New figures report 95 deaths up to midnight on Tuesday, a drop of 22% on the previous day, as WHO chief warns threat is greater than terrorism. Follow all the developments here
WHO chief says threat of virus is greater than terrorism
Parents of Australian toddler plead for her evacuation from Hubei
Health officials have revised the figures released earlier. The number of new deaths reported as of midnight on Tuesday in China is 97, up two from earlier. That compares with 108 reported for Monday – a fall of 10.2% (I misreported the Monday number as 116 earlier - my apologies).
The new cases probably gives us a better idea of what’s happening because the number of deaths has varied a bit day to day.
Single-day increase in cases on the Chinese mainland: 2,015; new cases outside Hubei Province continue to fall for the eighth day #coronavirus #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/mQBKVZKQMx
China's new infections of novel #coronavirus drop for 8th consecutive day outside Hubei https://t.co/umJhoQ0RZl pic.twitter.com/xesz8eLzDI
One more line from Australia for now. Health minister Greg Hunt was pushed by reporters about whether the government would consider changing its travel restrictions to allow students from China to come to Australia to start courses as the academic year begins. Thousands of Chinese students study in Australia.
But he said the government could not “change expectations”.
At the moment, the position is very clear - there’s a travel ban. There’s no change in that travel ban. And it’s the medical advice which will guide what we do.
We are very aware, like, deeply aware, of the economic consequences. But the consequences of contagion within Australia at an economic, let alone more significantly a human level, would be extraordinary. And so that’s why we have that clear set of strategic priorities that guide the NSC.
Still with that Australian government press conference where the foreign minister Marise Payne was asked about the hundreds of Australians stuck on the Diamond Princess, and those 11 Australians who have tested positive for the virus and who are now being treated in hospitals in Japan.
We are working cooperatively with them. No country has indicated it intends to carry out an assisted departure of citizens from Japan,and Australia most certainly doesnot intend to do that. We realise that the situation on the ship is very stressful for those who are there. The Japanese authorities are doingan extraordinary job, both with thepatients, but also those who are in quarantine on the ship, and it is a difficult situation... And we really feel for thosepeople who are in that situation.
The Australian foreign minister also fielded questions about further evacuations, in particular about Chloe Luo, the toddler who we have reported about exclusively today.
But she said that Australia was not currently considering any more rescue flights from Wuhan, having already removed 538 Australians from the city. She implied that the problem was that Chloe had to be accompanied by an Australian citizen or resident and the problem is that her relatives in China do not fit the bill.
We have worked very hard, including taking over 10,000 calls, to deal with these issues to support those families. Our effort has been to try to keep families together where possible. And so, what we’ve been able to do is to assist those Australians to leave Wuhan who are cleared for departure by Chinese travel authorities.
Now, that does not include family members of Australian children who are Chinese nationals and who are not Australian permanent residents. In that case, it makes it very complex, where a child is unaccompanied for an entire journey to Australia, potentially for a period of quarantine, and our strong advice is that children in this situation are best to remain in the care of their families, in Wuhan or in Hubei province, while China’s travel restrictions are in place.
The Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, and health minister Greg Hunt are talking in Canberra now.
Payne said the government was maintaining its level 4 travel advice for China – that is advising Australia “do not travel” to China.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said today that Japan will bar foreign travellers from Zhejiang province from tomorrow [Thursday] in a further attempt to contain Covid-19.
Entry will also be denied to holders of Chinese passports issued in the eastern Chinese province, Abe said.
Naaman Zhou, one of our reporters in Sydney, has been writing about the moving case of the 18-month-old Australian girl who is trapped in Hubei.
Chloe Luo’s parents sent her to China in January to stay with her grandmother in order to escape the bushfires then sweeping the Australian capital Canberra where the family lives. After her grandmother fell sick with a cold, not related to coronavirus, Chloe is being looked after by her great aunt in Suizhou, near Wuhan.
Related: Coronavirus: Parents of Australian toddler stranded in Hubei province plead for her evacuation
And talking of that propaganda push, here are some examples from social media, including this fascinating one about “another busy day” in the fight against the virus in Wuhan No 4 hospital. CGTN news talks to a nurse, Xu Xinchen, as he goes about his night shift at the hospital, describing problems such as a shortage of protective suits for staff and the difficulties of taking blood from people while wearing large protective goggles.
What's it like to be nurse during a night shift in Wuhan? CGTN's Xu Xinchen takes us inside Wuhan's No.4 hospital. #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/cSoI049CkI
In The Spotlight: Pet guardians in the time of #coronavirus https://t.co/teu46UPRwT pic.twitter.com/lPRN3yt8II
Disinfection robots put into use at hospitals in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. Qingdao has called on technological companies to research, develop and refit disinfection robots which can replace human in disinfection operations. pic.twitter.com/R1jTipoxsi
With the city on lockdown, native #Wuhan girl Chen Lingyu volunteers to drive frontline medical staff to and from work every day amid the #coronavirus outbreak.
Check out this video and see a day in her life. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/GGlGc8Fg8P
A wave of positive propaganda about the slowdown in infections has swamped the media in China, according to the seasoned China expert, Bill Bishop.
Bishop, an American who publishes a regular newsletter about China, Sinocism, wrote on Tuesday that the official media “is in full positive energy mode trying to spread that word that while the battle is still raging victory is within reach”.
Let’s all hope that we are near the peak, but relaxations of quarantine and other restrictive policies may be a better tell than the official data ... Then again, the central government is clearly very concerned about the economic impact and appears to be pushing local governments to get business back up and running as fast as possible. There is the risk if that people go back to work too quickly there could be a second wave of cases D
Stock markets across Asia Pacific have risen this morning as the financial world continues to shrug off any concerns that Covid-19 could derail the global economy.
The ASX200 is up 0.4% in Sydney while the Nikkei is 0.3% to the good. Seoul is flat. Chinese markets open in about 40 minutes.
Coronavirus could reduce Chinese purchases of US food prooduce required under phase one of the US-China trade deal, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said on Tuesday night in Washington, Reuters reports.
O’Brien told an event at the Atlantic Council:
Japan’s health ministry says that 39 more people on board the cruise ship have been confirmed as having the coronavirus. In addition, a quarantine official who was collecting forms on the ship has been infected.
Katsunobu Kato said the total of people infected on the ship was now 174. Four are in a serious condition.
Out of 53 new test results [on passengers and crew], 39 people were found positive.
At this point, we have confirmed that four people, among those who are hospitalised, are in a serious condition, either on a ventilator or in an intensive care unit.
We have to careful with the figures, but it looks like good news today with a discernible fall in the rate of deaths and the spread of the disease in China.
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