China reported an uptick in new cases of coronavirus today, although the pace of increase was at its slowest since January, a downward trend that the World Health Organization (WHO) called encouraging.
* Mainland China reported 889 new cases as of Feb. 20, up from 394 cases a day earlier.
* The death toll rose by 118 to 2,236, mostly in Hubei, where it reached 2,144 as of the end of Thursday, up by 115 from the previous day.
* Hubei revised upward to 631 the number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Friday after including cases in the province’s prison systems.
* Outside Hubei, authorities said on Friday that 234 people in two prisons are infected and top officials deemed responsible for have been fired.
* Over 1,700 medical staff have been infected and six have died, the National Health Commission has said as China faces a critical shortage of doctors.
* To date, 25 other countries have reported 1,076 cases to the WHO, compared with more than 75,400 inside China.
* The epidemic is set to be discussed at a meeting of finance leaders from the Group of 20 major economies on the weekend in Riyadh. China will not send any officials to the meeting.
* China’s Gansu province has lowered its emergency response measures, its health commission said on Friday, the first in the country to do so.
* The streets of South Korea’s fourth-largest city, Daegu, were abandoned on Thursday, after dozens of people caught the coronavirus in what authorities described as a “super-spreading event” at a church. On Friday K-League postponed next week’s opening home matches for Daegu FC and Pohang Steelers due to the surge.
* In Hong Kong, citizens have set up a surgical face mask factory to ease supplies and deter price gouging.
* Japan and Singapore are on the brink of recession and South Korea said on Friday its exports to China slumped in the first 20 days of February.
* Japan’s factory activity suffered its steepest contraction in seven years in February, reinforcing the risk of a recession in the world’s third-largest economy.
* Japanese automakers on Friday delayed the restart of plants near the outbreak’s epicentre in China, raising the risk of further supply disruptions.
* Two elderly passengers from aboard a cruise ship moored near Tokyo died, as hundreds more disembarked after two weeks in quarantine.
* Two Australians evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan have tested positive after returning to their home country, whose prime minister plans to extend a ban on arrivals from mainland China into a fourth week.
* A fourth case was confirmed in Italy.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a low-level travel advisory for Japan.
* Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it would either cancel or postpone major indoor events it has sponsored for the next three weeks.
* Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Friday it was inappropriate for London’s mayoral candidates to propose their city as an alternative site for the 2020 Olympic Games.
* China’s banking sector may face a surge of non-performing loans in 2020 if the virus doesn’t peak until April.
* Hubei has established a 50 billion yuan ($7.1 billion) special financing vehicle to help the local economy.
* Beijing’s containment measures look set to delay the rollout of 5G as tenders for six big projects have been postponed since Jan.31.
* The unprecedented lockdown on people and goods has disrupted the poultry lifecycle, threatening meat production.
* This year’s record 8.7 million Chinese university graduating class sees many students stuck at home as the corporate recruitment season begins.
* Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade said the epidemic is disrupting manufacturing sector supply chains, which may lead to delays in phone production.
* Asian shares were under water on Friday as coronavirus fears sent funds fleeing into the safety of U.S. assets, lifting the dollar to three-year highs.
