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Coronavirus live updates: 10 test positive on cruise ship in Japan as China deaths pass 490 – latest news Coronavirus live updates: 10 test positive on cruise ship in Japan as China deaths pass 490 – latest news
(32 minutes later)
Thousands on board Diamond Princess face at least 14 days in offshore quarantine as eight more buildings are turned into hospitals in Wuhan. Follow all the developments hereThousands on board Diamond Princess face at least 14 days in offshore quarantine as eight more buildings are turned into hospitals in Wuhan. Follow all the developments here
Medical workers in Hong Kong have begun a third day of strike action over concerns that the city’s government is not doing enough to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Hong Kong recorded its first death from the outbreak on Tuesday and has 18 confirmed cases, bringing more calls for the authorities to seal the last remaining routes in and out to the mainland.
“As the disease is spreading rapidly in our community, and locally infected cases are steadily increasing, we are dangerously close to a massive community outbreak comparable to Sars,” a newly formed union called the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA) said in a statement.
On Wednesday, dozens of medical representatives including the chairwoman of HAEA, Winnie Yu, marched to government headquarters to press their demands for the border to be sealed.
Carrie Lam, the city’s chief executive, has kept open three routes to China, arguing that to close them would be “inappropriate, impractical and discriminatory”.
The UK’s Press Association agency has spoken to a British man in Wuhan who fears he contracted the virus at the end of November but is not sure how he will get out of the city.
So news of another evacuation flight may give hope to Jamie Morris, a 23-year-old teacher from New Tredegar in South Wales.
He said he had not been able to make the recent flights back to the UK because his passport had been given to the Chinese government to extend his residency permit.
He said the Foreign Office’s crisis team in London had told him “to be patient and they will be in touch if anything changes”.
The Japanese foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, said on Wednesday that Japan would send a fourth chartered flight to Wuhan tomorrow to bring back about 200 passengers.
The passengers could include Japanese nationals as well as their Chinese spouses, Motegi told reporters.
Japan has already sent three planes to Wuhan to evacuate hundreds of its citizens.
Reuters reports that a Canadian man on a flight from Toronto to Jamaica falsely announced to passengers that he had the coronavirus, forcing the plane to return to the airport where he was arrested.
The incident occurred on Monday during a WestJet Airlines flight from Toronto to Montego Bay. The Boeing 767 was carrying 243 passengers.
“A male was causing a disturbance on the flight, saying he had been to China and had the coronavirus,” said Sarah Patten, a spokeswoman for police in the town of Peel, close to Toronto’s Pearson international airport.
After the plane landed, the 29-year-old man was checked by medical staff who concluded he did not have the coronavirus. He was arrested, charged with mischief and will appear in court on 9 March.
Julie-Anne Broderick, a passenger on the plane, said she saw the man taking a selfie and announcing he had the virus.
“The flight attendants came, gave him a mask and gloves and just told him that he had to move to the back of the plane,” she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
The captain then told passengers he thought the incident was a hoax but had to return to Toronto, she added.
The UK government is chartering a final flight to bring British nationals back from Wuhan.The UK government is chartering a final flight to bring British nationals back from Wuhan.
After Britons in mainland China were controversially urged to leave the country, the Foreign Office said the plane was expected to leave in the early hours of Sunday morning local time and will land at RAF Brize Norton.After Britons in mainland China were controversially urged to leave the country, the Foreign Office said the plane was expected to leave in the early hours of Sunday morning local time and will land at RAF Brize Norton.
It added that the government wanted to ensure that all British nationals in Hubei province contact the Foreign Office to register if they want to leave on the flight.It added that the government wanted to ensure that all British nationals in Hubei province contact the Foreign Office to register if they want to leave on the flight.
According to the Press Assocation new agency, 165 Britons and their dependants remain in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, while 108 people have requested assistance to leave as of the early hours of Wednesday.According to the Press Assocation new agency, 165 Britons and their dependants remain in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, while 108 people have requested assistance to leave as of the early hours of Wednesday.
A total of 94 UK nationals and family members have already been evacuated to Britain from Wuhan on two flights which arrived on Friday and Sunday.A total of 94 UK nationals and family members have already been evacuated to Britain from Wuhan on two flights which arrived on Friday and Sunday.
One passenger was taken to hospital in Oxford after telling medics he had a cough and a cold, while the rest of those who came back are in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.One passenger was taken to hospital in Oxford after telling medics he had a cough and a cold, while the rest of those who came back are in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.
Passengers on another cruise ship are being tested for the virus.Passengers on another cruise ship are being tested for the virus.
World Dream, which is run by Dream Cruises, was denied entry to the southern Taiwan port of Kaohsiung aon Tuesday and docked in Hong Kong on Wednesday. All passengers and crew are undergoing health checks, Cable TV reported, according to Reuters.World Dream, which is run by Dream Cruises, was denied entry to the southern Taiwan port of Kaohsiung aon Tuesday and docked in Hong Kong on Wednesday. All passengers and crew are undergoing health checks, Cable TV reported, according to Reuters.
The ship visited Taiwan’s northern Keelung port on Monday, Taiwan’s health authorities said, and some passengers were allowed to disembark.The ship visited Taiwan’s northern Keelung port on Monday, Taiwan’s health authorities said, and some passengers were allowed to disembark.
The death toll from novel coronavirus has climbed to 490 in mainland China, with one additional fatality in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines.The death toll from novel coronavirus has climbed to 490 in mainland China, with one additional fatality in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines.
There are now 24,505 confirmed cases around the world, 24,292 being in manland China.There are now 24,505 confirmed cases around the world, 24,292 being in manland China.
Ten people on board a cruise ship anchored off Yokohama in Japan have tested positive for the virus. In total, 272 people of the 3,700 on board the Diamond Princess have been tested, with only 31 results in so far.Ten people on board a cruise ship anchored off Yokohama in Japan have tested positive for the virus. In total, 272 people of the 3,700 on board the Diamond Princess have been tested, with only 31 results in so far.
The infected people have been taken to hospitals onshore for treatment. The ship and all those on board is being quarantined for at least 14 days.The infected people have been taken to hospitals onshore for treatment. The ship and all those on board is being quarantined for at least 14 days.
Read our full story on the stricken vessel here.Read our full story on the stricken vessel here.
United and American Airlines have suspended flights in and out of Hong Kong.United and American Airlines have suspended flights in and out of Hong Kong.
Nearly 200 people – mostly New Zealanders and Australians – are on their way to Auckland on a specially chartered plane from Wuhan.Nearly 200 people – mostly New Zealanders and Australians – are on their way to Auckland on a specially chartered plane from Wuhan.
The World Health Organization says there is a “window of opportunity” to halt the spread of the disease.The World Health Organization says there is a “window of opportunity” to halt the spread of the disease.
Financial markets in Asia have rallied again on Wednesday as investors continued to believe that the economic impact of the crisis will be limited.Financial markets in Asia have rallied again on Wednesday as investors continued to believe that the economic impact of the crisis will be limited.
The Chinese government continues to try to put a positive spin on the crisis that has seen millions of people forced to stay in their homes.The Chinese government continues to try to put a positive spin on the crisis that has seen millions of people forced to stay in their homes.
The state news agency Xinhua tweeted some suggestions today about how families can amuse themselves in the confines of their homes.The state news agency Xinhua tweeted some suggestions today about how families can amuse themselves in the confines of their homes.
My colleague Alison Rourke detailed some of the other positive message put out by Beijing here:My colleague Alison Rourke detailed some of the other positive message put out by Beijing here:
The number of cases of novel coronavirus around the world has reached 24,505, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker site. The vast majority – 24,292 – are in mainland China with 213 around the world.The number of cases of novel coronavirus around the world has reached 24,505, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker site. The vast majority – 24,292 – are in mainland China with 213 around the world.
(Those figures from the university don’t include the 10 on the Diamond Princess in Japan.)(Those figures from the university don’t include the 10 on the Diamond Princess in Japan.)
The Carnival statement said the infected people will be taken ashore to Yokohama by the Japanese coastguard and taken to local hospitals. The ship will remain under quarantine off Yokohama for at least 14 days, as required by the ministry of health.The Carnival statement said the infected people will be taken ashore to Yokohama by the Japanese coastguard and taken to local hospitals. The ship will remain under quarantine off Yokohama for at least 14 days, as required by the ministry of health.
The statement also said:The statement also said:
The ship will go out to sea “to perform normal marine operations” such as the production of fresh water and ballast operations before picking up food, provisions and other supplies from Yokohama.The ship will go out to sea “to perform normal marine operations” such as the production of fresh water and ballast operations before picking up food, provisions and other supplies from Yokohama.
Passengers will receive free internet and telephone to stay in contact with their family and loved ones.Passengers will receive free internet and telephone to stay in contact with their family and loved ones.
The crew is working to keep all guests comfortable.The crew is working to keep all guests comfortable.
Princess Cruises – part of the UK-listed Carnival – “will continue to fully cooperate with and follow the instructions of global medical authorities and the Japanese government”.Princess Cruises – part of the UK-listed Carnival – “will continue to fully cooperate with and follow the instructions of global medical authorities and the Japanese government”.
Carnival has cancelled the next two Diamond Princess cruises departing Yokohama (yesterday and 12 February).Carnival has cancelled the next two Diamond Princess cruises departing Yokohama (yesterday and 12 February).
There are 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew currently onboard. Approximately half the guestsare from Japan.There are 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew currently onboard. Approximately half the guestsare from Japan.
Two Australians are among the 10 people who have tested positive for coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the cruise company Carnival have confirmed.Two Australians are among the 10 people who have tested positive for coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the cruise company Carnival have confirmed.
The other people infected are three Japanese, three from Hong Kong, one American and one Filipino crewmember.The other people infected are three Japanese, three from Hong Kong, one American and one Filipino crewmember.
Justin McCurry has been finding out more information about the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is being quarantined off the coast of Yokohama in Japan after an outbreak of coronavirus on board.Justin McCurry has been finding out more information about the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is being quarantined off the coast of Yokohama in Japan after an outbreak of coronavirus on board.
Ten people have tested positive for the virus out of 31 results that have come back so far from 273 tests.Ten people have tested positive for the virus out of 31 results that have come back so far from 273 tests.
David Abel, a British passenger who is on board the ship with his wife Sally, described the situation on his Facebook page.David Abel, a British passenger who is on board the ship with his wife Sally, described the situation on his Facebook page.
We’ll have a full report soon.We’ll have a full report soon.
In Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, the authorities are converting an additional eight buildings, including gymnasiums, exhibition centres and sports centres, into hospitals, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.In Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, the authorities are converting an additional eight buildings, including gymnasiums, exhibition centres and sports centres, into hospitals, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.
That’s on top of three conversions already announced. Together the process will add an extra 10,000 beds to the city’s hospital capacity. There have been 8,351 confirmed cases in the city, according to the Chinese news website TenCent.That’s on top of three conversions already announced. Together the process will add an extra 10,000 beds to the city’s hospital capacity. There have been 8,351 confirmed cases in the city, according to the Chinese news website TenCent.
A new hospital in Wuhan with 1,000 beds opened to patients on Monday. And here’s a timelapse video of how that first emergency hospital was built in a matter of days.A new hospital in Wuhan with 1,000 beds opened to patients on Monday. And here’s a timelapse video of how that first emergency hospital was built in a matter of days.
There’s also another 1,600-bed hospital being built.There’s also another 1,600-bed hospital being built.
The economic impact of the outbreak appears to be building. We’ve already heard about a widening lockdown in China, with Hangzhou being the latest city to restrict movement. That kind of measure will inevitably hurt the economy but foreign companies are also feeling the impact and deepening the effects by suspending operations in China and Asia generally.
The latest companies to warn about the impact, or to flag closure of some operations include:
American Airlines and United Airlines are suspending all flights to and from Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific Airways which said on Tuesday that it will cut around 30% of its capacity over the next two months.
The carmaker Hyundai is suspending production in South Korea because of disruption to the supply of parts.
Nike, which has closed around half its stores in China, says its operations will continue to be hurt by the lockdown seen across China.
Nevertheless, the financial markets appear fairly sanguine about it all. All the major stock markets are up quite a bit today. The ASX200 in Sydney is up 0.43%, the Nikkei is up 1%, Seoul is up 0.74%, Hong Kong is up 0.87 and Shanghai is 1.11% to the good.
Oil also shook off its problems. Brent crude oil futures rose US44c, or 0.8%, to $54.40 a barrel on the prospect of production cuts by Opec this month.
The World Health Organization says there is a “window of opportunity” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The WHO has declared the outbreak a global health emergency but it said on Tuesday night that the lockdown put in place by the Chinese government to limit the spread from the epicentre of Wuhan offered a chance to halt transmission.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday:
More on the Japanese cruise ship from our correspondent in Tokyo, Justin McCurry.
Tests for the virus have been carried out on 273 of the 3,700 passengers and crew on board the Diamond Princess after an 80-year-old man who had been on the ship last month tested positive when he arrived home in Hong Kong.
Justin writes:
The suspension of flights by airlines into China has now spread to Hong Kong.
The two biggest carriers in the United States, American Airlines and United Airlines, said late on Tuesday US time that they won’t fly in or out of the territory for two weeks.
An American Airlines spokeswoman said its suspension of its Hong Kong flights to and from Los Angeles and Dallas had begun on Tuesday and would continue until 20 February.
United Airlines said falling demand meant it was suspending its flights, also until 20 February. The carrier’s last US flight to Hong Kong will depart San Francisco on Wednesday and the last return flight to San Francisco from Hong Kong will depart on Friday.
The US government has already placed severe restrictions on travel from China into the US. Last week American Airlines suspended its flights to and from mainland China until 27 March. United has now suspended US-bound flights from mainland until 28 March.
Ten people onboard a cruise ship docked off the port of Yokohama have tested positive for coronavirus, the Japanese health minister said on Wednesday morning.
Hundreds more of the 3,700 passengers and crew on the Diamind Princess ship have been tested and are awaiting results.
So far 273 people have been tested and 31 results have come back.
The ship is run by the UK-listed Carnival cruise company. It said on Tuesday night that the departure of the ship had been delayed by 24 hours.
The health checks began on Monday evening after an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who sailed on the vessel last month tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, Reuters said.
Back to the Air New Zealand flight that left Wuhan on Wednesday morning. Radio New Zealand is reporting that one person was stopped from boarding the plane because they were found to be unwell after the screening process for passengers.
RNZ reports that New Zealand’s foreign ministry said about 60 people who registered for the flight did not turn up at the airport.
This is the full list of nationalities on the plane:
54 New Zealand citizens and 44 New Zealand permanent residents on Chinese passports
23 Australian Citizens and 12 Australian permanent residents on Chinese passports
17 Timor Leste
17 Papua New Guinea
8 Britain
5 Samoa
4 Tonga
2 Fiji
1 Kiribati
1 Federated States of Micronesia
1 Uzbekistan
1 Netherlands
Our reporter Ben Doherty is on Christmas Island where Australian evacuees are being taken for quarantining. There are 35 Australians on board an Air New Zealand plane that left Wuhan for Auckland on Wednesday morning local time, along with 100 New Zealnders, some Britons and also people from several Pacific nations.
The Australians will then be flown from Auckland to Christmas Island, which is on the other side of Australia in the Indian Ocean, making for a journey of 17,000km.
Ben has sent this report on the extraordinarily roundabout route the Australians are being forced to take and it includes this excellent map.
It’s worth noting that the number of deaths in China rose by 65 from 425 on Tuesday to 490 today. That’s an increase of 15.3% compared with a percentage increase of 18% the day before. So perhaps there are signs that the rate of fatalities is slowing. The number was closer to 30% on some days last week.
The latest figures show that 490 people have died in mainland China from the virus. According to the very reliable Johns Hopkins University tracker, there are now 23,680 confirmed cases in the mainland meaning the mortality rate from the virus is 2.07% nationally.
Of the deaths, 479 have now occurred in Hubei province where the capital, Wuhan, is the eipicentre of the deadly outbreak. There have been 16,678 confirmed cases in the province making for a death rate of 2.87% in the province.
The next highest number of deaths is two in the provinces of Henan, Chongqing and Heliongjiang, showing how concentrated the outbreak has been.
Welcome to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll start by outlining the main developments today:
The death toll in the Chinese province of Hubei has risen to 479 as of the end of Tuesday local time. There have been 3,156 new cases reported in the epicentre making 16,678 in the province. The mainland China total is now 490 deaths, with 23,680 recorded cases.
There has also been one death in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines, bringing the global total to 492.
Almost a dozen people on a cruise liner at the Japanese port of Yokohama have tested positive for coronavirus, Reuters is reporting.
All British nationals have been advised to leave China in a move criticised as leaving people to fend for themselves.
An eight-year-old boy has become Australia’s 13th confirmed case. He is isolation in a hospital in Queensland.
An Air New Zealand evacuation has left Wuhan carrying 193 passengers, including 100 New Zealanders, 23 Australians and 70 people from Pacific countries such as Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, Fiji and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Hyundai is suspending production in South Korea because the outbreak has disrupted the supply of parts from China.
Nike became the latest multinational company to warns that it expects its business to be damaged by the outbreak.
Global financial markets rallied for the second day in a row on Tuesday as invesorts shrugged off concerns that the virus could damage the world economy.
BeforeI bring you more details on all these developments, here is a roundup some of the precautions being taken by countries around the world: