Wuhan market where virus spotted in early stage may be demolished

BEIJING - A market in the central China city of Wuhan, where many people were confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus in the initial stage of the outbreak in late 2019, is expected to be demolished, the nation's media reported Thursday.

The possible move would draw criticism from the international community likely to view it as an attempt by the Chinese Communist-led government to thwart efforts by other countries to identify the origins of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, foreign affairs experts say.

It remains to be seen when the market will be dismantled, according to China's media.

The market, where wild animals such as bats and snakes were sold alongside seafood, has been closed since January 2020 and has already been sanitized thoroughly by Chinese authorities.

In late January this year, experts from the World Health Organization carried out a 1-hour investigation into the market and concluded there was no clear evidence of the virus having originated there.

-Kyodo News-

Coronavirus was 'not man-made or genetically modified' - US spy agency

WASHINGTON - The top US spy agency said for the first time on Thursday that the American intelligence community believes the COVID-19 virus that originated in China was not man-made or genetically modified.

"The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified," the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement.

"The (Intelligence Community) will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan," it added.

The ODNI statement appeared to sharply contradict conspiracy theories floated by anti-China activists and some supporters of US President Donald Trump suggesting that the new coronavirus had been developed by Chinese scientists in a government biological weapons laboratory from which it then escaped.

US officials familiar with intelligence reporting and analysis have said for several weeks that they do not believe the conspiracy theories.

Rather, they have said they believe the virus either was introduced naturally into a Wuhan meat market or could have escaped from 1 of 2 Wuhan government laboratories, which are believed to be conducting civilian research into possible biological hazards.

More than 3.21 million people have reportedly been infected by the novel coronavirus globally, and 227,864 have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 10 am EDT (1400 GMT) on Thursday. 

-reuters-

China reports over 2,000 deaths from COVID-19

Patients who are positive for COVID-19 rest at a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province in this photo released by Xinhua News Agency on February 17. China reported more than 74,000 new virus cases and at least 2,000 deaths in its update Tuesday on a disease outbreak that has caused milder illness in most people, an assessment that promoted guarded optimism from global health authorities. 

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Hospital director dies in China's Wuhan, epicenter of coronavirus outbreak

BEIJING - The head of a leading hospital in China's central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak, died of the disease on Tuesday, state television said, becoming the second prominent Chinese doctor to have succumbed to the pathogen.

Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, died at 10:30 a.m., it said.

Earlier this month, millions in China mourned the death of Li Wenliang, a doctor who was previously reprimanded for issuing an early warning about the coronavirus.


Tens of thousands of medical workers have been fighting to contain the spread of the coronavirus, believed to have first surfaced in a seafood market in Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei.

As in the case of Li's death, there was confusion on the Chinese internet about Liu's condition on Monday night.

On Monday night, the Communist Party propaganda department of the Hubei Health Commission wrote in a social media post that Liu had died.

But it said in a subsequent post that Liu was alive.

"According to Liu's relative, the hospital is still trying its best to rescue him," the commission said in the second post, adding that the previous misinformation was from a good friend of Liu who was not aware of the latest situation.

It has not posted any message since state television announced Liu's death on Tuesday morning.

Beijing was accused of covering up the full extent of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. In the current coronavirus outbreak, Beijing has called for transparency.

A senior Chinese health official said on Friday that 1,716 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus and 6 of them have died.

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China virus toll reaches 1,765: gov't

BEIJING - The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,700 on Monday after 100 more people died in hard-hit Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,933 new cases.

At least 70,400 people have now been infected nationwide.

Most are in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in December before spiraling into a nationwide epidemic.

The number of new cases in the province had been declining since a large spike last week when officials changed their criteria for counting cases to include people diagnosed through lung imaging.

Monday's figures were around 100 higher than those on Sunday but still sharply down on those from Friday and Saturday.

Outside of hardest-hit Hubei, the number of new cases has been declining and a spokesman for China's national health authority said Sunday that the slowing figures were a sign the outbreak was being controlled.

However, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned it is "impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take".

International experts have arrived in Beijing and begun meeting with their Chinese counterparts over the epidemic, Tedros said on Twitter.

Agence France-Presse

China to destroy banknotes from coronavirus-hit sectors

The Guangzhou branch of China’s central bank said it would destroy all banknotes collected by hospitals, wet markets and buses to ensure the safety of cash transactions as the country battles a coronavirus epidemic.

Financial news outlet Caixin reported on Saturday that officials at the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) branch in the southern city ordered that all paper currency from sectors with high exposure to the coronavirus be withdrawn for destruction.

Commercial banks in the province should put banknotes from these sectors aside, disinfect them and hand them in to the PBOC.

The order comes after Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the central bank, said on Saturday that 600 billion yuan ($85.6 billion) of new banknotes had been distributed throughout the country since Jan. 17, including 4 billion yuan in fresh notes sent to Wuhan at the center of the outbreak before the Lunar New Year.

The central bank said that in general it would use high temperatures or ultraviolet light to disinfect cash, and store the currency for more than 14 days before putting it back in circulation.

Nearly 3 billion yuan in new banknotes was injected into the southern province of Guangdong, excluding Shenzhen, between Feb. 3 and 13, while 7.8 billion yuan was withdrawn from circulation, the PBOC said.

The banking industry extended 270 million yuan in cash through 1,249 transactions to government agencies, epidemic prevention and control related enterprises and other frontline units, Caixin reported. Cash withdrawals amounted to 800 million yuan through 6,186 transactions.


Central banks routinely collect and destroy old coins and banknotes in exchange for new ones. This does not affect the money supply, and is done to maintain a healthy amount of usable currency.

Caixin cited an unnamed deputy chief at a large joint stock bank in Guangzhou as saying that customers would be required to confirm the origin of the banknotes being deposited at their branches but in reality, “it would be difficult for such a measure to be completely effective”.

Fan also said that China had pledged extra funds to banks, prodding them to help manufacturers and businesses pull through headwinds from the China-US trade war and the nation’s worst health crisis in nearly two decades.

Economic growth, which already slowed to 6 percent in the fourth quarter, is likely to sputter further in the three months ending in March, with an estimated 50 million workers forced to stay home since late January, disrupting production of everything from clothing to toys and crucial components.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said it had help fast-track 1,370 foreign exchange transactions in China between January 27 and February 12, including 70 for imports into Hubei, mainly for the purchase of masks, protective gear and production materials.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

China cleans, locks away banknotes to stop virus spread

BEIJING - China is disinfecting and isolating used banknotes as part of efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus that has killed more than 1,500 people, officials said Saturday.

Banks use ultraviolet light or high temperatures to disinfect yuan bills, then seal and store the cash for 7 to 14 days -- depending on the severity of the outbreak in a particular region -- before recirculating them, China's central bank said at a press conference.

The virus, which has infected more than 66,000 people in China and spread to more than 2 dozen other countries, has sparked a rush to disinfect public places and minimize contact between people.


Pharmacies across the country sold out of disinfectants and surgical masks in just days after a lockdown was announced in late January on Wuhan city, where the COVID-19 illness is believed to have emerged.

Office buildings have installed packets of tissue in elevators that tenants are encouraged to use when pressing buttons, while ride-hailing company Didi exhorts drivers to disinfect their cars daily.

'EMERGENCY ISSUANCE'

Fan Yifei, deputy governor of China's central bank, said Saturday that banks have been urged to provide new banknotes to customers whenever possible.

The central bank made an "emergency issuance" of 4 billion yuan in new notes to Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, prior to the recent Lunar New Year holiday, Fan added.

The measures are intended to "secure the public's safety and health when using cash," Fan said.

But it is unclear how wide an impact the central bank's disinfection work will have, with increasing numbers of Chinese people preferring mobile payments over cash in recent years.

In 2017, nearly three-quarters of Chinese respondents told an Ipsos survey they could survive a whole month without using more than 100 yuan in cash.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 can be spread through contaminated objects in addition to droplets and direct contact with infected patients.

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Chinese gymnasts pull out of World Cup in Australia due to coronavirus travel ban

MELBOURNE - The Chinese gymnastics team entered into next week's World Cup in Melbourne has pulled out due to Australian government travel restrictions put in place to limit the coronavirus outbreak, organizers said Saturday.

The restrictions on foreign nationals traveling from China were introduced in early February and extended for another week on Thursday.

The extension effectively rules out China's participation at the Feb. 20 to 23 World Cup, which offers qualifying points for this year's Tokyo Olympics.

"It has been a very challenging few weeks for us all, but none more so than for the Chinese gymnasts and officials who have been training and preparing to come to Melbourne," Gymnastics Australia CEO Kitty Chiller said in a statement.

"I have been in regular contact with the Chinese Gymnastics Association and its President, who informs me all of their delegation are well and have shown no sign of infection."

"Despite this, we all have to respect the Australian Government's travel restrictions."

Among the 12 Chinese entries listed on the World Cup's website are 4-time world champion Zhang Chenglong, who claimed the men's team gold at the 2012 London Olympics and bronze at the Rio Games.

Zhang's Rio teammates You Hao and Liu Yang will also miss out, along with Xiao Ruoteng, a former men's all-around world champion.

Chinese athletes in other sports have also suffered disruptions to Olympic preparations.

The entire Chinese women's soccer team and staff were confined to a Brisbane hotel for nearly 2 weeks due to quarantine restrictions after arriving in Australia in late-January for an Olympic qualifying tournament.

The coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak has killed more than 1,500 people, mostly in China's central Hubei province. Confirmed infections have risen above 66,000.

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Bat meat still popular in parts of Indonesia despite coronavirus fears

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."

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‘You cannot shut down the world,’ WHO says amid concerns on coronavirus ‘superspreader’

MANILA – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said canceling events such as international conferences are not always necessary amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

“Certainly it is always a concern if people come together…We have to have risk management procedures associated with that,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press briefing posted online.

“You cannot shut down the world either. Normal activity must go on,” he added in response to questions about “super-spreaders” or individuals who are able to transmit disease at a much higher rate than the world average.

The issue of superspreading came up as more than 40,000 people have been infected with more than 1,000 dead. While 99 percent of the cases are in China, the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD) has also reached other countries.


One report said a British businessman may have unintentionally spread the virus in at least three European countries, linking him to 11 other patients, according to The Guardian. The report said he likely contracted the virus in Singapore where he attended a sales conference. Of the 109 attendees, 94 traveled from abroad, including one from Wuhan, China. 

After the sales conference in Singapore, the British man then went to a French ski resort with his family. It was later reported that five other British citizens who stayed in the same chalet tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus. Other confirmed cases were later reported.

However, Ghebreyesus said the numbers are still in single digits. 

“What we need to see is reasonable, well-managed meetings and gatherings in which the risk is managed appropriately,” he said, explaining that events cannot be canceled at the slightest possibility of an infection.

“Where is the limit to this?” he said. “We need to remain calm. We need to be measured.”

“There is no zero risk in life,” he pointed out, saying that any event can lead to illness or accidents.

He said people should instead take a “risk management approach” by identifying risks and managing it.

WHO Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness Director Dr. Sylvie Briand also said that people should “look at superspreading events, not people” to avoid “stigmatization” or discriminating against individuals.

In the Philippines, the Department of Health has recommended the cancellation of concerts after it confirmed three positive cases of novel coronavirus.

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From Singapore to UK via the Alps: how one man spread coronavirus

PARIS, France - A British man managed to pass on the coronavirus to at least 11 other people without ever setting foot in the epicenter of the outbreak in China, in an infectious journey that shows how the deadly virus can spread rapidly around a globalized world.

The adult British citizen, who has not been named publicly, caught the virus while attending a conference in Singapore and then passed it on to several compatriots while on holiday in the French Alps, before finally being diagnosed back in the UK.

Of those infected by the man, five have been hospitalized in France, five in Britain and one other man on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

How did he pass on the new coronavirus so rapidly in so many different places?

SINGAPORE

The man attended a business conference in Singapore from 20-22 January. More than 100 people took part in the conference, including at least one Chinese national from Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic that has now left more than 900 dead.


HAUTE-SAVOIE, FRENCH ALPS

He then traveled on to France to spend some days from January 24-28 at the ski resort of Contamines-Montjoie in the Alps with a group of other British citizens staying in two apartments in the same chalet.

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND 

Stricken with fever after his return to the south of England, the man then went to a medical center in the southeastern town of Brighton where he was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

On February 6 he was transferred to the infectious diseases unit at the hospital of St Thomas in London.

Five other people who had contact with him at the French ski chalet were then confirmed by the British health authorities to be infected.

Some of the staff from The Grenadier pub, which the man went to just before he was hospitalized, have also been placed in isolation. But the pub has stayed open.

A medical center in Brighton said Monday it had temporarily closed for "an urgent operational health and safety reason".

The BBC and Sky News said one of the centre's staff members had tested positive for the virus, although this was not officially confirmed.

PARIS

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on February 8 that five British nationals, including a child, who stayed at the chalet with the man had tested positive.

Six other Britons staying in the same chalet were also hospitalized for observation.

"They show no serious signs" of those infected having any threat to their lives, added Buzyn.

Business owners in the Contamines-Montjoie resort have been keen to avoid any exaggerations of the threat as French families prepared to descend on the area for the half-term ski holidays.

Three schools attended by one of the British infected -- the child aged nine -- are closed and 100 have been people tested. All the results have been negative so far.

Similar efforts have been made to track down passengers who took a flight from Geneva -- the closest large airport to Contamines-Montjoie -- with the man when he went back to Britain on January 28.

MALLORCA, SPAIN

One member of the group he stayed with in France then sought medical help after returning to his home in Mallorca. The contamination took place between January 25 and January 29, according to the Spanish authorities. 

The man in Mallorca is "currently in good health. He shows practically no symptom," said Fernando Simon, an official from Spain's health ministry. 

The Mallorca man's wife and two daughters aged 10 and 7, who were also hospitalized for tests, have shown no sign of infection.

SPEED OF SPREAD SPURS FEARS

Experts said that the speed of the transmission showed the potential for the novel coronavirus to become a global pandemic.

"The recent report of transmission to British nationals in France are a worrying but perhaps not unexpected development," said Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, University of East Anglia.

"This reinforces the fact that transmission is no longer restricted to China. It is still too early to know when and if the epidemic will become pandemic and whether we will see start to see sustained person to person transmission in Europe."

mw-sjw/dl

Agence France-Presse

Vietnam's coronavirus cases climb to 15, baby infected

HANOI - Vietnam confirmed another case of the new coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing its total to 15, the health ministry said.

The latest case is a 3-month-old baby, infected by her grandmother, who tested positive for the virus on Feb. 9, the ministry said in a statement.

It said 10 out of 15 confirmed case are from the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

Vietnam has made plans to quarantine hundreds of its citizens returning from China, including 950 at military camps outside Hanoi, and another 900 at temporary facilities on the Vietnam-China border.

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Thailand bars cruise ship amid coronavirus fears

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. 

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About 60 more novel coronavirus cases on Japan cruise ship: NHK

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 

WHO team heads for China as coronavirus toll tops 900

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.

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A mother's fight for toddler stranded in China's coronavirus epicenter

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."

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Traditional markets blamed for virus outbreak are lifeline for Asia's poor

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

'Olympics will go ahead': Tokyo organizers slam virus rumors

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

Staff making iPhones in central China plant to be quarantined

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

Coronavirus could cost Australian universities 'billions'

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