Coronavirus: Japan to trial HIV antiretroviral drugs on patients – latest news

UK prepares evacuation flight for cruise ship passengers. Follow the latest news

Russia will suspend entry of Chinese citizens to its territory starting from 20 February, Russian authorities in charge of coronavirus prevention have said.

The suspension will be for Chinese citizens entering Russia for employment, private, educational and tourist purposes.

If you’re just catching up, here is a quick rundown of the latest global coronavirus developments over the past few hours:

Officials in Hubei province, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, will adopt more thorough and forceful measures to find patients with fever, state media reported today.

Records of all fever patients who have visited a doctor since 20 January will be checked, as well as the records of those who have bought over-the-counter cough and fever medications in shops and online, Xinhua reported.

Dozens more countries across Africa and the Americas will be able to test citizens for coronavirus by the end of the week, the World Health Organization said today.

Over the coming days, 40 countries in Africa and 29 in the Americas are expected to have the ability to detect the Covid-19 virus.

Chinese medical workers who die fighting the coronavirus outbreak will be designated as martyrs, CNN reports.

Over 1,700 healthcare workers have become infected during the battle to contain the virus and several have died, with Chinese authorities coming under criticism for the pressure it is putting on staff.

China says it will designate all of them — the frontline doctors, nurses and medics who died while fighting the virus — as martyrs of the epicenter of the outbreak.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has flown Chinese parts in suitcases to Britain to maintain production and could run out after two weeks, as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak hits firms across countries and industries.

Britain’s biggest carmaker joined major global companies such as Apple in warning of the impact of the virus on supply chains, Reuters reports.

We are safe for this week and we are safe for next week and in the third week we have ... parts missing.

We have flown parts in suitcases from China to the UK.

A British man who was diagnosed with coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan will be discharged from hospital tomorrow.

Alan Steele, who announced the news on Facebook, said he will wait in the country until he can be reunited with his wife, Wendy, and they can travel home together.

The are 92 cases in 12 countries outside China of human-to-human spread of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization chief has said.

“But we don’t have data to make a meaningful comparison to China cases,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus clarified.

We have not seen sustained local transmission of coronavirus except in specific circumstances like the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Two Irish citizens have tested positive for coronavirus onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, Independent.ie has reported.

More than 100 people have been tested in Ireland for the disease, but none have tested positive.

We are also in close contact with those who remain in quarantine on the ship.

We are working with our EU partners and other like-minded countries regarding options for their return.

A British family who contracted coronavirus at a French ski resort have been discharged from hospital, the French health minister, Olivier Véran, has said.

The British nationals, including a nine-year-old child, caught the virus from Steve Walsh, a British man who traveled to the Contamines-Montjoie resort from a conference in Singapore, where he got the coronavirus.

All of the patients that were hospitalised in Grenoble were able to leave the hospital. Thus the family that were infected, an English family, the father and his son were able to leave the hospital in Grenoble. They are no longer considered to be sick or carriers of the virus.

French fashion company Chanel has postponed a show in Beijing, following on from Prada’s decision to delay a show due to be held in Japan in May.

Chanel said in a statement that following the guidance of Chinese authorities it had decided to postpone its Beijing replica of a catwalk display held in Paris last December “to a later and more appropriate moment”.

As the UK government makes plans to bring home the British nationals trapped on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, here’s a quick summary of some the other countries which have taken similar measure, compiled by Reuters.

The Italian luxury fashion house Prada has postponed a fashion show due to take place in Japan in May.

In a statement, the company said:

Due to the current uncertainty related to the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Prada Resort fashion show originally scheduled for 21 May in Japan will be postponed.

Repatriating passengers from the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship in Japan is not without risks, a medical expert has said.

Paul Hunter, professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, said:

Considerable care needs to be made to ensure that the passengers do not transmit infection between themselves or to cabin crew during the flight home and once back on home soil they do not act as a focus for the spread of the disease into their home countries – any returning passengers may be put in quarantine on their return.

It is well known that certain infections such as influenza and norovirus can spread rapidly on board cruise ships. Cruise ships take passengers and crew from all over the world, often passengers are relatively elderly, they spend most of their time on board indoors mixing with others.

The most likely [infection] route is direct person-to-person transmission when people are close to an infected person, but with currently publicly available information it is not possible to rule out other issues at this stage.

Boris Johnson has spoken with the president of China about the coronavirus outbreak.

A Downing Street spokesman said:

The prime minister spoke to President Xi of China this morning.

He offered his sympathies for those affected by the outbreak of coronavirus in China. President Xi thanked the UK for its support and in particular welcomed the donation of vital medical equipment to China.

They agreed that biodiversity and climate change are two sides of the same coin and must be addressed in tandem if we’re to protect the planet for future generations.

A social media campaign in Australia is urging people eat at Chinese restaurants, to combat disinformation and racialised stigma surrounding the coronavirus outbreak.

The #IWillEatWithYou campaign hopes to boost struggling Chinese businesses in the country, with many owners reporting a drop in sales caused by coronavirus fears.

As misinformation about coronavirus spreads across social media, local Chinese restaurants and stores are paying the price - with some losing up to 50% of their revenue.

While other restaurants and public spaces are still buzzing, it is the Chinatown restaurants and Asian grocers that stand empty. Panic around the virus is unfairly impacting Chinese and Asian communities.

The Foreign Office has the “utmost concern” for the British people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, two of whom may have tested positive for the virus.

In an updated statement, a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said:

We have the utmost concern for the British people currently on the cruise ship.

We are ensuring those who have been diagnosed with coronavirus receive the best possible care in Japan and are organising a flight back to the UK for other British nationals on the Diamond Princess as soon as possible.

The UK accounting watchdog has called on all British businesses to flag up the full extent of the risks posed by the coronavirus outbreak to their companies, PA Media reports.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said companies had a duty to make “up-to-date and meaningful” disclosures to investors on the potential impact of the disease.

Given the potential for rapid spreading of the virus, required disclosures will likely change over time as more information about the epidemic emerges.

Companies will need to monitor developments and ensure they are providing up-to-date and meaningful disclosures to their shareholders when preparing their year-end reports.

Thirty doctors in Brighton are currently in isolation after coming into contact with a GP who tested positive for coronavirus, the Argus reported.

A frontline clinician told the local paper: “There are 30 doctors in isolation after coming into contact with a GP who tested positive for coronavirus at the CCG meeting. Public Health England told them to self-isolate. This is a risk.

The two-week quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship ends on Wednesday, with thousands of passengers and crew set to disembark over the next several days in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo.

But a number of scientists told the Associated Press that the ship could have served as an incubator for Covid-19 instead of a quarantine facility that was meant to prevent the worsening of the outbreak.

A small number of Irish people are onboard two cruise ships where coronavirus has been detected, the Irish government has said, according to a report by PA Media.

Simon Coveney said his foreign affairs department was in contact with citizens on the Diamond Princess in Japan and the Westerdam off Cambodia.

It’s a small number though, and we’re dealing with each individual case.

There is a second cruise ship off Cambodia, we’re working with Irish nationals on both of those ships to make sure they’re safe.

We are closely following the events concerning the Diamond Princess and we are in contact with the Irish citizens concerned.

We are continuing to liaise closely with like-minded countries, EU partners, and the health authorities in Japan and here in Ireland concerning the best course of action.

The Associated Press has reported the latest breakdown of the number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus outbreak.

The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 73,000 people worldwide.

Another 88 passengers onboard the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the new coronavirus, ABC News reports.

#BREAKING: Another 88 confirmed new #coronavirus cases from on board the Diamond Princess @abcnews pic.twitter.com/Ixp1XdpY0x

The son of the British couple who tested positive for the coronavirus while on board the Diamond Princess described the government’s response as “appalling”.

David and Sally Abel, who published video diaries from a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan, said they have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The son of a British couple recently tested positive for the #Coronavirus on board the #DiamondPrincess call the government response "Appalling".
Steve spoke to #BBCBreakfast after David and Sally Abel said they've been taken to a hostel after the positive test. pic.twitter.com/gtYLcad2UG

Philippines’ tourism and travel industry is projected to lose billions of peso with the temporary travel ban imposed on travellers from China, in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Apple has announced it could miss its revenues target in the first quarter of 2020 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

European shares dropped as a revenue warning from the iPhone maker sent “shockwaves through the tech sector”.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.8% by 0803 GMT, having ended at a record high on Monday after China outlined fresh stimulus measures to mitigate the virus’ economic impact.

However, Apple’s warning that it would miss its March quarter sales outlook due to the outbreak, along with news of a slower-than-expected recovery in the firm’s Chinese factories swiftly culled any optimism.

David and Sally Abel, a British couple onboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan, have tested positive for coronavirus, a day before passengers who tested negative were due to start leaving the ship after spending two weeks in quarantine.

Abel, who has uploaded daily videos from the couple’s cabin on social media, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon (local time): “There is going to be a time of quiet. We have been proved positive and leaving for hospital soon. Blessings all xxx.”

Related: British couple on Diamond Princess test positive for coronavirus

The French health minister, Olivier Veran, said on Tuesday there was a “credible risk” the coronavirus outbreak could turn into a pandemic, Reuters reports.

“This is both a working assumption and a credible risk,” Veran told France Info radio, when asked about the possibility of the coronavirus spreading globally.

I want to hear your news, experiences and questions about the coronavirus outbreak. You can email me at aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com or tweet me at @aamnamohdin

I’m particularly interested in hearing from travellers who have booked flights to China and are currently in limbo.

Taiwan has urged the World Health Organization not to be “kidnapped” by China, as the self-ruled island fights its label as an infected area.

Taiwan has reported 22 cases, compared with China’s figure of more than 72,400, but the island shares the agency’s classification of China as “very high risk” since the WHO considers Taiwan as part of China.

Morning, I’m Aamna Mohdin taking over the live blog from Martin Farrer.

Britons David and Sally Abel, who are on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, have tested positive for Covid-19. Abel, who has been posting regular video updates from the quarantined ship, said on Facebook: “There is going to be a time of quiet. We have been proved positive and leaving for hospital soon. Blessings all.”

Given the conditions onboard, we are working to organise a flight back to the UK for British nationals on the Diamond Princess as soon as possible.

Our staff are contacting British nationals on board to make the necessary arrangements. We urge all those who have not yet responded to get in touch immediately.

Shanghai’s government says the city’s schools, which have been closed for three weeks, will remain closed and will begin teaching primary and secondary school students online from 2 March.

Lu Jing, head of the Shanghai education committee, revealed the decision at a briefing on Tuesday, according to reports.

I’m about to hand over to my colleagues in London so here are the main developments of the last eight hours or so:

Apple’s announcement on Monday night that the Covid-19 outbreak was causing a shortage of iPhones has hit tech stocks in Asia.

The Nikkei in Tokyo closed 1.4% for the day on Tuesday and Seoul finished down by a chunky 1.5%. The South Korean president Moon Jae-in said earlier that the economy faced an “emergency” situation because of the virus and the government would be making an all-out effort to boost growth.

Global stocks fall after Apple warns on coronavirus impact. Warning from world’s most valuable comp sobered investors mood. Kitchen sink charge of $7.3bn at HSBC adds to gloom. Offshore Yuan weakens beyond 7 per Dollar. Bonds rise w/US 10y drop to 1.55%. Gold 1586, Bitcoin $9.8k. pic.twitter.com/3iDl5HmTyU

HSBC, the international bank based in Hong Kong and London, has reported a fall 30% fall in profits for the last financial year.

HSBC said its 2019 pre-tax profits fell by a third on year to $13.3 billion as interim chief Noel Quinn warned that the global banking giant was “not delivering acceptable returns”. Most of the loss was a “goodwill impairment” on its business in Europe.

As a result of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, we have lowered our expectations for growth in the Asian economy in 2020. The main impact will be in the first quarter, but we expect some improvement as the virus becomes contained

From Justin McCurry in Tokyo:

Japan is to trial HIV antiretroviral drugs to treat people with coronavirus, the government said on Tuesday, as the number of infections in the country reached 520, including 454 cases onboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner.

A senior doctor treating patients in Wuhan has died from the coronavirus outbreak.

“Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuhan Wuchang hospital, died at 10.30am this morning after resuscitation efforts failed,” reported the China Central Television’s microblog.

Dr. Liu Zhiming, head of Wuchang Hospital, passed away after being infected with the novel #coronavirus. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/rqWMMcPMt4

Related: Senior Wuhan doctor dies from coronavirus as authorities start to 'round up' patients

Singapore Airlines is following Cathay Pacific and other airlines by temporarily cutting flights across its global network in the three months until May, it said on Tuesday, blaming the Covid-19 outbreak.

The main affected destinations include Frankfurt, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Paris, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo.

Earlier I posted on the development of what appears to be an app-based health checking system in China.

A reader has been in touch to tell me that such a system has been in place in the southern city of Shenzhen for a couple of weeks.

More from the Australian minister’s press call.

He was asked if those passengers on the ship were angry at having to be placed in quarantine despite already having been isolated on the ship for two weeks.

The medical advice from theAustralian Health Protection Principals Committee was clear and categorical, that an additional period of 14 days would be required. They have our deep sympathy. It must have been a very, very difficult time. And for many it would be frustrating. But we need to protect and support those Australians who have been on the ship, whilst protecting and supporting the entire containment arrangement in Australia.

We suspect that the risk for most of them is very low. But because some of them may have been exposed, we’re doing this quarantine. So, potentially there might be a slightly higher risk, but if that’s the case, we’re absolutely well-prepared for it.

Australia health minister, Greg Hunt, is giving details about how its citizens are going to be evacuated from the Diamond Princess.

Speaking in Darwin in the Northern territory, Hunt says the government is “talking to all of the Australian passengers on the Diamond Princess today” and it expects to have about 200 people on board an evacuation flight.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on Tuesday morning that it would evacuate citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, and urged travellers who wish to be flown home to contact officials, writes Rebecca Ratcliffe, our south-east Asia correspondent.

Given the conditions on board, we are working to organise a flight back to the UK for British nationals on the Diamond Princess as soon as possible. Our staff are contacting British nationals on board to make the necessary arrangements. We urge all those who have not yet responded to get in touch immediately.

Alibaba, the huge Chinese technology company, appears to be rolling out a health check app which will help authorities keep track of the virus as people return to work.

Beginning in Alibaba’s base city of Hangzhou near Shanghai, its subsidiary Alipay – China’s Paypal – will “provide development support for a national health code system” which will track people’s self-quarantine based on basic health information and travel history, according to the website Technode.

China’s national health code rating system, by #alipay and #wechat, during the Covid-19 #coronavavirus.
Green=pass, yewllow = need self-quarantine for 7 days, red=need self-quarantine for 14 days, then turn into green again. pic.twitter.com/eRaWysx3tC

South Korea is sending the presidential jet to evacuate its citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, according to the Yonhap news agency.

S. Korean presidential jet to fly to Japan to evacuate 5 people from quarantined cruise ship https://t.co/X3mPDShfNB

#Nikkei and #Kospi are losing altitude. Given the #Chinese support for their mkts, would think this is impacting/confirming our decline. Globex $SPX futures $$ES_H pic.twitter.com/x2cn5uW6HK

In Japan, our correspondent Justin McCurry reports on how the outbreak has disrupted the planned celebrations of the emperor’s 60th birthday.

Birthday celebrations for Japan’s new emperor have become the latest victim of the coronavirus outbreak. The imperial household agency said Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako would not appear in public to mark his 60th birthday on Sunday due to concerns over the possible spread of the virus among large groups of people. The event regularly attracts tens of thousands of people to the inner grounds of the imperial palace in Tokyo.

Naruhito’s birthday address would have been his first since he ascended the Chrysanthemum throne on 1 May after his father, Akihito, became the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in more than 200 years.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, has boosted the funds available to tackle the coronavirus outbreak to HK$28bn (US$3.60bn) from HK$25bn pledged previously to ease the impact on the city’s battered economy.

Lam last week had said the government would give one-off payments to businesses across the city and the hospital authority.

If you've hated Hong Kong's crowded streets, now is the time to come. Early indications suggest visitor arrivals are DOWN 99%. @ericlamTO https://t.co/lPMLe3T08k pic.twitter.com/9NYWKfzfWB

After a very strong day yesterday when they were buoyed by more central bank stimulus, China’s stock markets have dipped a bit today.

The Shanghai Composite is off 0.2% although the Shenzhen Composite, which is more tech heavy, has just gone back into positive territory.

Nothing really new in #RBA minutes...given the SOMP, parliamentary testimony since the last meeting.

RBA considered the impact of the bushfires & Covid-19.

Weighed up the costs & benefits of further rate cuts and decided to hold...but remains prepared to ease further if needed pic.twitter.com/2zBHdPThFf

* #RBA: CORONAVIRUS A MATERIAL NEAR TERM RISK TO CHINA, TRADE
* RBA: CUT COULD SPUR BORROWING AND STRONG UPSWING IN HOUSING
* RBA REVIEWED CASE FOR FURTHER RATE CUT AT FEBRUARY MEETING
* RBA PREPARED TO EASE FURTHER TO SUPPORT GROWTH, JOBS, CPI$aud pushing through 0.67 handle

In China, the fight to contain the virus is continuing despite encouragement that the number of new cases has fallen below 2,000 for the first time since January.

The Global Times newspaper reports that a “dragnet style” operation is under way in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, to make sure all those infected are “rounded up”.

If Wuhan fails to round up all #COVID19 patients, no matter how many makeshift hospitals we build, it would be inadequate to curb the epidemic, analysts said. https://t.co/wd8iOpfyKE pic.twitter.com/cjlH2UqkPM

The three-day campaign aims to fulfill five objectives: have all suspected victims receive nucleic acid tests; round up all infected patients; check all patients with fever; put under quarantine anyone who has had close contact with patients; and ensure all communities and villages implement 24-hour closed-off management measures.

It is not all gloom and doom in the economics department. It seems that in Hong Kong, where toilet paper is running short, some manufacturers are doing quite well. The Hong Kong-listed paper maker Vinda has seen its shares rise 41% this year.

Coronavirus survival starter kit, @DavidInglesTV always comes through with the chart goods. Year-to-date gains for #coronavirus related stocks:

Online healthcare platform Ping An Good Doctor 36%
Toilet paper maker Vinda 41%
Instant noodle maker Nissin Foods 13% pic.twitter.com/mHV3hNC95H

A flight has left Canada to evacuate its citizens aboard the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Canada’s chief public health officer has said in the last hour.

1/4 The #GoC is assisting Canadians to return home following the outbreak of #COVID19 on the #DiamondPrincess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan. Precautions are in place to detect, prevent and control any potential #COVID19: https://t.co/3tjfijMcRZ

Asian stock markets have seen a dip this morning after Apple’s announcement that the outbreak was causing shortages of the iPhone and that it would fail to meet its revenue target for this quarter.

The Nikkei in Tokyo fell 0.6% this morning and the ASX200 was down 0.2% in Sydney. Seoul was down 0.56%. Chinese and Hong Kong markets open shortly.

There are rumbling concerns that passengers who were allowed to leave the cruise ship MV Westerdam in Cambodia may yet be infected with the virus.

UK officials are trying to contact Britons who disembarked after experts said the checking process may not have been handled properly. One person tested positive after leaving the vessel, which was refused by five countries due to concerns that passengers were infected.

Related: Coronavirus: UK trying to contact Britons who left cruise ship in Cambodia

The latest figures show that more than 12,000 people have recovered from the infection out of a total of more than 73,000 who have contracted it.

We have to assume that many more will recover if we factor in the latest comments by the head of the World Health Organization.

More than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover, 14% have severe disease including pneumonia and shortness of breath, 5% have critical disease including respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure, and 2% of cases are fatal,. The risk of death increases the older you are.

Related: Coronavirus causes mild disease in four in five patients, says WHO

Those national health commission figures have been released in the last few minutes.

98 new fatalities were recorded on Monday, the commission said on Tuesday morning, taking the death toll in mainland China rose to 1,868. There were 93 deaths in Hubei, 72 of them in the capital Wuhan where the outbreak started.

#Coronavirus has killed 1,868 on Chinese mainland as of Monday, over 12,000 patients recovered. Other key figures:

- 72,436 confirmed cases, another 60 in HK (1 death), 10 in Macao and 22 in Taiwan (1 death)

- 12,552 discharged from hospital

- 11,741 in critical condition pic.twitter.com/kWy7MjM9Rg

Welcome to our rolling coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak, which we can start by relaying the latest figures from the health commission in Hubei.

It said on Tuesday morning that 93 more deaths were recorded on Monday, taking the total in the stricken province to 1,789. Another 1,807 cases were added as well for a total in the province of 59,989.

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