(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next.
The death toll from the coronavirus climbed above 1,000, as the Chinese province at the epicenter of the outbreak reported its highest number of fatalities.
China’s Hubei province, which added 103 more deaths, has removed two health officials from their posts, according to state television, as criticism has mounted over China’s transparency and speed in handling the epidemic.
President Donald Trump said he believes warm weather will curb the spread of the disease, as the U.S. reported a 13th infection.
Key Developments
- China death toll at 1,016, an increase of 108; confirmed cases at 42,638
- As Asia Panics, One Country Wins Praise for Approach to Virus
- When Coronavirus Hits a Ship It’s Too Late to Batten Hatches
- China’s Virus-Hit Cities Remain World’s Biggest Ghost Towns
China Home Sales Plunge Due to Virus (1:29 p.m. HK)
Home sales in China have been dealt a huge blow by the spreading coronavirus, with figures showing transactions plunged in the first week of February. New apartment sales dropped 90% from the same period of 2019, according to preliminary data on 36 cities compiled by China Merchants Securities Co. Sales of existing homes plummeted 91% in eight cities where data is available.
CDC Confirms 13th Case in the U.S. (11:38 a.m. HK)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed another case of coronavirus in California, bringing the number in the U.S. to 13.
The latest patient is in San Diego, and was among citizens evacuated from Wuhan to the U.S. and under quarantine. The CDC said it is conducting an investigation to determine the patient’s contacts and assess if they had high risk exposure.
Trump Sees Warm Weather Curbing Outbreak (11:31 a.m. HK)
The U.S. has about a dozen people suffering from the coronavirus but all are expected to recover, U.S. President Donald Trump said.
Trump, speaking to Fox Business Network on Monday, said he believes warm weather will curb the spread of the disease beginning in April, and that Chinese authorities have the outbreak under control.
“I really believe that they’re going to have it under control fairly soon,” he said.
Hong Kong Won’t Enact Mask Laws (11:12 a.m. HK)
Hong Kong authorities have no plans to enact laws regulating the city’s supply of surgical masks, Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters at a weekly briefing.
Lam has faced criticism from the public in recent days as a mask shortage sent people scrambling to form long lines at pharmacies, while residents distrustful of her administration after months of pro-democracy protests staged a run on toilet paper. She urged Hong Kongers to reduce their number of social interactions as the city works to ward off a wider outbreak.
“We are making an appeal to people of Hong Kong to stay at home as much as possible,” she said. “This means they should avoid some social interactions, participation in social activities and family reunion and friends meeting.”
She said the government wasn’t calling for compusory closures, “because Hong Kong is a free society” and business operators were already taking strong precautionary measures.
Philippine Carriers Suspend Taiwan Flights (11:03 a.m. HK)
Philippine Airlines Inc. and Cebu Air Inc. have suspended their Taiwan flights after the Philippines expanded its travel ban on the novel coronavirus. The order temporarily barring the entry and departure of foreign nationals from China, Hong Kong and Macau will also cover Taiwan, the Bureau of Immigration said. Both carriers suspended the Taiwan flights starting Tuesday.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Pulls Out of Mobile World Congress (10:52 a.m. HK)
Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC). joins the list of major tech companies bailing on the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month, the world’s biggest mobile tech exhibition.
“We have withdrawn from this year’s Mobile World Congress out of an abundance of caution,” Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) said in a statement.
Ericsson (BS:ERICAs) AB, Sony Corp (T:6758). and Nvidia Corp. are among the other big exhibitors who have elected to not attend MWC 2020 to avoid health risks to employees.
Singapore Sees Up to 30% Drop in Tourism (10:32 a.m. HK)
Singapore could see a 25% to 30% decline in tourist arrivals and spending this year because of the coronavirus outbreak, as the industry braces for a worse impact than the 2003 SARS pandemic, the city’s tourism chief said.
The city-state is losing about 18,000 to 20,000 tourists a day, and the figures could plummet further if the situation persists for longer, Keith Tan, chief executive of Singapore Tourism Board, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
China accounts for about 20% of Singapore’s tourism intake, the biggest source of visitors ahead of Indonesia and India. China’s ban on outbound tour groups and Singapore’s move to bar Chinese nationals from entering has led to an “evaporation” of a key source of revenue, Tan said.
China’s Hubei Province Removes Top Health Officials (9:04 a.m. HK)
China’s Hubei province at the center of the virus outbreak has removed health commission head Liu Yingzi and party chief Zhang Jin from their posts, state-run CCTV reported.
Criticism has mounted over China’s transparency and speed in handling the epidemic. The government’s struggle to stem the outbreak has fueled concerns about President Xi Jinping’s efforts to centralize power since taking office, with officials pointing fingers over who’s to blame for the spread of the illness.
The death last week of a 34-year-old doctor, Li Wenliang, who was sanctioned by local authorities after warning about the disease, unleashed a torrent of grief and anger on social media.
Thailand Says Ship Won’t Be Allowed to Disembark (8:56 a.m. HK)
Passengers from a ship that has been blocked from other ports due to virus concerns won’t be given permission to disembark in Thailand, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) posting.
The Westerdam cruise ship, operated by Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Corp.’s Holland America, has been refused entry by a number of nations over fears that passengers may be carrying the coronavirus.
The ship departed Hong Kong on Feb. 1 with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew. It is set to arrive at a port near Bangkok on Thursday, and checks with health authorities indicate there is “no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus on board the ship,” Holland America said in a statement Monday.
Elderly May Be Released From Japan Ship: Kyodo (8:32 a.m. HK)
The Japanese government may allow senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses to leave the Diamond Princess cruise ship on Tuesday morning, Kyodo news reported, citing people it didn’t identify.
The number of coronavirus infections among those aboard the Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Corp. ship quarantined off Yokohama has nearly doubled to 135, making it the biggest center of infection of any place outside of China.
Risks are mounting that the virus could spread further in the confined spaces of the ship, where many onboard have increased vulnerability due to their advanced ages.
Hong Kong Public Housing Residents Evacuated (8:30 a.m. HK)
More than 100 people at a public housing estate in Hong Kong were evacuated in the early hours of Tuesday after two people in the tower were confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus, South China Morning Post reported.
The move was precautionary after a 62-year-old woman, who lives several floors directly below a man who had earlier confirmed with the virus infection, became the 42nd cases in Hong Kong, according to the report.
China Death Toll at 1,016 (8:17 a.m. HK)
The death toll in China from the coronavirus rose to 1,016, with the addition of 108 fatalities for Feb. 10, according to the National Health Commission. Hubei, the province at the center of the outbreak, reported 103 more deaths, its highest daily count so far.
While the total confirmed cases in mainland China climbed to 42,638, Hubei reported 2,097 new infections, the smallest daily increase since Feb. 1.
Most cases and deaths in China are in Hubei. Large parts of the province have been cut off from the rest of China since the government started imposing a quarantine on Jan. 23 to try and stop the spread of the virus.
Two additional deaths have occurred outside of mainland China: one in Hong Kong and the other in the Philippines.
Ford Reopens China Plants (11:30 a.m. NY)
Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co. has resumed production at its Chinese plants, a spokesman said.
The U.S. automaker is working with its supplier partners, some of which are located in Hubei province, to assess and plan for parts supply, according to Anderson Chan, a spokesman.
Ford was among the major automakers that halted production at China plants late last month as the government extended the traditional Lunar New Year holiday by a week.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc. also reopened its plant near Shanghai on Monday.
New Estimate Puts Virus Death Rate at 1% (10:37 a.m. NY)
The mortality rate from the coronavirus is an estimated 1%, researchers at the Imperial College London said in a new report that attempts to account for mild cases as well as more severe ones at the center of the outbreak in China.
Researchers have been trying to estimate how severe the virus is, and to calculate how fast it spreads as well as how many people get severe illnesses or die. In China’s Hubei province, where the outbreak began, the fatality rate may be 18% for patients with severe symptoms, the researchers calculated.
“The impact of the unfolding epidemic may be comparable to the major influenza pandemics of the twentieth century,” Neil Ferguson, an infectious disease researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement.
The researchers said the 1% mortality rate was an estimate of what will happen once all cases are counted, and after previously undiagnosed ones drive the rate down.
Any estimates ”should be viewed cautiously” given the numerous uncertainties involved, the researchers warned in in their report. Mortality rates tend to shift in the middle of an outbreak as new and milder cases are found.
The U.K. researchers estimated that the typical time between onset of symptoms and death has been about 22 days, meaning that there may be a multiweek time lag between reporting of cases and when deaths from those cases become apparent.
Overall, the Imperial College London researchers estimated that 1.3% of Wuhan residents were infected with the virus as of Jan. 31, but only 1 in 19 of them were being tested for the virus – suggesting that the actual number of cases could be far higher than the official numbers indicate.
Toymaker: Closing May Hurt Holiday Sales (10:15 a.m. NY)
The CEO of one the world’s largest toymakers said many of its largest Chinese suppliers remain shuttered because of the coronavirus outbreak, with some pushing reopening dates back to the end of next month.
“It’s bad,” said Isaac Larian, who also founded closely held MGA Entertainment Inc. “People don’t realize. This won’t just affect the toy business; it’s going to have a major economic effect worldwide.”
While the idled factories haven’t had a major impact on MGA so far, prolonged closings could delay orders for the holiday-shopping season, according to Larian. China is by far the biggest maker of toys, with the industry’s hub in Shenzhen, and February and March is when factories do the bulk of production for Christmas goods that hit shelves beginning in late October.
U.K. Issues Tighter Quarantine Rules (9:55 a.m. NY)
Britain imposed new regulations allowing health authorities to keep individuals in quarantine if they’re considered to be at risk of infecting others. The move came as the U.K. government called the novel coronavirus a “serious and imminent” threat to public health.
The rules apply to anyone seeking to leave isolation before a 14-day quarantine is complete and will be in place for future cases, the government said Monday. Four more patients in England tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the U.K. to eight. The country has also flown back Britons from the virus epicenter of Wuhan, China, and they’re now being held in quarantine.
China’s Xi Makes Public Appearance (6:20 a.m. NY)
Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first public appearance after the death of a doctor who became a hero for speaking out about the deadly coronavirus sparked public anger.
Xi visited the Chaoyang district in Beijing Monday afternoon “to learn about the situation of epidemic prevision and control at the grassroots level,” according to state-run media Xinhua. The agency published photos of Xi wearing a mask and having his temperature taken.
It was the first time Xi interacted with the public since a trip to Yunnan province from Jan. 19 to Jan. 21, part of a tradition the country’s leaders have of touring smaller towns and cities ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday. The president was last seen in public when he met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Feb. 5.
Foxconn Delays Return of Workers to Main IPhone Plants (6:09 a.m. NY)
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. has told some employees at its main iPhone-making unit that it’s postponing the resumption of production. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn, sent a message via its internal app on Sunday that it wouldn’t be able to decide on a back-to-work date “until further notice” for its iDPBG business unit, according to a version reviewed by Bloomberg News. That division makes gadgets for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) at a factory in the so-called iPhone city of Zhengzhou and two other plants in Shenzhen.
