First case in Wales; Nigeria, New Zealand and Lithuania also report first cases as WHO says epidemic could get ‘out of control’. Follow live news
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A British man who was onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has died from the coronavirus, Kyodo News reports.
Our Pablo Gutiérrez has created this set of maps illustrating how Covid-19 is spreading across the world.
Related: Coronavirus map: how Covid-19 is spreading across the world
Prof Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, has responded to media reports of a dog in Hong Kong being tested “weak positive” for coronavirus.
“There is no evidence that the human novel coronavirus can infect dogs and it would be incredible for a virus to make so many species jumps in such a short space of time,” he said.
“We have to differentiate between real infection and just detecting the presence of a virus – these are very different – and the fact that the test result was weakly positive would suggest that this is environmental contamination or simply the presence of coronavirus shed from the human contact that has ended up in the dog’s samples.
“In truth this is incredibly irresponsible because the last thing we need to do is create mass hysteria about the possibility of dogs being infected, and therefore potentially transmitting this virus when there is absolutely no evidence for this whatsoever.”
Researchers at the Sacco hospital in Milan say they have isolated the Italian strain of the coronavirus, reports Lorenzo Tondo. The scientists say the discovery will help to develop a vaccine and new treatments to contain the virus.
Early in February, Italian researchers from the Spallanzani hospital in Rome successfully isolated Covid-19, which allowed the country to immediately activate tests on patients.
The GMB union is the latest body to issue a warning about the threat the coronavirus poses to workers in the gig economy.
Mick Rix, the GMB national officer, said:
The threat of Coronavirus is a huge problem for employers and workers across the UK. But workers in the so-called gig economy, or on zero-hours contracts, are left abandoned and penniless if they have to self-isolate.
Once again the bogus self-employment model is screwing over the disadvantaged. GMB is calling on all employers – regardless of the contract – to do the right thing and pay their workers if they have to take time off due to the global health crisis.
Public Health England has issued new advice on the coronavirus in places of education. A revised poster issued this morning says: “You should wash hands with soap & water or hand sanitiser … on arrival at any childcare or educational setting.”.
Nigeria’s first confirmed coronovirus case entered the country on a Turkish Airlines flight that travelled via Istanbul, the Lagos state commissioner for health has told a news conference.
#Covid_19: The Lagos State Commissioner of Health, @ProfAkinAbayomi giving updates and a brief travel history of the confirmed case of Corona Virus in Lagos and how he was transferred from Ogun State to Lagos .. #CoronaVirusUpdates @drobafemihamzat @LSMOH pic.twitter.com/uSL2EW69P0
The Geneva motor show has been postponed by six months, following Switzerland’s ban on large gatherings. Organisers said it had become increasingly difficult for delegates to arrange visas, or fix flights to the show, given the escalating crisis over Covid-19.
You can read the latest developments in our business live blog:
Related: Geneva motor show postponed as Switzerland bans large gatherings – business live
Here’s some more on the plans for a Cobra meeting:
A No 10 spokesman said: “The prime minister is keen to chair Cobra on Monday to ensure that everything that can be done is being done.”
The Guardian’s science correspondent, Hannah Devlin, has this piece busting the most common coronavirus myths:
'It's no worse than the flu': busting the coronavirus myths https://t.co/Ut433uUhpS
The government is to hold an emergency Cobra meeting over the coronavirus outbreak on Monday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to chair a meeting of the Government's emergency cobra committee on Monday over the COVID-19 outbreak
The Associated Press has this updated list of all the reported cases of coronavirus around the world:
Mainland China: 2,788 deaths among 78,824 cases, mostly in the central province of Hubei.
Hong Kong: 92 cases, 2 deaths.
Macao: 10 cases.
South Korea: 2,337 cases, 13 deaths.
Japan: 927 cases, including 705 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, 9 deaths.
Italy: 650 cases, 15 deaths.
Iran: 388 cases, 34 deaths.
Singapore: 96.
US: 60.
Germany: 53.
Kuwait: 45.
Thailand: 41.
France: 38 cases, 2 deaths.
Bahrain: 36.
Taiwan: 34 cases, 1 death.
Malaysia: 25.
Australia: 23.
United Arab Emirates: 19.
Spain: 17.
Vietnam: 16.
United Kingdom: 15.
Canada: 14.
Sweden: 7.
Iraq: 6.
Oman: 6.
Russia: 5.
Croatia: 5.
Switzerland: 5.
Greece: 4.
Philippines: 3 cases, 1 death.
India: 3.
Israel: 3.
Lebanon: 3.
Pakistan: 2.
Finland: 2.
Austria: 2.
Netherlands: 2.
Egypt: 1.
Algeria: 1.
Afghanistan: 1.
North Macedonia: 1.
Georgia: 1.
Estonia: 1.
Lithuania: 1.
Belgium: 1.
Romania: 1.
Belarus: 1.
Nepal: 1.
Sri Lanka: 1.
Cambodia: 1.
Norway: 1.
Denmark: 1.
Brazil: 1.
New Zealand: 1.
Nigeria: 1.
Azerbaijan: 1.
Health authorities in Ireland have said that people who sat within two rows of the person from Northern Ireland infected with Covid-19 on the plane from northern Italy to Dublin have been contacted.
PA Media said the woman followed advice in reporting concerns to a GP, and “self-isolated” at home while awaiting the results of testing.
Each of the stages of this person’s journey have been identified and all relevant contacts in all of those stages of transport have been contacted (and) traced.
The former chancellor and Evening Standard editor, George Osborne, says its time for the government to go on a “war footing” with the coronavirus:
The British Government now needs to go onto a ‘war footing’ with the coronavirus: daily NHS press briefings, regular COBRA meetings chaired by the PM, Ministers on all major media shows. The public is fearful, wants information and needs to know their leaders have got a grip.
So coronavirus has finally arrived in sub-saharan Africa, with an Italian man who arrived in Nigeria three days ago becoming the country’s first case of the disease.
The case is in Lagos, a massive overcrowded city, which will raise fears that the virus might already have spread in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, and possibly further afield.
Nigeria is a major hub for air transport, commerce and culture. It has deep links with China, with continual and substantial traffic of people and goods. However, this first confirmed case appears to have originated in Italy.
The WHO’s regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, has warned that the “window of opportunity the continent has had to prepare for coronavirus disease is closing”.
Egypt had the first case of Covid-19 in Africa, announced on 14 February. Algeria declared it had a case on Tuesday – another Italian adult who arrived in the country on 17 February.
Earlier this month, officials at the WHO warned that porous borders, a continuing flow of travellers and poorly resourced healthcare systems meant the risk of an outbreak across Africa was “very, very high” and raised significant concerns about the ability of “fragile health systems” to cope with the epidemic.
But recent weeks have been used to reinforce testing regimes, isolation facilities and for public messaging too.
“Nigeria has dramatically improved its ability to manage the outbreak of a major pandemic since the Ebola scare in west Africa in 2014. Many of the lessons from keeping the country free of Ebola have informed the steps taken since the news of the coronavirus epidemic first broke,” wrote Folasade Ogunsola, professor of Clinical Microbiology, University of Lagos, on The Conversation website.
A further two coronavirus cases have been confirmed in England, bringing the total to 19.
Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said:
Two further patients in England have tested positive for Covid-19. The virus was passed on in Iran and the patients have been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres at the Royal Free Hospital. The total number of cases in England is now 17. Following confirmed cases in Northern Ireland and Wales, the total number of UK cases is 19.
Wales’s chief medical officer, Dr Frank Atherton, said in a statement:
I can confirm that one patient in Wales has tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19). All appropriate measures to provide care for the individual and to reduce the risk of transmission to others are being taken.
I can also confirm that the patient had travelled back to Wales from northern Italy, where the virus was contracted.
A coronavirus case has been confirmed in Wales, in a patient who had returned from Italy. This takes the total number of UK cases to 17.
While the government has not put anybody forward to be interviewed about the coronavirus this morning, Jeremy Hunt, the chairman of the Commons health committee and former Tory health secretary, has been on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He said we need to consider the “social and economic trade-offs” we are willing to make to contain Covid-19.
In Wuhan, it appears that it has peaked at less than 5% of the population getting it. And we are having to make contingency plans for 70% of the population getting it, and in terms of the number of lives lost, there is a massive difference, hundreds of thousands of lives difference, if you can contain it to less than 5%.
And, so, the question we have to ask ourselves, and I think the government is right to start to spell this out – but I think they need to go further – is what are the social and economic trade-offs that we are prepared to make to keep the spread of the virus at that low level.
The trade union umbrella body, the TUC, is urging employers to give workers time off to seek medical advice if they feel they are developing symptoms of coronavirus. The organisation says many people are at risk of getting no financial support when sick because their pay is too low or they are on zero-hours contracts.
The TUC warned that almost 2 million workers do not earn enough to qualify for statutory sick pay, including one in 10 working women. They said that people forced to self-isolate because of the virus, and those who become ill, should not lose out on pay.
Employers have a duty of care to support workers affected by coronavirus. No one should have to worry about making ends meet if they have to self-isolate or if they fall ill. They should be able to focus on getting better.
The threat of coronavirus shows why sick pay should be a day one right for everybody. It’s not right that millions of UK workers miss out on this protection. The government must ensure everyone gets statutory sick pay, however much they earn.
Reuters is reporting that Kuwait has confirmed two more cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 45. A health ministry official said there had been no deaths and that those infected had either travelled to Iran or been contaminated by people who went there.
European stock markets have, as we feared, tumbled at the start of trading. The FTSE 100 index of the biggest UK-listed companies has hit its lowest level since December 2018 (corrected).
It’s down a further 2.8%, or 188 points, at 6607. That means it’s lost about 10% of its value this week. We’ve not seen such a slump since since the eurozone crisis of 2011, and the financial crisis more than a decade ago.
Global stocks have entered correction territory and it’s now that we can start to consider the market is entering the period of peak fear.
Guardian US reporter Amanda Holpuch writes about the unique challenges the US might face in tackling the coronavirus:
The US health agency overseeing coronavirus has told Americans that to curb the inevitable spread of the respiratory illness, they only need to take simple steps: wash your hands, stay home from work if you feel sick and speak to a doctor if you have symptoms of the disease.
But in the US healthcare system, things are never as simple as they seem. From the cost of healthcare to the lack of guaranteed paid sick days in the US, experts say containing the coronavirus requires systemic change beyond more people washing their hands.
Related: Low-income Americans most at risk of coronavirus, experts say
Here’s a reminder of the situation in the UK:
As of 27 February, a total of 7,690 people have been tested in the UK, of which 7,675 were confirmed negative and 15 positive. (The Department of health updates the figures every day at 2pm.)
After President Emmanuel Macron’s warning on Thursday that France was on the brink of a coronavirus epidemic, officials there have announced 20 new cases emerging in the past 24 hours.
A dozen cases are centred in the Oise area of northern France, which has emerged as one of the most significant clusters, and concern has homed in on connections to the 110 military airbase in Creil.
Good morning from London.
One hundred and sixty-eight Britons remain confined to the H10 Costa Adeje Palace in Tenerife after at least four guests were diagnosed with coronavirus. Sources told the PA Media news agency that about 50 of them will be allowed to leave if they wish.
We will not fly any customer who has stayed at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace during the quarantine, until this incubation period has passed or unless they have been explicitly tested for Covid-19 by a recognised authority and are confirmed as clear of the virus.
I’ll be handing over to my colleagues in London shortly, but here’s a quick look at the latest developments.
The bloodletting has ended – for now – in some key Asia Pacific markets. They’re still going in China and getting ready for heavy losses in Europe and the US.
European Opening Calls:#FTSE 6532 -3.89%#DAX 11826 -4.38%#CAC 5283 -3.86%#AEX 539 -3.78%#MIB 21846 -4.18%#IBEX 8643 -3.82%#OMX 1655 -3.86%#STOXX 3316 -4.04%#IGOpeningCall
With the risk off sentiment also driving #markets in #Asia--and not just Europe and the US--the yield on 10-year US Government #bonds has been #trading at new record lows (chart below), #oil prices remain under pressure and #stocks in #Japan are down almost 4%.#economy @markets pic.twitter.com/vtUpqc4gzS
Belarus has reported its first coronavirus case, an Iranian student who arrived in the country from Azerbaijan last week, AFP reports.
The health ministry said the patient was in a “satisfactory” condition.
New Zealand heath and government authorities are detailing the country’s responses, and the individual case which has been reported today.
It’s a New Zealand citizen who recently returned from Iran, and they are improving.
We are expecting a press conference from New Zealand authorities shortly, on the case detected there.
In the meantime we have a few more details from AFP.
AFP has written about the measures being taken in Beijing to control the spread of the virus, amid fears there could be a resurgence. There was a fresh cluster of cases this week, and two deaths reported on Friday.
This week, Beijing authorities announced new rules in a bid to disperse crowds in the city of over twenty million people, including many migrant workers from other regions.
Supermarkets must allow an average of two square metres per customer - a mandate which not only forces shops to track how many patrons enter, but also means shoppers have to wait outside once stores hit maximum capacity.
The Sacramento Bee is reporting three students living in dormitories at UC Davis has been placed in isolation after one showed “mild” symptoms of the virus.
The student has a runny nose and a cough after potentially being exposed to someone with coronavirus, officials said. The individual is in isolation at a home off campus. The two other individuals in isolation are the student’s roommates and are not showing signs of the virus.
Important info for New Zealanders who have traveled recently.
HEALTH MINISTRY:
The patient is improving and is in a negative pressure room.
Close contacts are in isolation as precautionary measure. Officials are tracing other close contacts, including on the flight involved which originated in Tehran and came via Bali. https://t.co/5YZIx8skSr
Capital Economics says China’s economy will shrink in the first quarter of this year despite the slowdown in the number of new virus cases.
Activity is still subdued in the world’s second-biggest economy, Capital says, and the impact on domestic demand and international supply chains will have a profound effect on the global outlook.
The extended disruption from efforts to contain COVID-19 means that China’s economy is already in the midst of the deepest contraction in at least two decades. And the potential hit to foreign demand and supply chains from the global spread of the virus risks dampening the subsequent recovery.
Lithuania has reported its first case of the virus, in a woman who returned this week from a visit to Italy’s northern city of Verona.
In a statement, the Lithuanian government said the woman had been isolated in hospital in the northern town of Siauliai following her return on Monday.
New Zealand has confirmed the first case of the virus, according to RNZ.
It’s reporting the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has confirmed the diagnosis in a permanent resident of New Zealand who had recently been in Iran.
Things are going from bad to worse on the financial markets with the selloff intensifying throughout the Asian trading session.
AFP:
Internet search giant Baidu has warned the deadly coronavirus outbreak could drive revenues down in the first quarter, as it reported steady annual revenue growth.
The Beijing-based group has forecast a plunge of between five percent and 13 percent due to the economic uncertainty surrounding the new virus, which is rapidly spreading around the world.
The operator of Tokyo’s two Disney resorts, Disneyland and DisneySea, said Friday the parks would be closed for around two weeks on fears over the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
“Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea have decided to proceed with an extraordinary closure from Saturday February 29, 2020, through Sunday 15 March”, after the government urged measures to limit the spread of the virus, the operator said in a statement.
Coronavirus chaos is causing congestion as high trade volumes clog the systems of brokers.
“We are seeing high volumes of trading today,” onliner broker Commsec, which is owned by the Commonwealth Bank, says in a message to website customers.
“Please be advised that our contact centres are busier than usual and you may experience longer than usual wait times.”
Home affairs minister Peter Dutton says Australia has “one of the toughest border protection system in the world, and probably the best health system in the world” and is well prepared.
He urged Australians to continue to go out and support communities and small businesses, and travel, especially to bushfire affected areas of NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
New Zealand said on Friday that it was placing temporary restrictions on incoming travellers from Iran as a precautionary measure to protect against the coronavirus outbreak.
“This means people will not be able to travel from Iran to New Zealand and anyone who has been in Iran in the last 14 days will need to self-isolate,” Health Minister David Clark said in a statement.
Hyundai has suspended production at one of its South Korean factories, in the city of Ulsan, after a worker tested positive for the virus, a union source has told Reuters.
A Hyundai spokesman said the company was checking the report.
Some developments in business and finance:
From AP:
K-pop superstar group BTS has canceled a series of planned concerts in Seoul in April due to concerns about a soaring viral outbreak in South Korea.
Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish are among riders who will be tested for the coronavirus after the UAE Tour was cancelled on Thursday when two participants contracted Covid-19.
The final two stages of the race were due to take place on Friday and Saturday but the race was abandoned when the Italian duo were taken ill. All riders and staff were confined to their rooms at the Crowne Royal Plaza Abu Dhabi Yas Island, with concerns that the potential outbreak could now extend to the UCI world track championships in Berlin after some riders who took part in the early stage of the UAE Tour already in Germany.
Related: Chris Froome facing coronavirus test after UAE Tour is cancelled
From Reuters:
Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told the U.S. Congress on Thursday that his agency is aggressively evaluating how long coronavirus can survive and be infectious on surfaces.
“On copper and steel its pretty typical, it’s pretty much about 2 hours,” Redfield said at a House of Representatives hearing on the government response to the fast-spreading virus. “But I will say on other surfaces - cardboard or plastic - it’s longer, and so we are looking at this.”
There are few details yet, but Nigeria has reported one case of the virus detected. This is the first case in sub-Saharan Africa.
The case was confirmed on 27 February, the health ministry said.
The Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed a coronavirus(Covid-19) case in Lagos State Nigeria. The case which was confirmed on 27/02/2020 is the first case to be reported in Nigeria since the beginning of the outbreak in China in January 2020 @WHO @BBCWorld #CoronaVirusUpdates pic.twitter.com/uF79NYzvAz
Asia Pacific stocks are being hammered for the fifth day running as investors scramble to offload shares and other risky assets.
The Nikkei is down 3.2% in Tokyo and the ASX200 in Sydney is down 2.4%. In Seoul, the market is down 2.3%, Hong Kong has shed 2% and Shanghai is off by 1.7%. It follows a record points loss on Wall Street on Thursday.
There are 25,504 rolling 5-day returns going back to 1915.
This was the 47th worst.
Worse periods were the Depression, WWII, 1987, Dotcom Bubble, GFC. pic.twitter.com/ROWYEy169q
We don’t even need to wait for economic data to see how badly the economy is being hit. You can tell that the sales of airlines and hotels are already falling by a half or something like that. It is fair to say the impact of the coronavirus will be clearly much bigger than the US-China trade war. So the Fed does not have a reason to take a wait-and-see stance next month.
The chief health officer, Brendan Murphy, says part of Australia’s planning is setting up dedicated primary care clinics to try to get people who get infection to isolate at home and delay the spread.
He said it’s significant that children seem to be less affected by this virus on the evidence so far.
One of the surprising features about this is how few children seem to have been identified as infected. That is very unusual compared to, say, influenza. We don’t know whether children are getting the disease but also mild they are not being picked up as being sick or they are somehow less susceptible. That will be an important thing to find out. Whatever the reason, the fact that we’re not seeing lots of children getting sick in China other parts of the world is a great thing.
Hunt was also asked about the Olympics in Japan later this year: “The question of the Olympics will be determined in some months. Japan and the IOC will be making global decisions and Australia will be a part of those discussions,” he says.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, says the government has led an advanced primary care planning process, working with doctors and with specialists around the country, including in aged care facilities.
But Hunt says the main message Australians is to “go about your ordinary business”.
Murphy says being flexible in responding to the virus is key:
We don’t quite know how this virus, if it comes to Australia, will behave. And if it will be a slow or a rapid spread. We just need to be prepared for all eventualities.
Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, is speaking now. He says more than 80% of people who get coronavirus have a mild disease, and reassures Australians that the situation is well prepared for.
“At this stage we are still contained inAustralia. We do not have any evidence whatsoever of community transmission”.
We’re hearing from Australia’s health minister, Greg Hunt. He says the federal government will lead an advanced primary planning process, including an aged care planning process as part of its emergency response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Australia enacted its pandemic plan on Thursday.
Peru has put specialists on round-the-clock shifts at its biggest airport, in preparation for the emergence of Covid-19, and begun setting up specialist mobile units.
South Korea’s centres for disease control and prevention reported 256 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the total number of infected in the country to 2,022.
182 of the new cases were in the southeastern city of Daegu, the location of a church at the centre of South Korea’s outbreak.
Coronavirus fears are spreading to the Caribbean, where several countries are turning cruise ships away from their ports, Bloomberg reports.
On Thursday local officials in the Dominican Republic refused to let passengers off the Braemer, with about 1,500 people on board.
From AFP:
The UN Security Council on Thursday declared that it would adopt humanitarian exemptions to the heavy economic sanctions imposed on North Korea to help the impoverished country fight the novel coronavirus, Germany’s ambassador to the UN said.
“The coronavirus issue was discussed and the committee immediately had given permission to export the equipment” used to fight the illness, said Christoph Heusgen, who heads the United Nations body that applies the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang in an effort to force it to give up its ballistic and nuclear programs.
After three weeks in quarantine, all passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been evacuated, the Australian is reporting.
“Princess Cruises can confirm that disembarkation of all guests aboard Diamond Princess is complete,” the company said.
The National Health Authority has released its infection figures for Thursday.
Of the 327 new confirmed cases of the virus, 318 were in the province of Hubei - the epicentre of the outbreak.
In more Donald Trump news, the president called the press pool for an unscheduled event, shortly after the Dow Jones index suffered its biggest points fall in history amid coronavirus fears. The president planned to discuss his “success in empowering members of the African-American community”, and included guests such as conservative commentator Candace Owens and media personalities Diamond and Silk.
The event turned into an impromptu press conference, and Trump started to talk about coronavirus.
Trump is now touting his response on the Coronavirus, namely restricting flights from China four weeks ago.
"We have done an incredible job, because we closed early," Trump says.
"I gave a press conference yesterday that really was a very good press conference," Trump says.
He says it was a "calming" press conference.
(He hasn't yet directly addressed the markets today.)
Trump is blaming the media now for, in his view, overstating the risk of the Coronavirus.
Trump repeatedly is coming back to saying that, were it not for him, Coronavirus would be worse in the U.S.
"15 people is almost, I would say, a miracle," he says. (There are 15 cases.)
Trump says the Coronavirus could get worse before it gets better, or that it could just go away. Nobody knows, Trump says.
A quick recap on the devastation in financial markets.
Graeme Wearden reports financial markets have suffered fresh, heavy losses, as the coronavirus crisis escalates - threatening to cause major economic disruption.
#ASX200 Sector update - ouch:
Financials 5889 -3.38%
Energy 9418 -3.67%
Materials 12490 -3.9%
Industrials 6489 -2.74%
Cons. Discr 2540 -2.9%
Cons. Staple 12275 -2.54%
Health Care 44207 -1.81%
Comms 1204 -2.95%
Info Tech 1294 -4.24%
Utilities 7716 -2.47%#asx #ausbiz
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. Catch up on our earlier coverage here.
Before we begin, here’s a summary of the top news lines so far:
Continue reading...