MOSCOW - Russia's coronavirus case tally, the second highest in the world, passed 300,000 on Wednesday, but a representative from the World Health Organization (WHO) said the situation was starting to stabilize.
Russia's 8,764 new novel coronavirus infections took the nationwide total to 308,705. But the daily increase was the lowest since May 1.
Only the United States has reported more cases than Russia, though the Russian death rate remains much lower than many other countries, something that has been queried by some critics and relatives of those who have died.
Russia says the way it counts deaths is more accurate than others however and has defended its approach.
The overall death toll edged up to 2,972 on Wednesday, with 135 new fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, the country's coronavirus response centre said.
Dr. Melita Vujnovich, the WHO's Russia representative, said Wednesday that she believed the situation had entered a stabilization phase, the TASS news agency cited her as saying.
In Moscow, Russia's worst hit-region now in its eighth week of a lockdown, citizens remain largely confined to their homes unless they obtain digital passes to make certain journeys.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Tuesday it was too soon to consider letting people out for walks or exercise.
-reuters-
MOSCOW - Russia on Thursday reported another record increase in coronavirus infections with more than 11,000 new cases as Moscow imposes new virus restrictions and ramps up testing.
A daily government tally of virus cases in the country saw 11,231 new infections in 24 hours, bringing Russia's total to 177,160.
Russia now ranks fourth in the overall number of reported virus cases in Europe and fifth in the world, according to an AFP tally.
The number of infections in Russia has been rising by more than 10,000 a day since Sunday, in contrast to countries in western Europe that are taking steps to ease lockdown measures.
Officials attribute the increase to mass testing and detecting asymptomatic cases not always counted in other countries.
Health officials said Thursday they had carried out more than 4.8 million tests.
Russia's mortality rate is low compared to European countries hit badly by the pandemic, with health officials registering 88 new deaths for a total of 1,625.
Moscow cites a series of measures taken early in the pandemic for its low mortality rate, including closing its borders and ordering the elderly and those at risk to self-isolate. But some say the discrepancy is due to how the death count is calculated.
According to official figures on Wednesday, Russia's death rate was just 0.9 percent, compared with Germany, which is lauded for its virus response, with a fatality rate of 4.2 percent.
Coronavirus cases have been registered in all of Russia's 85 regions with Moscow the epicentre of the pandemic where officials have registered 92,676 infections.
The capital's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Thursday that Muscovites will be required to wear masks and gloves on public transport as restrictions ease and some sectors return to work.
"We understand that the number of people moving on transport will increase, one way or another, the number of people communicating with each other will increase," he said on the Rossiya-24 television channel.
A non-working quarantine period is in place in Russia until May 11, but Sobyanin has said that stay-at-home restrictions would remain in place beyond this deadline.
Moscow residents are allowed out only for brief trips to a shop, to walk dogs or to travel to essential jobs with a permit.
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered regional governors to develop plans to gradually lift anti-virus lockdowns regimes which vary from region to region.
He urged caution, however, warning: "The price of even the smallest mistake is the safety, lives and health of our people."
Since the start of the crisis, Putin's approval rating has dropped to a historic low, according to independent pollster Levada, which said this week it fell to 59 percent in April from 63 percent in March.
Agence France-Presse
TOKYO - A taxi driver in Tokyo has tested positive for the coronavirus, NHK public TV reported, marking a further spread of the disease in Japan even as authorities said some passengers aboard a ship quarantined off its coast would finally be allowed to disembark.
The broadcaster, quoting sources, said the health ministry was trying to trace the route of the contagion, adding that the driver said he had carried passengers who appeared to be Chinese.
No further details were immediately available, including word on the condition of the man, who NHK said was in his 70s. The case is likely to raise further concerns about the spread of the flu-like virus given how many people a city taxi driver has likely been in contact with.
The news came after Japan said it would allow some elderly passengers on the quarantined cruise liner who test negative for the new coronavirus to disembark ahead of schedule and another 44 new cases were confirmed aboard the Diamond Princess.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said elderly passengers who have preexisting conditions or are in windowless rooms would be allowed to leave starting from Friday, rather than the originally targeted date of Feb. 19, and complete their quarantine ashore.
With the number of those infected on the cruise ship now up to 218 plus 1 quarantine officer, concerns have been raised about conditions on the ship, where about 3,500 people remain on board.
The liner was quarantined on arrival in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Feb. 3 after a man who disembarked from the liner in Hong Kong before it traveled to Japan was diagnosed with the virus that has now killed more than 1,350 in mainland China.
About 80 percent of the ship passengers were aged 60 or over, with 215 in their 80s and 11 in their 90s, according to Japanese media. The ship typically has a crew of 1,100 and a passenger capacity of 2,670.
Separately, NHK also reported on Thursday what a doctor in central Japan had tested positive for the virus. It was not immediately clear whether he had any connection to China.
Hundreds of infections have been reported in more than 2 dozen countries and territories besides China, but only 2 people have died from the virus outside mainland China - 1 in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.
Japanese nationals who have been staying in hotels or other facilities since returning on 4 charter flights from China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, have begun going home.
All 197 people from a Jan. 29 flight who tested negative were either home or en route and another 200 or so from a second flight could head home later on Thursday, NHK said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - The number of Filipinos confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) while on board a quarantined cruise ship moored off Japan has climbed to 11, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.
All of the Filipinos who got the virus are crew members of Diamond Princess, Foreign Affairs Secretary Eduardo Meñez said in a text message to ABS-CBN News.
"All of them are now confined in various hospitals in and around the Tokyo area," the agency said in a statement, adding they are responding well to treatment.
The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo has sent supplies to the patients and also those still quarantined inside the ship.
"An embassy team also visited the hospitals this afternoon to speak with the doctors and social workers assigned to the Filipino patients in order to ensure their well-being," the agency added.
The ship has been kept in quarantine since Feb. 3 after a passenger, who disembarked in Hong Kong, was found to be infected with the virus.
Passengers are expected to stay until Feb. 19, 14 days after the isolation period began.
A Filipino crew member of the ship was among 10 people who earlier tested positive of the new coronavirus. The sailor was the first known case of a Filipino infected with COVID-19.
Also on Thursday, Japanese authorities confirmed that another 44 people inside the ship tested positive of the virus.
They raise the number of infections detected on the ship to 218, in addition to a quarantine officer who also tested positive for the virus.
Of the newly diagnosed cases, 43 are passengers, and one a member of the crew.
So far, 713 people have been tested, with officials saying they are currently limited by capacity. The ship carries an estimated 3,600 passengers.
The DFA also clarified that "no Filipinos [were] included in a new group of 44 persons who tested positive for the virus." - with a report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANADO, Indonesia - Bat meat is still popular in some parts of Indonesia, despite research suggesting the coronavirus spreading from China might have originated in bats before being passed on to humans.
Bats are traditionally eaten by the Minahasan people from North Sulawesi in the form of a curry-like dish called Paniki. Whole bats are used in Paniki, including the head and wings.
"It (the coronavirus) has not affected sales," said bat seller Stenly Timbuleng at his stall in Tomohon, a city in North Sulawesi, south of the provincial capital of Manado.
"In fact... sales continue. It is always sold out."
On an average day, Timbuleng sells 50 to 60 bats and during festive periods, he can sell up to 600.
"Bats are the favorite indigenous protein, particularly in North Sulawesi," Indonesian culinary expert and author of half a dozen of cookbooks, William W. Wongso, told Reuters.
"My favorite part is the wings," Wongso added.
Glands from the armpits and the neck of the bat are first removed to get rid of the bad smell.
It is then grilled or torched to get rid of the bat's hairs before being chopped and cooked in a stew of herbs, spices and coconut milk.
The coronavirus is believed to have originated in a food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. Health experts think it may have originated in bats and then passed to humans, possibly via another species.
In China, the virus has killed more than 1,000 and infected more than 42,700.
There are 319 coronavirus cases in 24 countries and territories outside of China, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese health officials.
None has been reported in Indonesia, but the outbreak has prompted many Manadonese restaurants in the capital, Jakarta, to take bats off the menu.
For Manadonese Jufry Mantak, the links between the coronavirus and his favorite dish have not put him off.
"We have not found any (coronavirus) cases in Manado. Up till now, there are still many people eating these bats. Because bats are good, especially when cooked with coconut milk."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BANGKOK - Thailand has barred passengers from Holland America's cruise ship MS Westerdam from disembarking, its health minister said Tuesday, the latest country to turn it away amid fears of the coronavirus despite no confirmed infections aboard.
The company, owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp, had said on Monday that passengers would disembark in Bangkok on Feb. 13 and that there was no reason to believe anybody aboard had the virus.
"I have issued orders. Permission to dock refused," Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a Facebook post.
The Westerdam has already been turned away from several countries, including Japan, the Philippines and Thailand, amid fears of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 1,000 people and infected more than 40,000 since it was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan less than 2 months ago
Holland America says no one on board has the virus. Media reports say it carries 1,455 passengers and 802 crew; its original destination was Yokohama, Japan, which refused it permission to dock.
"The ship is not in quarantine and we have no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus on board despite media reports," the company said.
It had earlier said the Westerdam was sailing toward Bangkok, and it is not immediately clear whether the ship would change course.
Another cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, with 3,700 passengers and crew on board, is quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama, with 135 cases of coronavirus detected on the Carnival Corp-owned vessel.
Most of the coronavirus cases have been inside China, but there have been 319 cases in 24 other countries, including 1 death, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
TOKYO — Around 60 more people on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus, national broadcaster NHK said on Monday.
Other local media also reported approximately 60 more cases had been confirmed, raising the number of infected passengers and crew to around 130. Health ministry officials declined immediate comment.
The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the new virus was detected in a former passenger who got off the ship last month in Hong Kong.
When the boat arrived off Japan, authorities initially tested nearly 300 people of the 3,711 on board for the virus, gradually evacuating dozens who tested positive to local medical facilities.
In recent days, testing has expanded to those who had close contact with other infected passengers or crew, and several more cases were reported over the weekend.
Those who remain on the ship have been asked to stay inside their cabins and allowed out only briefly onto open decks.
They have been asked to wear masks and keep a distance from each other when outside, and given thermometers to regularly monitor their temperatures.
The ship is expected to stay in quarantine until Feb. 19 -- 14 days after the isolation period began.
The quarantine has made life on board the ship difficult, particularly for those in windowless interior cabins and a significant number of passengers who require medication for various chronic conditions.
The health ministry said Monday that around 600 people on board were in urgent need of medications and around half received supplies over the weekend.
Agence France-Presse
BEIJING - An advance team of international experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) left for Beijing to help investigate China's coronavirus epidemic, which authorities said on Monday had now claimed 908 lives on the mainland.
The outbreak has caused huge disruptions in China with usually teeming cities becoming virtual ghost towns during the past two weeks as Communist Party rulers ordered virtual lockdowns, cancelled flights, closed factories and shut schools.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made a trip to Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping and Chinese ministers in late January, returned with an agreement on sending an international mission.
But it has taken nearly two weeks to get the government's green light on its composition, which was not announced, other than to say that WHO veteran Dr. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist and emergencies expert, was heading it.
"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led #2019nCoV international expert mission to #China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," Tedros said in a tweet from Geneva on Sunday.
The WHO declared the outbreak a global emergency on Jan. 30, days after the Chinese central government imposed a lockdown on 60 million people in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, epicentre of the virus that emerged in December in a seafood market.
The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China rose by 97 to 908 as of the end of Sunday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday.
Across mainland China, there were 3,062 new confirmed infections on Sunday, bringing the total number so far to 40,171.
The virus has also spread to at least 27 countries and territories, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China - both of Chinese nationals.
The latest patients outside China include a group of British nationals staying in a mountain village in Haute-Savoie in the Alps, French health officials said, raising fears of further infections across Europe.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
PARIS - Amelia Pan is at home in Canada while her 2-year-old daughter Cerena is stranded far away in China's Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, being cared for by a distant relative after the girl's father and grand-parents fell ill.
"I am just hanging in there," Pan, a Canadian citizen originally from China, said in a Skype interview. "I need to stay strong so I can fight for my family."
For days now, Pan has been scrambling to get her daughter onto an evacuation flight back to Canada, but it has been complicated.
Cerena's father has contracted the virus so he cannot accompany her home on the flight, and Cerena herself ran a fever so she needed to undergo checks to make sure she was not infected herself, according to Pan.
In the meantime, Cerena is in a Chinese hospital, separated from her father and being looked after by a cousin of his who agreed to be in the hospital with the child.
"My daughter is less than 3, and still is wearing diapers, she cannot take care of herself, she needs a lot of help from adults," said Pan.
Cerena's paternal grandfather caught the virus and died, and her grandmother is also infected.
The family drama began on Jan. 17 when Pan's husband, Wei Ye, received a call from his sister back home in the Chinese city of Yingshan, near Wuhan. The sister said Ye's father was close to death because of complications from cancer.
At the time, the family had heard of the coronavirus, but did not understand the danger it posed. The next day, Ye flew to China to be with his father, taking his daughter with him. Pan stayed behind in Canada.
By Jan. 26, Pan received word that her father-in-law was infected with the coronavirus. The next morning, she was told that Ye, and his mother, had a fever. Soon after, it was confirmed Pan's husband and mother-in-law had coronavirus and they were hospitalized.
Cerena was left in the care of a neighbor. But because she was deemed an infection risk, she was put in the hospital. Fortunately, test results came back negative on Saturday. If her temperature stays normal, she should be discharged from the hospital over the weekend, her mother said.
Pan said she is in touch with the Canadian authorities to get Cerena, a Canadian citizen, onto an evacuation flight, and is seeking someone willing to accompany her on a plane that is supposed to leave on Monday.
If this plan works out, Pan will be flying to Trenton, Ontario, to stay in quarantine with her little girl.
Before the outbreak hit, Pan said she had even enjoyed being alone in Canada and briefly free of the burden of parenting.
"But look at the price I paid for the freedom that I enjoyed the first week."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BANGKOK- Millions of poor farmers and workers will lose access to a cheap and easy way to buy and sell fresh food if Asian cities clamp down on traditional wet markets in the wake of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, analysts warned on Friday.
Wet markets, which are a series of stalls that sell fresh vegetables and fruits, live fish, chickens and other meats, are named after the melting of ice used to preserve goods and the washing of floors to clean blood and entrails.
They have come under closer scrutiny in recent weeks after the coronavirus outbreak was linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, China.
That market was shut down, and authorities said they would ban illegal wildlife trade and tighten supervision of wet markets, as a debate raged on social media on whether all wet markets should be closed.
"Wet markets are part of the local culture in Asia, as people believe that meat and produce sold there is fresher and cheaper than in modern retail outlets," said Pavida Pananond, an associate professor of international business at Thammasat University in Bangkok.
Across Asia, governments are keen to modernize their cities increasingly view street vendors and informal markets as a hindrance, and as usurpers of public spaces meant for formal businesses and wealthy residents.
From Bangkok to Manila, authorities are pushing vendors into designated zones and imposing restrictions on informal markets.
The 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which started in China and killed about 800 people, was believed to have emerged from wet markets.
Now the coronavirus, which has led to more than 600 deaths and 30,000 cases, may be used as another reason to tighten controls, although no Southeast Asian nation has declared a shutdown of wet markets.
These traditional markets are a lifeline for millions of small farmers, vendors and small businesses said Pavida, adding that shuttering them would have a significant economic and cultural impact on poorer consumers.
"It will be difficult to completely replace them as they serve consumers at the lower end of purchasing power, not to mention their cultural preference," she said.
SOCIAL SPACES
Singapore has long banned the trade of wild animals and slaughter of poultry in markets, and has now issued advisories for "high standards of hygiene and cleanliness", said a spokesman for the National Environment Agency (NEA), which manages 83 markets across the city-state.
The NEA aims to improve markets "so that they remain social spaces where residents of diverse backgrounds can meet and interact while purchasing affordable household groceries and fresh produce in a clean and hygienic environment," he said.
Wet markets have survived because of culinary traditions that call for freshly slaughtered meat and fish as opposed to frozen meats, said Seshan Ramaswami, an associate professor of marketing education at Singapore Management University.
"I don't think the tradition will collapse because of this outbreak. At best, it might lead to more stringent inspection at the source, or much tighter controls when live animals are being traded," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Any shutdown of wet markets would have a big socio-economic impact and must be done gradually as it may lead to increased food insecurity, said Masami Takeuchi, a food safety officer at the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.
"Wet markets have been a part of life for many, many centuries. In 2020, they are still an essential part of the culture," she said.
"Obviously there are many challenges in the area of food safety, but with good practices, effective regulation and good inspection schemes, modernization is possible," she said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SINGAPORE - Anxious Singapore shoppers formed long lines at grocery stores Saturday and cleared the shelves of essential items, after the city-state raised its alert level over China's coronavirus outbreak.
Since emerging late last year, the virus has killed over 700 people and infected more than 34,000 in China, and spread to many other countries.
Singapore, which has reported 33 cases, raised its alert level Friday to "orange" -- the same as during the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak, indicating the virus is severe and passes easily between people.
The announcement triggered panic in the city-state of 5.7 million starting late Friday, with shoppers -- many wearing masks -- rushing to stock up on items including rice, noodles and toilet paper.
Pictures circulating on social media showed empty shelves in some stores, carts filled with goods and long lines at counters, which continued into Saturday.
"I'm afraid that if they further raise the alert level, we will not be able to go out," a 50-year-old housewife, who did not want to be named, told AFP after leaving a grocery store.
The highest level on Singapore's 4-point scale for dealing with disease outbreaks is "red," one above "orange."
There were, however, ample stocks of other items such as fruit, meat, fish and alcohol.
The government urged calm, with Trade Minister Chan Chun Sing saying there was no need to rush out to buy crucial supplies.
"There is no risk of us running a shortage of essential food or household items," he wrote on Facebook.
Singapore raised its alert level amid a growing number of virus cases in citizens with no recent travel history to mainland China and no known links to previous infections.
Hong Kong has also been hit by a wave of panic-buying in recent days as it seeks to battle the virus, with supermarket shelves frequently emptied of crucial goods.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
A tourist tries on a carnival mask in Venice Thursday. According to the Venice Hoteliers Association, floods in November and fears of the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus have led to a 10 percent decline in hotel bookings ahead of the Venice Carnival, which begins Saturday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - The Philippine tourism industry has lost at least P10 billion pesos as government continues to impose a travel ban to and from China, the country's second largest tourism market and epicenter of the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus, an official from a tour operators' group said Friday.
About 50 percent of reservations in Boracay, Bohol, Cebu, and Palawan have been canceled, Philippine Tour Operators Association President Cesar Cruz told reporters.
"Both for inbound and outbound [travel], it would really have a very big effect," he said.
"It hit us during the peakest of the peak, which is the Chinese New Year," he said.
The tourism industry may continue to feel the effects of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019-nCoV ARD) until August, he said.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) is eyeing to boost promotions in South Korea and the United States, the Philippines' top and 3rd largest tourist markets, respectively, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.
The DOT is also coordinating with hotels and airline companies to give discounts to attract more visitors, she said.
Stopping the spread of the virus is the government's primary concern, she said.
The 2019-nCoV has killed at least 600 people and infected 30,000 others, mostly in China since the origin of the pathogen was traced to the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December 2019.
The Philippines has recorded 3 cases, all Chinese travelers from Wuhan, among whom 1 has died.
- report from Michael Delizo, ABS-CBN News
TOKYO—Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers said Thursday the Games would "go ahead as planned," slamming misinformation over the new coronavirus for triggering panic.
Chief executive officer Toshiro Muto revealed that organizers had set up a task force to combat the fast-spreading disease that has killed over 560 people and infected at least 28,000 -- the vast majority in mainland China -- but promised that the Games would be not derailed.
"The Olympics will go ahead as planned," he told reporters after a Paralympic project review.
"It is important to remain objective and cool-headed. We don't want to alarm the public. The infection is still limited and there is no problem staging the Olympics based on the current situation."
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence complained that scaremongering had created an "info-demic" that could skew public perception in the run-up to the Olympics and Paralympics.
"Fear is spreading quicker than the virus," he said. "It's important we quell that fear. Only 191 of the total cases are outside mainland China, so let's put things into perspective.
"If you compare those rates with the common flu, they are still relatively small numbers," added Spence.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) has not declared this a pandemic. We dealt with the Zika virus in Rio and in these matters we need to rely on the experts.
"We will follow the advice of the World Health Organization. Every organizing committee looks into countermeasures, and we have measures in place from previous Olympics and Paralympics here in Tokyo. It is standard practice, it's business as usual."
More than 20 countries have confirmed cases of the flu-like coronavirus.
GLOBAL PANIC
Japan has had no reported deaths so far, but 45 cases have been detected, including at least 20 people on a cruise ship carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew quarantined off Yokohama.
The WHO has declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
Japan has warned citizens against non-essential travel to China and fast-tracked new rules including limits on entering the country as it tries to contain the spread of the virus.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday pledged that preparations for the Olympics would proceed as normal.
"The coronavirus is beginning to have an impact on tourism," he said. "But the government will continue to steadily prepare for the Games in close cooperation with the IOC (International Olympic Committee), the local organizing committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government."
The Japanese government has chartered 3 flights to repatriate 565 Japanese nationals from Wuhan, the central Chinese city hardest hit by the virus.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike promised at the weekend to implement "thorough measures" to protect people from the virus.
The health scare has led to the cancellation of Olympic qualifying events in China such as boxing and badminton.
The Tokyo Olympics begin on July 24 with the Paralympics starting on Aug. 25.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
TAIPEI - Workers making iPhones at tech giant Foxconn's plant in central China will be quarantined for up to 2 weeks, the company said Thursday, as cities on the mainland tighten their defenses against the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn is the world's biggest contract electronics maker and assembles Apple's iPhones, as well as gadgets for other international brands.
Foxconn's vast network of factories in China, including one of its largest in Zhengzhou in central Henan province, are set to resume operations on Feb. 10 after an extended Lunar New Year holiday caused by the outbreak.
But the company said it has advised instate and out-of-state employees at the Zhengzhou plant to be quarantined for 7 and 14 days, respectively, in accordance with local government policies.
China's industrial base has been buffeted by the outbreak of the virus, which began in the manufacturing hub of Wuhan in central China but has since spread to more than 20 countries.
The number of confirmed infections has hit more than 28,000 in China while death toll passed 560 in an outbreak that has spiraled into a global health emergency.
The virus is also set to have an impact on international supply chains and manufacturing given China's lynchpin role in the global economy.
Foxconn now projects a sales increase of 1 to 3 percent this year, down from a January forecast of 3 to 5 percent, chairman Young Liu told Bloomberg News.
Foxconn has tried to allay fears of production shortfalls, saying it had previous experience of viral outbreaks following the SARS epidemic in 2003.
It is China's biggest private-sector employer with more than 30 factories and research facilities -- including 1 in Wuhan.
Taiwan has reported 11 confirmed cases so far, mostly people returning from Wuhan.
The government announced Thursday that all foreigners who resided or visited China, Hong Kong or Macau in the past 14 days will be temporarily barred from entering the island.
Foreigners with residency permits in Taiwan returning from these areas must undergo a 14-day stay-home quarantine.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SYDNEY - The coronavirus outbreak could deliver a painful multi-billion-dollar hit to Australian universities, as high-paying Chinese students are forced to defer their studies, economists warned Thursday.
Top universities stand to lose around US$2 billion (Aus$3 billion) in fees alone, according to preliminary estimates from analysts at Standard & Poor's.
Under open-ended travel restrictions imposed by the government in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, non-Australian citizens or permanent residents who have been in China since Feb. 1 are not allowed into Australia.
The virus's outbreak came in between Australia's academic years -- which begin in February -- and as many of the country's roughly 165,000 Chinese university students had returned home for the Lunar New Year.
"Our calculation is one of higher-education fee revenues only, and excludes the broader economic contribution from students to accommodation, tourism, and domestic consumption of goods and services," S&P said in a report.
Foreign students are a vital income stream for Australian universities and one that has grown exponentially in recent years.
Australia is now 1 of the top 3 destinations for foreign students worldwide.
Student representatives told AFP that many of those students have not been able to return in time to start this semester and fear missing the whole year because of the way courses are constructed.
Universities have offered to defer placements and reimburse tuition fees, but many are also trying to buy time.
The University of Sydney has extended the last date students have to be on campus to March 30 -- more than a month after classes were due to begin -- and is trying to arrange for remote teaching.
Australia's top universities are expected to be disproportionately hit, but they should be able to absorb the blow, at least temporarily.
"We believe they have some buffer in free cash, leverage, and operating margin ratios to absorb a temporary shock to revenues," S&P said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Hong Kong was testing over 1,800 passengers and crew on a cruise ship for a coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, after some crew members reported having fever and other symptoms.
Authorities were not letting anyone leave the ship without permission.
The Chinese-ruled city's health department said Wednesday 90 percent of the passengers were Hong Kongers and no mainland Chinese were on board.
Previously, 3 mainland Chinese that had been on the ship between Jan. 19 and 24 were found to have contracted the virus.
The World Dream ship, operated by Dream Cruises, was denied entry in the southern Taiwan port of Kaohsiung on Tuesday. On Monday, the ship visited Taiwan's northern Keelung port.
It was not clear how long passengers and crew would be kept on the ship.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SEOUL - A South Korean woman has tested positive for coronavirus after visiting Thailand, South Korean officials said Tuesday, the first foreign tourist reported to have been infected after a visit to the southeast Asian nation.
The 42-year-old, identified only as Patient 16, flew back to South Korea on Jan. 19 after traveling in Thailand, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.
Treated since developing chills and other symptoms from Jan. 25, she did not improve until Sunday, the KCDC added, and was confirmed positive on Tuesday, following checks at Chonnam National University Hospital.
The statement did not explicitly rule out a visit to China, however.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BEIJING, China - A disabled boy has died after being left to fend for himself when his father was quarantined over the deadly new coronavirus in China's Hubei province.
Yan Cheng, who was confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, was abandoned at home when his father was isolated because of a fever.
The 17-year-old, who could not speak, walk or eat by himself, and whose mother died several years earlier, had no one to feed him or help him with daily life.
His father, Yan Xiaowen, was taken into quarantine on January 22, and diagnosed with the potentially deadly virus five days later.
He posted a desperate plea for help on social media, calling for someone to go and look after his son.
But the post, entitled "An appeal for help from a father diagnosed with novel coronavirus," came too late.
The teenager died on January 29, according to a statement by the Hongan county government.
"Yan Xiaowen was unable to take care of Yan Cheng's daily life (because of being in isolation)... so he entrusted his relatives, village cadres and village doctors to take care of Yan Cheng," the county government said.
The boy's death has cost senior local figures their jobs.
The local Communist Party secretary and mayor were fired because they had "failed to fulfill their responsibilities,” officials said.
The son's cause of death had yet to be confirmed, they said.
News of the tragedy sparked an outpouring of rage and grief on social media, where authorities in Hubei have already been criticized for withholding information about the infection.
On Weibo, the hashtag "The father of Hubei's cerebral palsy victim speaks out" had been read 270 million times by Tuesday morning.
A hashtag about the mayor being fired had been viewed 66 million times.
"I'm so angry and sad," wrote one user. "It's too disgusting."
More than 20,000 people in China have been infected by the coronavirus, with the death toll reaching 425.
The vast majority of infections and deaths have occurred in Hubei, where the virus is thought to have emerged late last year from a market selling wild animals and their meat.
More than two dozen countries have also reported infections, mostly people who had recently travelled to Hubei.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES — When Jaden Taylor, 17, pulled a mask off his face at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday morning and smiled at the customs officer, who gave him a thumbs up, it was much more than the end of a 12-hour flight from Shanghai.
He was taking the final step in a weekslong scramble to get out of China, where he had been an exchange student caught in an outbreak of coronavirus, which was rapidly spreading and causing fatalities.
“Oddly enough, the officer didn’t ask me a single question,” said Jaden, after exiting the airport. “I feel lucky, I thought I was definitely going to be quarantined but it was so fast.”
His struggle, involving canceled flights, frantic negotiations across two continents and a series of checkpoints where authorities checked his temperature, was playing out for countless travelers trying to leave China as the world tries to seal itself off from the fast-moving virus.
Jaden, a former high school student from Portland, Oregon, may have been among the last Americans to get out of China and clear security with ease. By Monday morning, American air travelers who had been to China in the last 14 days were being routed through one of 11 airports to undergo enhanced health screenings, with the possibility that they could be quarantined.
Each year, thousands of Americans and other foreigners travel to China on student exchange programs. Since last month, these students have been among those caught up in the widening health crisis. Because of the nature of their studies, often embedded with families across China, some of them are hundreds of miles from a consulate or embassy. Many students have had to find their own way from far-flung cities to major airports for the return home.
American Field Service sent more than 300 students from all over the world to China, including about two dozen Americans, during the current school year. Jaden was the only American student placed in Anhui province, which borders Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The nonprofit organization canceled all programs in China on Jan. 31.
'IT SEEMED LIKE A FUN ADVENTURE'
Bored with high school in Portland, Jaden had hatched a plan to learn Mandarin and graduate early so that he could spend a year in China before college.
“It seemed like a fun adventure to a place that was completely foreign to me,” he said. “I would not know what to expect.”
He made the move in August, becoming the third generation in his family to go abroad as an exchange student.
In the city of Wuhu, he settled in with a host family and started school, planning to remain until June. He made Chinese friends and tried new foods, like turtle and cow stomach. As trade tensions between the United States and China escalated, he took it in stride when taxi drivers turned him away because he was an American.
It was early January when he first heard that the coronavirus had struck. Emails streamed in from his Chinese teachers informing him about an illness spreading in Wuhan, the capital of the adjoining province.
Around Jan. 15, the local coordinator for American Field Service and Jaden’s host family ordered him to remain inside at all times. “I was reminded almost every day not to go outside,” he recalled.
By Jan. 20, the virus had crossed international borders. China had reported hundreds of infections, and the death toll jumped from three to 17 in a matter of days.
Two days later, Jaden’s grandmother, Christine Berardo, sent him a WhatsApp message saying that she had been reading about the virus and felt sorry that it might affect his travel plans for the Lunar New Year.
“The virus has been found in my city so everyone is wearing face masks,” he told her.
'Have some grit,' his mother said
On Jan. 23, Wuhan, home to about 11 million people, was placed under quarantine and Chinese authorities closed off the city. “I was seeing images of borders shutting down and people not being able to leave Wuhan,” Jaden recalled. He began to worry.
So did his mother, Karin Berardo, 51, an investment manager in Washington, D.C. But she did not want to let on.
In a WhatsApp exchange, Berardo told her adventurous child, “to suck it up. Have some grit,” she recalled. “He had always been eager to conquer the world.”
Wuhu, about 300 miles northeast of Wuhan, was not officially quarantined but it might as well have been. Instead of celebrating the Lunar New Year with fireworks and festivities, people locked themselves indoors.
Except for those trying to stock up on food and masks, the streets were deserted; store shelves were almost bare. People glared at anyone who coughed, Jaden said. The images of a city in fear began to haunt him at night, and he had trouble sleeping. “I became very paranoid and anxious,” he said.
Friends from Portland; Berkeley, California; Baltimore and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; places where Jaden had lived, were reaching out on Snapchat and WhatsApp to express concern about the risk of staying in China.
With ample time on his hands, Jaden scanned news reports on Reddit and waited for emails from the State Department. Chinese friends shared information they were gleaning from Chinese media. The news was getting worse with each passing day, it seemed.
Back in Washington, his mother contacted American Field Service to get their assessment of the situation.
“They said they were in close contact with AFS Beijing and were advising the students to just stay inside,” Berardo recalled.
On Jan. 26, after learning that 56 million people were under quarantine in China, Berardo contacted a program representative in New York to request that her son be returned to the U.S. as soon as possible.
TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT
The next day, program representatives had a tentative plan to get Jaden out. It involved flying out of Shanghai, about 215 miles away. But there was no one on the ground to escort him there, Berardo was told. “They said they could put him on a train, but he would have to figure out how to get to the airport in Shanghai,” she said.
Berardo feared that her son might end up stranded in the one of the world’s largest cities, where many cases of the virus had been reported.
Still, in a conversation, mother and son agreed to give it a try. Ultimately, program officials found someone to drive Jaden to Nanjing, about 60 miles from Wuhu, where he would catch a flight to Shanghai.
Jaden was booked on an American Airlines flight that was to leave Sunday. But on Friday afternoon, the carrier announced that it had canceled the flight, as a spate of airlines began suspending their operations in China. He was rebooked on China Eastern Airlines leaving the same day.
“We calmed down for a minute,” Berardo recalled.
Jaden sneaked out of the apartment to say goodbye to Chinese friends and to take his last pictures of an empty Wuhu. His bags had been packed for two days.
He was scheduled for a 3 a.m. pickup but his host brother knocked on his door shortly after 11 p.m. A car was there to take him.
THE ONLY CAR ON THE ROAD
His escort was concerned about potential delays if they encountered road closures along the way. Indeed, some portions were blocked, and the driver had to divert to side roads.
“I’m stressed and worried,” Jaden jotted down in a diary that he had decided to start to record his last hours in China. It was about 11:30 p.m. Saturday night.
“It’s pretty much pitch black everywhere and we’re the only car on the road,” he wrote. “I took my mask off for five seconds and the driver turned his head yelling.”
At multiple checkpoints, police officers pulled over the car and checked whether they were wearing their masks. Jaden’s temperature was taken with an infrared temperature gun every time.
Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, as they approached the Nanjing airport, police stopped the car. People in hazmat suits instructed Jaden to get out. They checked his temperature once, twice, three times. Every time, they said, his temperature was too high.
Jaden was not sure what was happening. He felt fine.
“I didn’t know what I would do if they didn’t let me go to the airport,” he said.
Finally, one of the health workers retrieved a different thermometer from their supply kits. This time, they said, Jaden’s temperature was acceptable.
ARRIVING AT A DESERTED AIRPORT
Four hours after they had left, they completed the 60-mile journey and arrived at a deserted airport. It was just after 2 a.m.
When he checked in for his flight to Shanghai, three hours later, the agent told him that she could not check his bags all the way to Los Angeles because his flight might be canceled. Did he still want to go to Shanghai, the agent wanted to know.
Jaden figured there was no looking back at this point.
Once on the plane to Los Angeles, he tried to sleep, but it was hard: He kept thinking about the five months his program had been cut short, the lost opportunities.
At Los Angeles International Airport, he joined the swarms of people converging in the passport-control area after landing from all corners of the globe.
He entered the line for U.S. citizens, pulled off his mask and waited his turn. In his pocket, he carried a booklet of the U.S. Constitution, in case he got pulled out of line by the authorities and had to reference his rights.
But when he got to the counter, the officer scanned his passport and returned it to him without asking a single question.
“At all the other kiosks,” he said, “anyone with a mask or who had traveled to China was being asked where they went and why. But not me.”
On the other side of security, his mother swooped all 6 feet, 3 inches of her son into her arms. “Hi, Mom,” he said. “I’m tired.”
He strapped on his mask again briefly as they left the airport — before realizing that he was no longer in the middle of a virus emergency. He removed it, and they headed to a Chipotle, where he dug into two bean-and-cheese burritos. “This is heaven,” he said.
c.2020 The New York Times Company
