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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets fell on Thursday after a dramatic spike in the number of coronavirus deaths and cases in mainland China, with traders concerned about the economic impact of the epidemic. Chinese authorities have changed the way they count infections from the virus — officially named COVID-19 — and the latest reports propelled the nationwide death toll to 1,355 and the infection count to nearly 60,000. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 […]
SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AFP) — A US cruise ship blocked from several Asian ports over concerns that a passenger could have been infected with the new coronavirus arrived off Cambodia Thursday, as frustrated holidaymakers expressed hope that their ordeal may soon be over. The Westerdam was supposed to be taking its 1,455 passengers on a dream 14-day cruise around East Asia, beginning in Hong Kong on February 1 and disembarking on Saturday in Yokohama, Japan. But […]
by Beiyi SEOW BEIJING, China (AFP) — A diaper manufacturer in eastern China was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday when it heard from officials — China needed vast amounts of masks to fight a deadly virus epidemic and factories needed to chip in. In just over two days, New Yifa Group converted a manufacturing line in Fujian province to make face masks, tapping some of its materials that would have gone into hygiene […]
VINH PHUC, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam announced Thursday that a commune of 10,000 people will be placed under quarantine due to fears over the spread of the new coronavirus. “As of February 13, 2020, we will urgently implement the task of isolation and quarantine of the epidemic area in Son Loi commune,” said a health ministry statement. “The timeline… is for 20 days”. There are 15 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in Vietnam, five […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has sacked the top political leader of virus-stricken Hubei province, the epicenter of an epidemic that has killed 1,355, state media reported Thursday. Jiang Chaoliang, Hubei’s party secretary, will be replaced by Shanghai mayor Ying Yong, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which gave no additional details. Jiang’s removal comes after Hubei’s two most senior health officials were sacked Monday amid growing criticism of how local officials have handled […]
by Helen Roxburgh and Laurent Thomet BEIJING, China (AFP) –The number of deaths and new cases from China’s coronavirus outbreak spiked dramatically on Thursday after authorities changed the way they count infections in a move that will likely fuel speculation that the severity of the outbreak has been under-reported. The hard-hit central province of Hubei reported 242 deaths in just one day and 14,840 new patients — by far its biggest one-day tally since the […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The UN health agency on Wednesday cautioned it was “way too early” to say whether COVID-19 might have peaked or when it might end, following a drop in new cases. “I think it’s way too early to try to predict the beginning, the middle or the end of this epidemic right now,” Michael Ryan, head of WHO’s health emergency program, said at the agency’s daily news conference. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom […]
by Laurent THOMET Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from China’s new coronavirus epidemic climbed past 1,100 on Wednesday but the number of new cases fell for a second straight day, as the World Health Organization urged global unity to combat the “grave threat”. As Beijing scrambles to contain the virus, the number of people infected on a cruise ship off Japan’s coast rose to 174 — the biggest cluster […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has criticized a US study questioning why the world’s fourth most populous nation had not yet recorded a case of coronavirus, calling the findings an insult and insisting it was on high alert. The virus has killed more than 1,100 people in China and spread to dozens of countries around the world — but the Southeast Asian nation of more than 260 million has not reported a confirmed case […]
by Eva Xiao and Ludovic Ehret BEIJING, China (AFP) — Doctors on the frontline of China’s new coronavirus epidemic are facing a daunting task: treat an ever-growing number of infected patients and risk getting infected themselves due to a drastic shortage of masks and other protective equipment. Tired and understaffed, medical workers have had to deal with thousands of new cases per week in Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak that first […]
by Su Xinqi HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hotpot has become the latest casualty of the coronavirus outbreak after ten members of a family in Hong Kong became infected after sharing the dish, a much-loved favorite during winter. Comprised of a vat of soup at the center of a table, hotpot is a deeply communal dish. Those enjoying it dip a variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables into the bubbling broth which becomes more intense […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — An additional 39 people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the Japan coast have tested positive for the new coronavirus, authorities said Wednesday, as thousands more steel themselves for a second week in quarantine. The ship that originally had 3,700 passengers and crew onboard has become the largest single cluster of the newly named COVID-19 disease outside its origin in China, where it has killed more […]
