian reconnaissance plane, killing 15 Russian service members.

Thursday’s incident underlined the continued danger that Israel’s regular airstrikes in Syria, targeting what Israeli officials claim are Iranian assets, could spiral into a major international confrontation.

The plane was diverted to Russia’s nearby Hmeimim air base and landed safely, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

He did not name the airliner that was flying from Tehran to Damascus, but information from flight tracker Flight Radar indicated it was likely a Syrian Cham Wings aircraft.

On Thursday, Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes at targets in southern Syria, according to Syrian state media. Konashenkov said the incident followed airstrikes by four Israeli F-16 fighter jets.

The incident comes a month after Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 passengers and crew.

The Ukrainian jet was hit by an air defense battery of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the tense hours after Iran carried out retaliatory missile strikes against U.S. positions in Iraq after the United States killed a senior Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad.

[Iran admits to downing airliner amid calls for justice, transparency]

According to Konashenkov, Israeli fighter jets fired eight missiles at targets near Damascus early Thursday, and Syrian forces fired antiaircraft missile defense systems.

“It was purely thanks to the prompt actions of air traffic controllers at Damascus airport and the effective operation of the automated air traffic control system that the Airbus 320 passenger plane was promptly rerouted from the Syrian air defense area of engagement and safely landed at the nearest reserve airfield — the Russian air base Hmeimim,” he said.

Konashenkov said the use of civilian aircraft as shields to deter Syrian forces from responding to attacks was “becoming a signature feature of the Israeli air force.” He added: “Unfortunately, such operations of Israeli strategists do not care in the slightest about the lives of hundreds of absolutely innocent civilians.”

In September 2018, Russia blamed Israel when Syrian forces shot down a Russian military plane while they were responding to an Israeli strike. Israel said Syria bore full responsibility for the incident.

The 2018 incident caused a spike in Russian-Israeli tensions over Syria and prompted Russia to deploy its own S-300 surface-to-air missiles in Syria to bolster its defenses.

However, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Russian President Vladimir Putin to express his sorrow over the incident, Putin described it as “a chain of tragic accidental circumstances.”

Israel does not normally comment on its actions in Syria, but the Israel Defense Forces have confirmed recently that they have launched attacks in Syria to prevent Iran from entrenching there.

Konashenkov said the passenger flight should have been clearly visible to Israeli radar.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, said airstrikes Thursday hit the positions of Iranian-backed militias, killing 23 people, including Syrian and Iranian fighters.

In recent weeks, Syrian forces backed by Russian airstrikes and fighters supported by Iran have mounted attacks in the northwest of the country in a bid to crush the last stronghold of opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Sly reported from Beirut.

Read more

Leaked audio shows Tehran knew missile hit Ukrainian passenger jet

Iran admits to downing airliner amid calls for justice, transparency

In major escalation, American strike kills top Iranian commander in Baghdad

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

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2020-02-07 11:21:00Z
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Coronavirus Live Updates: Sixty-One People on Cruise Ship Off Japan Have Virus - The New York Times

Here’s what you need to know:

• Steep rise in number of coronavirus cases on cruise ship off Japan.
• Xi tells Trump that China is waging a ‘people’s war’ against the virus.
• Deaths in China surpass 600, and infections rise above 31,000.
• Bowing to pressure, China announces an investigation after a doctor’s death.

Wearing protective gear near the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan, on Friday.Credit...Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Steep rise in number of coronavirus cases on cruise ship off Japan.

Japanese officials said on Friday that 61 people had tested positive for the coronavirus on a quarantined cruise ship in Yokohama, a steep increase from the 20 confirmed cases on Thursday.

Officials have screened 273 passengers they said were potentially exposed to the virus. The 41 new patients were to be taken off the ship for medical treatment.

More than 2,000 passengers on the Diamond Princess ship have been stuck inside their cabins for days as part of a two-week quarantine. Meals have been irregular, and only on Thursday were small groups finally permitted to go outside and breathe some fresh air.

“I keep hearing painful coughs from a foreigner in a nearby room,” one passenger wrote on Twitter on Thursday, noting with concern that crew members were delivering meals from room to room. “I might get infected today or tomorrow.”

Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Spread of the Outbreak

The virus has sickened more than 31,400 people in China and 24 other countries.

Other passengers who have been whiling away some of the time on social media told of more hopeful signs. One noted that supplies were being moved into the port and that ambulances were in position. Another said that entertainment crews had been visiting guest rooms to cheer people up, and that toilet paper had been distributed.

Of the 41 new cases, 21 were Japanese, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said. None of those 41 passengers were in serious condition as of Friday morning.

Separately, a cruise ship with 3,600 people on board remains stranded in Hong Kong. Yu Li, a mother of two infants on the World Dream cruise, said the most difficult part was a lack of clarity from the local authorities about where passengers would be quarantined.

“Most passengers are willing to be isolated whether or not they have symptoms,” she said in an interview. “I hope the government can give us a reply as soon as possible and tell us whether it would take place at home, or on the cruise, or in designated quarantine centers.”

Families with young children are mostly bunkered in their rooms and watching movies that the cruise ship company has distributed to help alleviate boredom, Ms. Li said. Older passengers, she said, were less willing to be confined to their rooms, choosing to play mahjong in communal spaces.

Xi tells Trump that China is waging a ‘people’s war’ against the virus.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, spoke by telephone with President Trump on Friday morning to discuss the coronavirus epidemic, telling him that the government had spared no effort in what he called “a people’s war,” according to CCTV, the state television network.

In the official account of the conversation, Mr. Xi made no reference to Chinese grievances over the Trump administration’s response to the epidemic, including being the first foreign government to close its consulate in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and order the evacuation of diplomats.

Mr. Xi offered no words of thanks, a stark contrast to messages of gratitude the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been posting for other nations, including Italy, Poland, the Maldives and Pakistan.

Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump that Beijing’s efforts to control the outbreak were “gradually achieving results.”

“We are fully confident and capable of defeating the epidemic,” he said, according to CCTV.

A week ago, the Trump administration announced it would bar entry to any foreign citizens who had traveled to China during the last 14 days, saying the coronavirus constituted a public health emergency even though the United States had relatively few cases. It now has 12 confirmed infections.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, sharply criticized that decision earlier this week, accusing the United States of spreading panic and not doing anything to support China’s fight against the outbreak.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

• What do you need to know? Start here.

  Updated Feb. 5, 2020

  • What is a Coronavirus, and how dangerous is it?
    Read up on the respiratory virus, including its symptoms and how it is transmitted.
  • How bad could the outbreak be?
    Here are the six key factors that will determine whether it can be contained.
  • Where has the virus spread?
    You can track its movementwith this map.
  • How is the United States being affected?
    There have been at least a dozen cases. American citizens and permanent residents who fly to the United States from China are now subject to a two-week quarantine.
  • What if I’m traveling?
    Several countries, including the United States, have discouraged travel to China, and several airlines have canceled flights.Many travelers have been left in limbo while looking to change or cancel bookings.
  • How do I keep myself and others safe?
    Washing your hands is the most important thing you can do.

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Deaths in China surpass 600, and infections rise above 31,000.

The death toll and the number of infections continued to soar in China, according to official data released early Friday.

Nationwide, more than 70 new deaths and 3,100 new cases emerged in the previous 24 hours, the national health authorities said.

The new figures brought the total number of deaths in China to at least 636. And the total number of confirmed cases rose to 31,161.

Sixty-nine of the newly reported deaths occurred in Hubei Province, the heart of the outbreak, the authorities said, but there were also four deaths outside of the province: one each in Jilin, Henan, Guangdong and Hainan Provinces.

How Bad Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Get? Here Are 6 Key Factors

Here’s what early research says about how the pathogen behaves and the factors that will determine whether it can be contained.

So far, the vast majority of confirmed deaths have been in Hubei, though deaths have also been reported in other Chinese provinces, Hong Kong and the Philippines. More than 200 infections have been reported outside of China.

Many doctors believe that deaths and infections in China are undercounted because hospitals and laboratories are under severe strain to test for the virus. Local officials in Hubei Province, the center of the outbreak, have called on health care workers to speed up the process.

Many sick residents in Hubei also say that they have been turned away by overstretched hospitals, which lack test kits and beds.

Bowing to pressure, China announces an investigation after a doctor’s death.

China’s ruling Communist Party, bending to public pressure, said on Friday that it would send a team from its powerful anticorruption committee to investigate the issues surrounding a whistle-blower doctor who had died hours earlier in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

The doctor, Li Wenliang, who was among the first to warn about the outbreak, only to be silenced by the police, died on Friday after himself becoming infected with the virus, the hospital treating him reported.

The Wuhan City Central Hospital said at 3:48 a.m. on Friday that Dr. Li had just died. “We deeply regret and mourn this,” it said on the Chinese social media site Weibo. Just hours earlier, the hospital had said it was still fighting to save the 34-year-old doctor.

The death of Dr. Li set off an outpouring of grief and anger on social media, with commenters on Weibo, a Twitter-like website, demanding an apology from the authorities to Dr. Li and his family.

The State Supervisory Committee has “decided to send an investigation team to Wuhan, Hubei Province, to conduct a comprehensive investigation on related issues reported by the masses about Dr. Li Wenliang,” it said on Friday in a one-line statement on its website.

It is rare for the Communist Party to react so swiftly to public outrage. Several top officials and state-run media outlets had also joined in the chorus to mourn Dr. Li’s death. In statements online, the National Health Commission and the Wuhan government said they expressed their condolences.

The police and others questioned Dr. Li in early January after he warned a circle of medical school classmates on Dec. 30 about a viral outbreak that he said appeared similar to SARS. The police compelled him to sign a statement denouncing his warning as an unfounded and illegal rumor.

The New York Times wrote about Dr. Li on Feb. 1. “If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier,” he told The Times, “I think it would have been a lot better. There should be more openness and transparency.”

Calls for freedom of speech appear on Chinese social media — for a while.

For many of the Chinese social media users mourning Li Wenliang on Friday, the tragedy was a lesson about the importance of free speech — one that the government didn’t understand.

Beijing has increased its censorship over investigative reports that exposed missteps by officials who underestimated and played down the threat from the coronavirus. China’s top leaders have stepped up efforts to make the news coverage focus more on positive developments in the battle against the epidemic.

The hashtag #wewantfreedomofspeech#, created on the Twitter-like service Weibo at 2 a.m. on Friday, had over two million views and over 5,500 posts by 7 a.m., amid the online outcry over Dr. Li’s death. It was deleted by censors, along with related topics, such as ones saying that the Wuhan government owed Dr. Li an apology.

“I love my country deeply,” read one post under that topic. “But I don’t like the current system and the ruling style of my country. It covered my eyes, my ears and my mouth.”

The writer of the post complained about not being able to gain access to the internet beyond China’s so-called Great Firewall: “I’ve been holding back for a long time. I feel we’ve all been holding back for a long time. It erupted today.”

Talking about freedom of speech on the Chinese internet is taboo, even though it’s written into the Constitution. So it’s a small miracle that the freedom of speech hashtag survived for over five hours.

High-powered executives in China echoed the same sentiments online, if less bluntly.

“It’s time to reflect on the deeply rooted stability-trumps-everything thinking that’s hurt everyone,” Wang Ran, chairman of the investment bank CEC Capital, wrote on Weibo. “We all want stability,” he said. “Will you be more stable if you cover the others’ mouths while walking on a tightrope?

Gao Xiaosong, an Alibaba executive, posted on his Weibo account that he hoped China would enact a whistle-blower protection act, seemingly in reference to the American law, so that more people could speak out like Dr. Li did. “RIP. Our hero. Thank you,” he wrote of Dr. Li.

A mask factory in France gears up as supplies run short.

In Angers, France, a company owned by the medical supply company Kolmi Hopen makes 170 million medical face masks a year. It isn’t enough.

As orders pour in at a staggering rate, Kolmi Hopen is hiring more workers to keep up with demand.

“We’re making masks as fast as we can,” said Guillaume Laverdure, the chief operating officer of Kolmi Hopen’s parent company, Canada-based Medicom.

“But demand is still rising,” he added.

The coronavirus outbreak has set off a run on protective masks across China and in major Asian cities. The Chinese government has ordered citizens to don masks every time they go outside. That has led to shortages. In Hong Kong, for example, long lines form early in the morning in front of pharmacies as people try to buy them before supplies run out.

China produces about half the world’s sanitary face masks. But production had already slowed as Chinese factories wound down for the Lunar New Year holiday in early January. Some sites around Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, have yet to fully revive production, according to the government.

For now, people are rushing to buy them when and where they can.

Ha Fong, 80, stalks the streets of her Hong Kong neighborhood every morning to search for surgical masks, hand sanitizers and detergent.

“I line up wherever people are lining up,” she said, adding that she didn’t feel panicked, believing the shortage to be temporary.

Art Basel, the international art fair, cancels its Hong Kong edition.

This year’s edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, one of the most important destinations in the international art market calendar, has been canceled, with organizers citing the “sudden and widespread outbreak” of the coronavirus in China.

The fair was to run March 17 through March 21 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center and feature premier galleries from Asia and beyond.

“The decision to cancel Art Basel Hong Kong was an extremely difficult one for us,” said Bernd Stadlwieser, chief executive of MCH Group, the Swiss company behind the fair. He said organizers had explored “every other possible option, including postponing the fair” before concluding it should be canceled.

MCH cited numerous factors, including the health and safety of workers and visitors, the logistical challenges of mounting the event and the escalating difficulties of travel to Hong Kong. Three American airlines have suspended flights to mainland China.

Last week, as Hong Kong shut down museums and schools, and restricted flights from the mainland, participating dealers called for the closure of the fair.

On Wednesday, the London-based dealer Richard Nagy, one of more than 240 exhibitors at the event, sent an email to the organizers.

“Not one of our foreign clients will be attending, and they are surprised the fair is still on,” Mr. Nagy wrote. “There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that this art fair is now commercially on artificial life support.” The email concluded that the fair was “fatally wounded” and needed to be “put out of its misery.”

Australians evacuated from Wuhan to stay at mining village.

A second large planeload of Australian citizens and permanent residents will be evacuated from Wuhan, and this time they will be quarantined at a vacant mining village in Australia’s Northern Territory, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.

About 270 Australians who were evacuated from Wuhan on Monday are currently being housed in a former immigration center on Christmas Island, 2,000 miles west of Australia’s mainland.

But with that center at capacity, the government is now preparing the village of Manigurr-ma, near the northern city of Darwin, to house the new planeload of evacuees. The village was formerly used by Inpex, an oil and gas corporation, to house construction workers, and it has a gym, a dining hall and a swimming pool.

The village will be declared an isolation zone and be ready to receive about 280 people on Saturday, when the evacuees’ plane is due to land in Darwin, the Northern Territory government said. None of the evacuees have symptoms of the coronavirus, officials said.

China says the economic damage will be short-term.

Chinese leaders are seeking to reassure the public that the economic devastation of the coronavirus will be short-lived and controlled. But they are taking steps to weather extended factory shutdowns and store closures.

The deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, said on Friday that controlling the virus was a “top priority.” This week, the central bank pumped some $175 billion into the financial system, and the government has issued a flurry of financial aid measures at the local level.

The country has been on virtual lockdown for weeks, with major factories and highways closed, trains shut and airplanes grounded. Some of the world’s biggest companies have already felt the impact, including Starbucks, Ikea and Apple.

Toyota on Friday said its non-plant operations would reopen on Feb. 10 but that its production plants would remain closed for at least another week. Uniqlo said it would close 370 of its 750 stores in China because of the outbreak, Reuters reported.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Mr. Pan acknowledged that the outbreak had already hurt entire industries like tourism, food and entertainment. But he said the impact would be limited to the first quarter.

“After the epidemic is controlled, the economy will return near the potential output quickly,” he said.

Indonesia maintains that it has no coronavirus cases.

It is the world’s fourth-most-populous country, and it is a popular destination for Chinese tourists, including from Wuhan. But Indonesia still has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus, officials there insist.

On Thursday, the health ministry’s director for communicable diseases, said that none of the 243 people evacuated to Indonesia from Wuhan — 238 students and five officials from the Indonesian consulate there — showed signs of illness after being screened and quarantined. And he said until they showed symptoms, there was no need for full testing.

“If they are not well, feverish, coughing and sneezing, then we will swab,” he said, according to Channel News Asia. “If they are fine, why should we swab?”

Last week, Indonesia barred visitors from China, and flights to and from mainland China. But many Chinese tourists remain in Indonesia, including popular spots like Bali, officials say.

Reporting was contributed by Daniel Victor, Eimi Yamamitsu, Steven Lee Myers, Sui-Lee Wee, Li Yuan, Elaine Yu, Elsie Chen, Albee Zhang, Christopher Buckley, Isabella Kwai, Liz Alderman, Denise Grady, Alexandra Stevenson, Scott Reyburn, and Vivian Wang.

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2020-02-07 10:44:00Z
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