Evening summary
Here is quick summary of the latest coronavirus developments across the globe over the past few hours:
- A Holiday Inn hotel at Heathrow has been block-booked to serve as a coronavirus facility for those at risk of spreading the disease.
- British passengers stuck on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan could be flown home as the government considers a repatriation flight.
- It is too early to tell if the decline in new cases will continue, the WHO chief said, but the virus is certainly not as deadly as previous outbreaks.
- Doctors in Shanghai have started using the blood plasma from those who have recovered from the disease to treat new patients.
- Nearly half of China’s population is living under some form of travel restrictions.
- The number of global cases is now over 71,000 - the vast majority are in mainland China, with 99 new cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
Updated
Doctors in Shanghai are using infusions of blood plasma from people who have recovered from the coronavirus to treat those still battling the infection, with some encouraging results.
A top emergency expert at the World Health Organization said that using convalescent plasma was a “very valid” approach to test, but it was important to get the timing right to maximise the boost to a patient’s immunity.
China’s financial hub of Shanghai has had 332 infected cases, one of whom died in recent weeks.
Lu Hongzhou, professor and co-director of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre, said that 184 people were still in hospital , including 166 mild cases, while 18 were in serious and critical conditions, Reuters reports.
He said the hospital had set up a special clinic to administer plasma therapy and was selecting patients who were willing to donate. The blood would be screened to check if he or she had other diseases like hepatitis B or C, he added.
“We are positive that this method can be very effective in our patients,” he said.
There are no fully licensed treatments or vaccines against the new coronavirus, and the process of developing and testing drugs can take many months and even years.
Convalescent plasma has been proven “effective and life-saving” against other infectious diseases, including rabies and diphtheria, Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO health emergencies programme, told reporters in Geneva.
It is a very important area to pursue. Because what hyperimmune globulin does is it concentrates the antibodies in a recovered patient. You are essentially giving the new victim’s immune system a boost of antibodies to hopefully get them through the very difficult phase.
So it must be given at the right time, because it mops up the virus in the system, and it just gives the new patient’s immune system a vital push at the time it needs it. But it has to be carefully timed and it’s not always successful.
Ryan added: “So it is a very important area of discovery, and I believe they are starting trials on that in China. But it is a very valid way to explore therapeutics, especially when we don’t have vaccines and we don’t have specific antivirals.”
As well as using plasma therapies, the Chinese doctors are also trying antiviral drugs licensed for use against other infections to see if they might help.
Scientists are testing two antiviral drugs and preliminary results are due in weeks, while the head of a Wuhan hospital had said plasma infusions from recovered patients had shown some encouraging preliminary results.
Updated
The deaths of four members of the same family in Wuhan have raised concerns over the practice of self-isolating at home, Chinese media group Caixin reports.
Chang Kai, a director at Hubei Film Studios, died on 14 February aged 55 from pneumonia caused by the Covid-19 virus, according to an obituary published by his employer.
His father, mother and older sister also died from the disease between 28 January and 14 February, according to the Caixin story.
Chang Kai reportedly tried to take his ill father to a number of hospitals, but was turned away at each one due to a lack of beds. His father died at home a few days later.
Many people in Wuhan isolating at home, as over-stretched hospitals struggle with the huge number of cases in the city.
However, health experts have raised concerns that home quarantine can lead to cross-household and cross-community infections
Updated
China’s president, Xi Jinping, spelled out his plan to contain the coronavirus crisis at a meeting of the core Chinese leadership today, Reuters reports.
In the speech, Xi admitted there were “shortcomings” in China’s emergency response systems and said local officials would be punished if they failed to “take responsibility” or implement directives.
He also condemned the “major hidden danger” of eating wild animals.
The speech was noteworthy for putting Xi at the centre of events earlier than had been previously revealed, analysts said, as he referred to directions he’d given at a 7 January meeting.
Analysts also said the internal speech was unusual for being released to the public on Saturday, relatively soon after it was given.
Xi was mostly absent from Chinese state media coverage of the crisis in its early days. His first public comments on the outbreak were on 20 January.
Updated
A Pakistani international student on a university campus in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in China, has told of how he and other international students have been ordered not to leave their dormitories.
More than 100 foreign students at Wuhan’s Zhongnan University of Economics and Law had been allowed to visit grocery stores for one hour a week to purchase basic necessities.
They have now apparently been advised to remain in isolation to reduce the risk of possible disease spread, though it is unclear if anyone has contracted the deadly virus.
“There are lots of people in this situation,” he said. “I am not alone. For the past few days, we have been told to stay in our room and not go anywhere. Our exterior doors are locked and we cannot go outside.”
He and his fellow students spend most of their time in their rooms, only leaving to cook food in bulk to then refrigerate. The student said:
We try to avoid talking to each other because we are scared.
Face-to-face contact is limited and most of the time I stayed in my room. We speak over the internet.
Since the university was closed in the beginning of January, students from Bangladesh, Nepal, Russia and elsewhere have been returned to their home countries, but those from some African and Latin American states are also among those who pass the days reading books, phoning home and watching TV.
Movement has been increasingly restricted and prices of groceries have allegedly doubled.
The student said the university administration was trying its best to manage the situation, but is required to keep the students indoors.
They have basically told us if one of us gets infected, it will spread quickly to everyone else as we live in close proximity. At the moment we don’t know if anyone is infected or not, we are so afraid. It still feels like a worst nightmare.
Pakistani authorities have reportedly said that more than 500 students from the country are in Wuhan, but no plans for their evacuation have yet been announced.
The Pakistani student said:
All students are scared and waiting for this disaster to end or our countries to rescue us. We are trying to stay strong and encourage each other.
Updated
Too early to tell if decline in cases will continue, health chief says
It is too early to tell if the recent decline in new coronavirus cases will continue, the World Health Organization chief has said, and data must be interpreted “cautiously”.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of WHO, said in a press conference today:
This trend must be interpreted very cautiously. Trends can change as new populations are affected. It’s too early to tell if this reported decline will continue. Every scenario is still on the table.
He added that the virus seems to be “not as deadly as other coronavirus including Sars and Mers”, with the majority of patients making a full recovery.
More than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover.
In about 14% of cases, the virus causes severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath.
And about 5% of patients have critical diseases including respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure.
In 2% of reported cases, the virus is fatal, and the risk of death increases the older you are.
We see relatively few cases among children. More research is needed to understand why.
Nearly half of China’s population is living under some form of travel restrictions, CNN analysis has revealed, as authorities strive to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Travel restrictions of varying degrees are still being enforced across a number of provinces and cities in mainland China, affecting over 780 million people.
This includes Hubei, Liaoning, Beijing and Shanghai, with restrictions ranging from self-quarantines to limits on who can come and go from neighbourhoods.
The strictest measures have been implemented in Hubei’s four cities – Wuhan, Huanggang, Shiyan and Xiaogan – which have completely sealed off all residential complexes and communities.
Residents receive daily essentials from neighbourhood committees, and the use of non-essential vehicles on motorways is banned.
Updated
The World Health Organization is working “very closely” with the Japanese authorities regarding the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off the coast of Japan.
Dr Sylvie Briand, director of pandemic and epidemic diseases at the WHO, said:
We need to make sure that we focus on our objective, our public health objective, which is to contain the virus, and not to contain the people.
And making sure that we can have the right balance between the health of the population in Japan and other countries, but also the health of the people currently on this boat.
She said there was so much still unknown about the virus that measures were monitored on a nearly hourly basis as authorities learned more about the disease.
Updated
The Department of Health has confirmed that a Holiday Inn at Heathrow Airport has been block booked to be used as a coronavirus facility.
The hotel will be used by those who are considered at risk but have nowhere else to go.
It can be used as a place for people to self-isolate if they have been advised to do so, and to be tested for the virus and await results.
All tests will be carried out by clinicians and anyone who does test positive will be transferred straight to hospital.
Heathrow is the UK’s largest airline hub both in terms of incoming passengers but also those in transit.
Updated
The son of a British couple stuck onboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship has renewed appeals for the UK government to help his parents.
Steve Abel appeared in a video posted on his father’s YouTube channel and admitted that his “greatest fear” was that his parents would become separated in Japan.
Throughout the video he displayed a white piece of paper reading “Mum and Dad are fine!” but said that his parents were beginning to feel the effects of living in quarantine for an extended period of time. He said:
Please bear in mind they’ve been on that cruise ship for 28 days. They’re getting pretty fed up and they are the way they are because of the stress, the confinement within the cabin.
Steve also asked the authorities to give his parents more information.
This is my plea – I want my mum and dad to wake up in the morning and actually have some information sent to them; they need to be communicated with.
We’re seeing things on the news and we’re seeing things are happening but they’re getting nothing, no one is actually speaking to them, which is driving them crazy.
They must be going crazy as it is just being inside that cabin.
Abel said he was extremely concerned that his parents may be separated abroad.
Becoming visibly emotional, he said:
My greatest fear is if they’re separated. If they’re not both on a flight home. But we’re not going to think like that because they’re coming home.
Updated
Japan is on the brink of recession, after its economy shrank at its fastest pace in more than five years as the impact of the coronavirus epidemic continues to set in.
Official figures showed gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 1.6% in the last quarter. If GDP falls for a second successive quarter, the economy will be in recession.
Along with the coronavirus, a sales tax hitting consumer and business spending, and the impact of a major typhoon have also hit the world’s third-largest economy badly.
Taro Saito, executive research fellow at NLI Research Institute, said: “There’s a pretty good chance the economy will suffer another contraction in January-March.
“The virus will mainly hit inbound tourism and exports, but could also weigh on domestic consumption quite a lot.
“If this epidemic is not contained by the time of the Tokyo Olympic Games, the damage to the economy will be huge.”
You can find out more on our Business live blog.
Updated
A Russian court has ordered a woman who escaped from quarantine after testing negative for the disease to return to hospital for at least two more days.
Alla llyina was admitted to hospital in St Petersburg on 6 February with a sore throat and was tested for the new coronavirus as she had returned from China five days earlier.
She broke out of the hospital the next day by disabling an electronic lock in her room, after finding out she would have to spend 14 days in isolation instead of the 24 hours that doctors promised her.
In an Instagram post, Ilyina wrote: “Wild. All three tests showed I was completely healthy, so why the hell the quarantine?”
Several days later, Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, filed a lawsuit against her, asking the court to order compulsory confinement in hospital.
Ilyina’s defence lawyer argued during the court hearing on Monday that she didn’t pose any danger to people around her and noted that she was allowed into a courtroom packed with dozens of people, none of whom wore masks.
Health officials maintained that isolating Ilyina was a necessary measure to stop the virus from spreading, claiming it can be latent in a person for up to 24 days.
The St Petersburg branch of Rospotrebnadzor did not respond to a request for comment on the effectiveness of the court ruling, given that Ilyina has already roamed free for almost 10 days after escaping.
Last week, at least three other people in quarantine for possible coronavirus infection fled the same St Petersburg hospital.
Two of them have since returned while the third a woman, named Anna Rybakova, remains at large, according to media reports.
Rospotrebnadzor has filed a lawsuit to bring Rybakova back to the hospital as well, with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
The chief of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, announced on Monday that health officials were looking into introducing harsher measures for patients who violated quarantine rules and stricter quarantine protocols.
Russia has recorded only two cases of the Covid-19 disease, two Chinese citizens who have been treated and released.
However, Russian authorities have confined in hospital hundreds of people who returned from China as a precaution.
Russia has also halted most air traffic to China, suspended all trains to China and North Korea, and closed its land border with China and Mongolia.
Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, has also said Russia may start deporting foreigners infected with the virus.
A Russian woman onboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan is the first Russian citizen to be diagnosed with the disease.
Updated
Summary of global cases
Here are the latest figures reported by each government’s health authority as of Monday in Beijing, as the number of global cases reaches over 71,000:
Mainland China: 1,770 deaths among 70,548 cases, mostly in the central province of Hubei
Hong Kong: 58 cases, 1 death
Macao: 10
Japan: 519 cases, including 454 from a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, 1 death
Singapore: 77 cases
Thailand: 35
South Korea: 30
Malaysia: 22
Taiwan: 20 cases, 1 death
Vietnam: 16 cases
Germany: 16
United States: 15 cases; separately, 1 US citizen died in China
Australia: 14 cases
France: 12 cases, 1 death
United Kingdom: 9 cases
United Arab Emirates: 9
Canada: 8
Philippines: 3 cases, 1 death
India: 3 cases
Italy: 3
Russia: 2
Spain: 2
Belgium: 1
Nepal: 1
Sri Lanka: 1
Sweden: 1
Cambodia: 1
Finland: 1
Egypt: 1
Updated
Richard Branson has responded to calls for help from those on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, saying Virgin Atlantic is in discussions with the UK government.
Previously British passengers David and Sally Abel had made a direct appeal to the British business magnate to help fly them home, after the lack of action from the UK government over evacuation flights.
.@VirginAtlantic does not fly to Japan, but we are in discussions with the UK government and seeing if there is anything we can do to help. https://t.co/Fv4tPriFWA
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) February 16, 2020
A No 10 spokesman has since confirmed the Foreign Office is in contact with those on the ship to discuss a possible flight home.
The University of Sussex said its student who was being checked for the Covid-19 coronavirus has tested negative.
A spokesman said: “Recently a student on our campus was tested and has been informed they do not have coronavirus.
“The university is operating as usual and we continue to follow all the advice and guidance from Public Health England.”
Updated
Heathrow Holiday Inn to be used as quarantine zone
Jessica Murray here, taking the reins for the rest of the afternoon - feel free to get in touch via @journojess_ on Twitter or jessica.murray@theguardian.com.
A Holiday Inn near Heathrow airport has been closed to the public and designated as a potential coronavirus quarantine centre, the Independent has reported.
The Holiday Inn Heathrow Ariel hotel, on Bath Road, closed on Saturday and staff were told it would not re-open for bookings until March at the earliest.
The Independent reports that the hotel has been block-booked to be used as a potential quarantine zone for international visitors to the UK who develop coronavirus or for Britons evacuated to the UK from overseas.
Guests booked at the Holiday Inn have been transferred to sister hotels.
The hotel’s general manager confirmed the hotel had been closed but said there had not been any cases of coronavirus at the hotel.
Updated
From one cruise ship to another, the MS Westerdam ship, which eventually docked in Cambodia after being turned away from a number of Asian ports, has sparked some global concerns after a passenger coronavirus case was confirmed.
An 83-year-old American woman who was on the ship tested positive for the virus in Malaysia, where she had flown to.
Movement of passengers and crew has now stopped, with some in hotels in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, and others still onboard the ship.
The American woman was among several hundred passengers who were flown out of Cambodia on Friday and Saturday.
According to authorities in Malaysia, 143 continued their flights home from that country, while the woman and her 84-year-old husband, who was diagnosed with pneumonia, remained behind for treatment.
The dispersal around the world of passengers from the ship with possible exposure to the virus has sparked concern.
“I think now, given that there is a confirmed case that is suspected to have acquired infection on board the ship, the other passengers should be asked to quarantine themselves at home and alert health authorities if they develop fever or respiratory symptoms within the 14 days since disembarkation,” said Prof Benjamin Cowling, from the School of Public Health at Hong Kong University.
At this time, no other guests or crew onboard or at the hotel have reported any symptoms of the illness.
Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and provided further information, the ship’s operator said.
Several Westerdam passengers have already returned home and spoken to the media.
Two Canadians who returned via Vancouver international airport were asked to put on protective face masks on arrival but were not otherwise isolated, Canada’s CBC News reported.
Hansen, from Surrey, British Columbia, told CBC that he did not hear about the American woman in Malaysia with the virus until he landed in Vancouver on Sunday. He said:
I guess on the one hand it’s upsetting to know that there was one case, but we’re feeling fine. We’ve had health scans, temperature scans and we don’t have any concerns for our own health.
Cambodia’s government had originally earned kudos from the head of the World Health Organization for allowing the ship to dock, after it was turned away by Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam and Thailand.
However, Cambodia’s handling of the ship’s passengers has since been criticised on social media, though it also has got some support.
“I think it would not be appropriate to keep passengers on the ship for 14 days, as it could be a high-risk environment,” said Cowling.
“We have seen the consequences of holding passengers on a cruise ship with the Diamond Princess outbreak,” he said, referring to the cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, which now has hundreds of coronavirus cases.
Updated
The UK joins a growing number of countries considering repatriating citizens on the Diamond Princess.
Israel’s ministry of health has said it is preparing to evacuate several Israelis from the ship back to the country.
In a statement, the ministry said three Israelis on the cruise ship had tested positive for coronavirus and would remain in Japan. However, the ministry added it was contacting insurance companies of the remaining 12 Israeli nationals onboard to have them flown back via a special direct flight.
“Upon returning they will enter home quarantine and undergo medical follow-up tests,” it said.
Updated
Stricken cruise ship passengers could be flown home
Foreign Office ministers are looking at chartering another flight to repatriate some or all of the 74 Britons on board the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship hit by 454 cases of coronavirus.
“We sympathise with all those caught up in this extremely difficult situation,” Boris Johnson’s deputy official spokesman said.
“The Foreign Office is in contact with all British people on the Diamond Princess, including to establish interest in a possible repatriation flight.
“We are urgently considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of those on board.”
Updated
Lunchtime summary
Here are the latest developments:
- Of the 300 US citizens and family members evacuated by plane from a quarantined ship in Japan, 14 have tested positive for coronavirus, the US state department said on Monday.
- Japanese officials have confirmed a further 99 people have been infected by the new coronavirus onboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 45.
- A Russian woman who was onboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Yokohama, Japan, has tested positive for coronavirus, the Russian embassy in Japan said on Monday.
- Boris Johnson’s spokesperson confirmed the government was in contact with the 74 Britons on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
- China’s parliament and its top political consultative body are both considering delaying annual meetings set for March. The standing committee of the parliament will meet on 24 February to deliberate the postponement, Reuters reports.
- The Tokyo Marathon will be closed to all but elite runners. Organisers said the 38,000 general participants who signed up for the race on 1 March will not be allowed to compete, a person with knowledge of the issue told Reuters.
Updated
Boris Johnson’s spokesperson confirmed the UK government was in contact with the 74 Britons on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The government is trying to gauge interest in the possible repatriation of the Britons stuck onboard, Reuters reports.
The US has evacuated 300 of its citizens and family members by plane from the quarantined ship in Japan. The state department said 14 Americans among those evacuated had tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Updated
Here’s some more information on the possible delay of China’s annual meetings set for March.
The meetings of the parliament, or National People’s Congress (NPC), and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) were both due to begin early next month. But both China’s parliament and its top political consultative body are both considering delaying annual meetings set for March, state media said on Monday.
Reuters reports:
The gatherings see more than 5,000 delegates descend on Beijing, the capital, from all over China, for at least 10 days, to pass legislation and unveil the year’s key economic targets.
A postponement would be the first since China adopted the current March schedule in 1995 for the meeting of parliament.
The standing committee of the NPC will meet on Feb. 24 in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said.
“The upcoming session is ... expected to deliberate a draft decision on postponing the third annual session of the 13th NPC,” it said. The session was due to have begun on 5 March.
The proposal was made in the belief it was important to focus on reining in the epidemic, Xinhua said. China has imposed transport curbs to halt the spread of the virus, which has killed 1,770 and infected nearly 71,000 in mainland China.
The CPPCC is also studying whether to postpone its annual meeting, state-run CCTV said, due to have begun two days earlier, on 3 March.
Five people familiar with the matter told Reuters this month that China was considering delaying the meetings as Beijing grapples with the epidemic.
The parliamentary committee will also consider a proposed law banning wildlife trade and discuss government changes, Xinhua said, without elaborating.
Updated
Japan is bracing for the possibility of hundreds of additional cases of the coronavirus onboard the stricken Princess Diamond, after health officials said on Monday that a further 99 people on the ship had tested positive.
The passengers already evacuated from the ship face further uncertainty too, with the US and Australian citizens set for a further two weeks of quarantine after arriving home. Hundreds of American passengers have flown back to the US and Australia said it would follow suit on Wednesday.
The US state department announced later that 14 of the 340 American evacuees were confirmed to have the virus in tests given before they boarded the planes. They were taken to the US because they did not have symptoms and were being isolated from other passengers on the planes, it said. It was not immediately clear whether the 14 were among the 99 new cases.
Onboard the Diamond Princess, 454 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 out of an original total of about 3,600 passengers and crew. Japan’s health ministry said it had tested 1,723 people on the vessel.
Forty American passengers who were diagnosed with the virus on Sunday have been transferred to hospitals in Japan. Most of the people on the ship, which has the largest number of cases outside China, have yet to be tested.
The health ministry will continue to test passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess, whose 14-day quarantine was due to end on Wednesday.
Japanese public health experts advising the government defended the decision to isolate passengers and crew on the ship, even as the number of cases increased again on Monday.
“Many people are testing positive on the ship, but that is because we are testing everyone onboard, regardless of their medical condition,” said Shigeru Omi, the chief director of the Japan Community Health Care Organisation. “And 70% of those testing positive are not showing any symptoms at all.”
Omi said any disruption to this summer’s Tokyo Olympics – including the Games’ cancellation – would depend on how and if the virus mutates in the coming months, as well as the effectiveness of the international community’s attempts to contain the outbreak.
“Whether the virus is under control by the time of the Olympics is anyone’s guess,” he said at a media briefing in Tokyo.
Omi conceded that tracing the chain of domestic transmissions not related to the Diamond Princes was proving difficult, but denied Japan, which has confirmed 65 cases on land, was becoming a second major infection cluster.
“Our focus now is on community-based preventative action to lower the speed of the transmission of the virus,” he said. “It is true that there have been silent transmissions, but Japan is certainly not in a state of pandemic.”
Updated
A Russian woman who was onboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Yokohama, Japan, has tested positive for coronavirus, the Russian embassy in Japan said on Monday.
Reuters reports the woman will be taken to a hospital and treated, citing a post by the embassy on Facebook.
The woman is thought to be the first Russian national to contract the virus after the two previous cases found in Russia were Chinese nationals.
Updated
Scores more cases confirmed on cruise ship
Japanese officials have confirmed a further 99 people have been infected by the new coronavirus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454, the health ministry said on Monday.
AP reports:
The ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the ship, docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo. The 14-day quarantine for those on the ship was due to end Wednesday.
Outside China, the ship has had the largest number of cases of the Covid-19 illness caused by the virus that emerged in China late last year.
Updated
Tokyo Marathon closed to all but elite runners
Japan will close next month’s Tokyo Marathon to all but elite professional runners.
Organisers of the Tokyo Marathon said the 38,000 general participants who signed up for the race on 1 March will not be allowed to compete, a person with knowledge of the issue told Reuters.
The event will instead be limited to top-level competitors, which includes 176 elite runners and 30 elite wheelchair athletes.
Japan would limit public crowds in Tokyo to prevent a further spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Shares in some of the marathon’s sponsors fell following the announcement. Seiko Holdings, the maker of watches and clocks, slid 3.5%, as did shoe and sportswear maker ASICS Corp. The broader Tokyo market was little changed.
Japan also announced it would be scrapping the emperor’s birthday celebrations. The last time the birthday celebration was cancelled was 1996, during a hostage crisis at the Japanese embassy in Peru.
Updated
China says it might postpone annual congress
China says it might postpone its annual congress in March, its biggest political meeting of the year.
The standing committee for the National People’s Congress said it believes it is necessary to postpone the gathering to give top priority to people’s lives, safety and health, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
It noted that one-third of the 3,000 delegates are provincial and municipal-level cadres with important leadership roles working on the frontline of the battle against the epidemic.
The standing committee said it would meet on 24 February to further deliberate on a postponement. The meeting is due to start on 5 March.
Updated
I want to hear your news, experiences and questions about the coronavirus outbreak. You can email me at aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com or tweet me at @aamnamohdin
I’m particularly keen to hear from those who have booked a holiday to China, but are currently in limbo.
Fourteen evacuated Americans test positive for virus
Morning, it’s Aamna Mohdin taking over the liveblog from my colleague Alison Rourke.
Of the 300 US citizens and family members evacuated by plane from a quarantined ship in Japan, 14 have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US state department said on Monday.
The American passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess preparing to return home on chartered aircraft when US officials were informed 14 of them who had been tested days earlier were positive for Covid-19, the state department said in a joint statement with the department of health and human services (HHS).
The passengers were allowed to board the plane, but were isolated from the others and would be monitored closely.
The state department and HHS said in a statement:
During the flights, these individuals will continue to be isolated from the other passengers. These flights departed Japan at approximately 4:30pm eastern time on February 16 and will arrive in the United States later this morning.
All passengers are being closely monitored by medical professionals throughout the flight, and any who become symptomatic will be moved to the specialised containment area, where they will be treated.
Upon landing in the United States, passengers will deplane at either Travis AFB or Joint Base San Antonio and will remain under quarantine for 14 days.
Passengers that develop symptoms in flight and those with positive test results will remain isolated on the flights and will be transported to an appropriate location for continued isolation and care.
Updated
Summary
Here are the latest developments:
- The total confirmed number of Covid-19 cases in China has risen. to 70,548, after the health ministry reported 2,048 new cases in its Monday update.
- New deaths totalled 105, bringing the total number of fatalities in China to 1,770.
- Of the new cases 1,933 were in Hubei province, as were 100 of the deaths.
- The US has airlifted its citizens stuck on the Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan. Forty Americans were tested positive remain in the country.
- A number of other countries, including Canada, Australia and South Korea have announced plans to evacuate their citizens from the stricken ship. (A Qantas plane will fly 209 Australians home on Wednesday).
- Xiaogan city, in central Hubei, has banned residents from leaving their homes in an attempt to curtail the virus. It has the second highest number of confirmed cases in China, after nearby Wuhan.
- Xinxian country in Henan province, south of Beijing, announced it is extending quarantine to 21 days for citizens returning from Wuhan, following two unusual cases of Covid-19.
- Singapore has flagged a possible recession as it cut growth forecasts because of the impact of the virus.
You can read our latest roundup of all the days news on the coronavirus outbreak below.
Updated
The Covid-19 outbreak has officially had no negative impact on the country’s stock markets. After a huge 8% fall on the first day of trading after the lunar new year break, indices have fattened up again and are buoyed by the promise of stimulus from the central bank (see below).
The Shanghai Composite was up 2.19% in afternoon trading while the Shenzhen Composite rose 2.84%.
Even by the ludicrous standards of Chinese equity markets, this is quite something. Stocks have basically erased their entire coronavirus-related decline. pic.twitter.com/foZZBykrdS
— Mike Bird (@Birdyword) February 17, 2020
Shanghai Composite now up 10% from the post-LNY lows $SSEC $SHCOMP
— David Scutt (@Scutty) February 17, 2020
Stimulus > #coronavirus
Updated
We’re seeing a news conference now from the Australian city of Darwin, where authorities are talking about the 209 Australians being brought home from the stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan. Those returning will be quarantined for 14 days near the northern city of Darwin.
“We are not entirely convinced that the quarantine procedures on that ship were 100% effective,” said Prof Dianne Stephens, deputy chief health officer for the Northern Territory (NT).
About 150 of the 209 passengers are over the age of 60. Authorities said there will also be a number of older people and the concern for them is not about coronavirus, but co-morbidities, including diabetes, stress and cardiovascular disease.
Updated
County in Henan extends quarantine period to 21 days for travellers from Wuhan
The Global Times – the tabloid mouth piece of the Chinese government – is reporting that the county of Xinxian in Henan province, south of Beijing, is extending the quarantine period for travellers returning from Wuhan to 21 days. This follows two unusual cases of Covid-19, which you can read about in the tweet below. This could obviously be very significant if this is replicated elsewhere.
One of the new cases was diagnosed 34 days after returning from Wuhan, and another 94 days after coming in contact with a Wuhan resident. Both infection sources are unknown. https://t.co/WsbUAzEHxt
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) February 17, 2020
Updated
The Economist’s correspondent in Shanghai, Simon Rabinovitch, has published a graph showing the infections in China outside Hubei.
There were just 118 new reported cases of covid-19 infections in China outside Hubei yesterday, the lowest since prior to the Wuhan quarantine.
— Simon Rabinovitch (@S_Rabinovitch) February 17, 2020
Yes, this is official data, so the real situation is probably worse. But more on that in a second. (1/X) pic.twitter.com/JHgZNaTKXx
Updated
Just breaking down that flurry of speakers at the press conference in Australia ... one of the most significant things to come out of it for me was that the chief medical officer saying they are not sure why the infections on the Diamond Princess cruise liner are continuing to spread, despite the quarantine measures in place.
Shares in China have posted strong gains after the country’s central bank cut the interest rate on its medium-term lending from 3.25% to 3.15% to try to cushion businesses from the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. The bank also injected another 200bn yuan of liquidity into the system.
The move is expected to pave the way for a reduction in the country’s benchmark loan prime rate on Thursday, Reuters reports, to lower borrowing costs and ease financial strains on companies hit by the epidemic.
China CSI 300 erases Covid-19 slump.
— Jim Bianco (@biancoresearch) February 17, 2020
Why?
* Short selling ban (in China this means the Gulag!)
* Funds need gov't approval to sell (prove an outflow)
* Record repo injections by the PBoC, rate cuts
* Xi - will cut taxes and record fiscal stimulus
Rally means all is good, right? pic.twitter.com/hCRUaEiHdZ
#PBOC injects 200 bn yuan liquidity via 1-year medium-term lending facility (MLF).
— YUAN TALKS (@YuanTalks) February 17, 2020
PBOC cut the rate on MLF to 3.15%, from 3.25% in the previous operation. https://t.co/EXAEiLHayq
China’s authorities have already loosened borrowing requirements and arranged special loans for businesses hit by the lockdown of millions of people. On Sunday, the finance ministry said it would roll out targeted and phased tax and fee cuts.
The Shanghai Composite index of leading shares was up 1.4% and Hong Kong was 0.4% to the good. But the picture was less rosy elsewhere in Asia Pacific with the poor GDP data pushing the Nikkei down by 0.65% in Tokyo. In Sydney the ASX200 was flat.
Updated
A reporter is asking about Australians onboard the MS Westerdam cruise ship that docked in Cambodia last Thursday. An American passenger on that ship was subsequently diagnosed with Covid-19, after testing in Malaysia. The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne answers:
There were some Australians on the vessel Westerdam. 39 of those have remained in Phnom Penh after the ship finally docked. They have been provided with hotel accommodation in the capital.
Payne says they are being tested in Cambodia and results expect to be returned in the next 48 hours. Ten Australians remain on the ship, still docked in Cambodia
She says the Cambodian government is making arrangements to test those people who remained on the ship tested – another 200 or so people. She says that will happen in the next two to three days.
Scott Morrison made very clear that the decision has been made by the national security committee that:
Any person who was onboard that ship, regardless of their nationality, if they seek to enter Australia within the next 14 days, they will not be granted entry to Australia.
Brendan Murphy’s, Australia’s chief health officer, has the microphone now. He says he is not sure why there have continued to be further infections onboard the Diamond Princess ship.
We are not quite sure why there have been ongoing infections, but given there has been recent cases, we cannot be absolutely sure that any of the currently well people on the ship who are coming home onWednesday are not carrying the virus. We cannot be sure. And if we cannot be sure we have to take precautions. And that is why we are going to take them to the HowardSprings facility in Darwin, which minister Hunt and I have visited, it is a very good quality accommodation facility and I can assure the families of those coming that it is a much nicer place to be for two weeks than a cabin.
He says he sympathises with people who have already done nearly two weeks in quarantine on the ship, and who may not want to do another two weeks of quarantine, but notes that other countries have also imposed additional two weeks of quarantine, including Canada and the US.
The Australian health minister, Greg Hunt, is talking now. He confirms Australia still only has 15 cases of Covid-19, eight of which have now recovered.
He says the 242 passengers who were airlifted out of Wuhan on the first Australian evacuation flight out of that city, will leave Christmas Island today, where they have been staying for 2 weeks.
Payne reiterates the decision to bring citizens home from Japan is based on medical advice.
We’re now hearing from Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne. She thanks the government of Japan for its co-operation during this process of getting Australia’s citizens home from the ship, currently docked south of Tokyo.
She also thanks Japan for the care they are giving to the 20 or so Australians in hospital in Japan who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Morrison says they are contacting all the passengers on the ship and that New Zealand citizens on the ship will also be offered seats on the Qantas flight.
Australia announces plans to evacuate its citizens on Diamond Princess cruise ship
The Australian PM, Scott Morrison, has announced Qantas will fly home Australian citizens stuck on the stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner in Japan this Wednesday.
There are more than 200 Australians on the ship. They will face a further 14 days in quarantine at the Howard Springs facility near the Australian city of Darwin.
Updated
In Hong Kong armed robbers have stolen hundreds of toilet rolls, amid panic buying from stores as the coronavirus outbreak spreads.
Toilet rolls have become hot property in the business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak.
You can read our full story here.
Agence France-Presse has rounded up where the coronavirus cases are globally.
ASIA-PACIFIC
- Cruise ship Diamond Princess, quarantined off Japan: 355, plus a quarantine officer.
- Singapore: 75
- Japan: 59, including death of one infected woman
- Hong Kong: 57, including one death
- Thailand: 34
- South Korea: 30
- Malaysia: 22
- Taiwan: 20, including one death
- Vietnam: 16
- Australia: 15
- Macau: 10
- India: 3
- Philippines: 3, including one death
- Nepal: 1
- Sri Lanka: 1
- Cambodia: 1
NORTH AMERICA
- United States: 15
- Canada: 8
EUROPE
- Germany: 16
- France: 12, including one death
- Britain: 9
- Italy: 3
- Russia: 2
- Spain: 2
- Finland: 1
- Sweden: 1
- Belgium: 1
MIDDLE EAST
- United Arab Emirates: 9
AFRICA
- Egypt: 1
Updated
New Zealand warns virus impact may curtain GDP 0.3%
While we are on the economic impact of the coronavirus, New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said on Monday that the country’s GDP is expected to slow to around 2% to 2.5% this year, due to the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic.
Ardern said the forecasts were from the treasury which had previously predicted a GDP growth of 2.2% to 2.8%. She said the impact will be seen in the first two quarters of the year.
“Treasury expect things to return to normal in the second half of 2020,” she told a news conference.
Japan's GDP shrinks as country reportedly asks Chinese runners not to take part in marathon
Japan’s NKH has reported new figures from the government that show GDP shrank in the final quarter of 2019 by 6.3% (on an annualised basis for October-December).
NHK says it was the first contraction in five quarters. It was also the biggest fall since the consumption tax was last raised in 2014. Given that it’s from last year, it’s unlikely to be related to the coronavirus. But the figures show that the economy is already under pressure while it’s trying to absorb the impact of the virus.
Reuters is citing experts warning that the widening fallout the outbreak is damaging output and tourism in Japan, undermining growth and potentially pushing the country into recession.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo Marathon organisers are considering restricting the number of general participants in this year’s race as a precaution against the further spread of the virus. China’s Global Television Network is reporting that Chinese residents are being asked to defer their participation in the event until next year.
The marathon is believed to have more than 300,000 entrants this year.
#Tokyo Marathon officials on Friday requested Chinese residents who have registered for the March 1 race to voluntarily defer their entry until next year due to concerns over #COVID19.
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) February 17, 2020
Registered Chinese runners who defer entry will have their fees for next year's race waived. pic.twitter.com/H4LXnvRP33
Updated
Just a bit more on the new measures in the city of Xiaogan, that confine residents to their homes ... on Friday, the state media outlet, Xinhua, reported that all residents in the city would not be allowed to exit and re-enter their communities or residential areas. Today’s announcement appears to be a further escalation of this.
Xinhua reported that “community committees” would deliver daily necessities to residents and that buying services would be provided for urgently-needed goods. This is something we have also seen in Wuhan, with community workers delivering items to residents.
Deutsche Welle’s East Asia correspondent William Yang says the new restrictions in Xiaogan will begin on Monday.
#Wuhan’s Xiaogan City announced that starting February 17, all residents in the city can’t leave their house and no cars can be driving on the road. All unnecessary public spaces should be closed. Anyone violating the rule will be put into the list for untrustworthy individuals. pic.twitter.com/aSpbR1q8eM
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) February 17, 2020
Yang also reports on a new initiative in eastern Hubei’s Huanggang city, where residents with a fever or cough who report their symptoms will be awarded 500 yuan or $72. The city is the third worst affected in Hubei, with 2,831 reported cases of Covid-19 and 78 deaths.
Huanggang City in #Hubei province encourage citizens with symptoms to report their own cases. Those with fever and coughing should report their case to the community right away and they would be awarded with 500 RMB and be sent for treatment right away. pic.twitter.com/tvEVj2uvcc
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) February 17, 2020
Updated
Hubei's second worst hit city bans residents from leaving home
Chinese state media is reporting another city in Hubei province has banned residents from leaving their homes. In Xiaogan, population 4.8 million, in central Hubei, people who violate the order will be detained “for a maximum of 10 days”, the Global Times says:
The levelled-up measure in Xiaogan asks all urban residents to stay indoors and rural villagers are prohibited from loitering, visiting or gathering. Those who involved in the prevention and control of the epidemic should travel in accordance with the designated time and route. Those who violate the order will be detained for no more than 10 days.
All vehicles including motorcycles, electric bikes, bicycles and tricycles are prohibited from driving on the road. Only vehicles for special purposes, such as ambulances, fire trucks or vehicles transporting daily necessities, can be seen out of the road.
All the other vehicles without a permit will be held by traffic police, and drivers will face 10 days of detainment and a fine of 500 yuan if they break the order. Those who do not obey the traffic management rules may have their driving licenses revoked.
The Global Times adds that pharmacies, designated supermarkets, hotels and markets are open, but need to “strictly control the flow of people” and to record customers’ temperatures.
“Patrol teams” will monitor movements.
Xiaogan is the second worst hit in Hubei after Wuhan, with 3,279 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 70 deaths. Xiaogan is about 70km from Wuhan.
Updated
The economics research firm Capital Economics, has published some very interesting graphs which appear to show just how substantially activity in China has reduced as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The first graph shows road congestion across 100 Chinese cities in the weeks before and after the lunar new year, comparing figures from the four years to 2020.
The next graph looks at daily passenger trips by the millions.
Many economists use electricity consumption as a proxy for economic activity in China, which makes this next graph particularly interesting.
And finally, the food wholesale price index, comparing 2017-2020.
Updated
Japan's 5th flight evacuating passengers from Wuhan lands in Tokyo
A fifth evacuation flight of Japanese citizens from Wuhan has landed in Tokyo.
It landed at Haneda airport shortly before 7.00am on Monday, the Japanese broadcaster NHK said, carrying 36 Japanese nationals and 29 Chinese nationals, including spouses of Japanese.
A total of 763 people returned to Japan from Hubei on the four previous flights, NHK says.
Singapore cuts growth and exports forecasts, flags possible recession
Singapore has cut its 2020 growth and exports forecasts due to an expected economic blow from the new coronavirus outbreak, flagging the chance of a recession this year, Reuters reports.
The country has reported 75 cases of the virus to date, one of the highest tallies outside China.
The downgrade of its GDP forecast range to -0.5% to 1.5%, from 0.5% to 2.5% previously, opens up the possibility that full-year growth could be negative, with the prime minister saying on Friday that a recession is possible.
“The outlook for the Singapore economy has weakened since the last review... In particular, the Covid-19 outbreak is expected to affect the Singapore economy,” said the ministry’s permanent secretary, Gabriel Lim.
Lim said the impact would be most keenly felt in manufacturing, trade, tourism and transport, alongside retail and food services.
Singapore is set to roll out a hefty package of measures to cushion the blow from the epidemic on its economy at its annual budget on Tuesday, with some analysts expecting it to plan for its biggest deficit in over a decade.
The full-year forecast range for non-oil domestic exports was also lowered on Monday to -0.5% to 1.5%, from 0% to 2% previously.
The economy had been staging a nascent recovery after recording its lowest growth rate in a decade in 2019 at 0.7% before the virus spread to the city-state in late January.
The Australian government is working on a plan to evacuate its citizens off the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship – the largest site for Covid-19 infections outside of mainland China.
The ship, carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew, is docked at Yokohama port south of Tokyo. 355 people have tested positive for coronavirus, including 16 Australians.
Nearly 200 Australians are on board.
The US has begun an airlift operation to bring more than 400 of its citizens home form the ship and into quarantine in the US. They face a further 14 days in isolation. Canada, South Korea, Hong Kong and Italy have announced flights home for their citizens and residents.
Australia’s national security committee of cabinet met late Sunday, and will meet again Monday afternoon, to formalise a plan to extract Australians from the ship.
Meanwhile, the first cohort of evacuees quarantined on Christmas Island are set to leave the remote island Monday afternoon. The evacuees will be flown to capital cities across Australia and allowed to return home. They have spent 14 days in the immigration detention centre on the remote island, and will not be required to self-isolate at home.
271 Australians were evacuated to the island. None have tested positive for coronavirus. A second cohort will leave Wednesday.
Australia has also quarantined 266 citizens and permanent residents at a disused mining workers village on the outskirts of Darwin. They remain in quarantine. No coronavirus cases have been detected amongst that group either.
Updated
There’s been a lot of discussion about how the figures are trending over the past few days, particularly as there was a big spike in the number of recorded cases of infections in Hubei province last Wednesday, when it changed the way it was recording cases to include people who had been clinically diagnosed with Covid-19, as well as those who had tested positive on a Covid-19 test.
First let’s look at the trend for infections inside China but outside of Hubei, since they changed the way they were counting cases.
- Sunday 16 February: 125 new cases excluding Hubei (1,933 inside Hubei)
- Saturday 15 February: 166 new cases excluding Hubei (1,843 inside Hubei)
- Friday 14 February: 221 cases excluding Hubei (2,641 inside Hubei)
- Thursday 13 February: 267 cases excluding Hubei (4,823 inside Hubei)
On Wednesday 12 February, Hubei changed the way it was counting cases. That day the National Health Commission recorded 312 cases outside of Hubei.
China infections rise to 70,548; deaths to 1,770
The daily national figures for China have been announced. It says the total number of confirmed cases have by 2,048 to 70,548.
Total deaths now stand at 1,770, after 105 more deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.
Of those new deaths, only five were reported outside of Hubei province (3 in Henan, and 2 in Guangdong).
Of the new infections, only 125 were recorded outside of Hubei.
China's ambassador to Australia calls for change in travel ban for people coming from China
China’s ambassador in Australia, Chen Jingye, is giving an interview on Sky News Australia about the coronavirus outbreak.
“This is controllable. This is curable,” he says. “So we have every confidence and capacities to win against the epidemic.”
He says the Australian travel ban on people entering the country if they have travelled to China is “out of proportion”
“The situation here is ... inconsistent with recommendations from WHO,” he says.
He says he hopes the Australian government will take this into account when next reviewing the travel ban, due to expire on Saturday. He hopes restrictions will be relaxed.
He’s now being asked about the death of the whistleblower doctor, Li Wenliang, who died from the virus around 10 days ago.
“His contributions is (sic) acknowledged,” he says.
Chen says the best way to honour his memory is to keep fighting the virus.
The next question is about reports a speech President Xi gave on 3 February, in which he gave instructions to fight the virus on 7 January. His remarks were published by state media late Saturday.
“President Xi himself has shown strong leadership in this fight against the virus. He’s has been personally involved ... giving orders ... and overseeing and guiding efforts throughout this outbreak,” Chen said.
Updated
Chinese state media is reporting that penalties up to life imprisonment can be handed out to people who sell face masks or goggles which don’t meet national standards.
Penalties up to life imprisonment can be given to those who produce or sell medical supplies including surgical #masks and #goggles that failed to meet national standards: authority #China #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/jTVWe2x6dM
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) February 17, 2020
Hubei province tightens restriction of movement
Hubei province is tightening its restrictions on movement further, in an effort to combat the virus. About 56 million people are effectively under quarantine, including in Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have started.
New measures include broad instructions that residential compounds and villages be “sealed off” from unnecessary visitors, with tenants’ outings “strictly managed”.
Last week Beijing, a city of more than 20 million people, said anyone returning to the city must go into self-imposed quarantine for 14 days, or face stiff penalties.
Updated
WHO boss says international community must 'use window of opportunity' to combat virus
The World Health Organization says international experts in a WHO-led joint mission had arrived in Beijing and had had their first meeting with their Chinese counterparts.
“We look forward to this vitally important collaboration contributing to global knowledge about the COVID19 outbreak,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter.
On Sunday, a spokesman for China’s National Health Commission said slowing case numbers nationally showed that China was controlling the outbreak.
But Tedros has warned it is “impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take”.
Tedros also said the international community must “use the window of opportunity” to intensify preparations for the spread of Covid-19 infections.
In our fractured & divided 🌍, health is one of the few areas which offers the opportunity for countries to work together for a common cause.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 16, 2020
This is a time for facts, not fear.
This is a time for rationality, not rumours.
This is a time for solidarity, not stigma. #MSC2020
Updated
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.
The epicentre of the outbreak – Hubei province – has reported 100 new deaths in its daily update of figures on Monday, with 1,933 new infections.
This takes infections in China past 70,000, and deaths to at least 1,765. We are still waiting for Monday’s national figures and will bring you them shortly.
Five other deaths have been reported globally.
Outside China, attention has turned to the Diamond Princess cruise ship, stuck in Japan. The US has airlifted its passengers out, but around 40 Americans who tested positive to Covid-19, will remain in Japan where they are being treated. Here’s a quick summary of what else we know so far:
- The US air flights carrying passengers from the stricken cruise ship quarantined south of Tokyo have departed
- Canada and Hong Kong have offered flights to repatriate their nationals and we are expecting a decision in Australia on whether it will also offer flights home to the 200+ Australians on the ship.
- The quarantine on the Diamond Princess is due to end on Wednesday, but there are questions about whether it will be extended
- A passenger from the MS Westerdam cruise ship, which docked in Cambodia at the end of last week, has tested positive to the virus, after flying to Malaysia with nearly 150 other passengers from the ship
- Taiwan has reported first death from coronavirus
Updated
