Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates: 14 US evacuees from Japan ship test positive; death toll in China reaches 1,770

Coronavirus Outbreak Live News updates: Two Indian nationals on a cruise ship off Japan have tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID-19, and are in hospital for treatment and quarantine, the Indian Embassy said Sunday.




Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates: Fourteen of the US citizens who were evacuated from a cruise ship off Japan and flown home on Monday tested positive for the new coronavirus COVID19, news agency AFP reported on Monday. Meanwhile, two Indian nationals on a cruise ship off Japan have tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID-19, and are in hospital for treatment and quarantine, the Indian Embassy said Sunday. Last week, three other Indians on the ship Diamond Princess had tested positive for the virus.

The Chinese authorities on Monday reported 105 more deaths in Coronavirus cases taking the death toll to 1,770, while 10,844 people have recovered from COVID-19. The update came after China’s official media published the speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping in which he indicated that he had led the response to the outbreak from early in the crisis. While the reports were an apparent attempt to show that the Communist Party leadership acted decisively from the start, it also drew criticism over why an alert was not issued to the public sooner.

Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE updates: US evacuees from Japan ship test positive; death toll in China climbs to 1,770; Watch the space below for latest updates

Highlights

The head of the International Monetary Fund said the lack of deeper improvements in the global economic system is hindering what’s already an “anemic” outlook for growth, especially as the shock caused by the coronavirus further dims prospects for a pickup this year.

“The monetary policy space is shrinking and the reliance on fiscal measures as well as on structural reforms to boost growth ought to be stronger,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday in a Bloomberg Television interview in Dubai. What’s missing is “a more aggressive swing in structural reforms.” Read more…

Nearly half of the US companies in China say their global operations are already seeing an impact from business shutdowns due to the coronavirus epidemic, according to a poll by Shanghai’s American Chamber of Commerce. Some 78% of the respondents also said they do not have sufficient staff at their Chinese plants to resume full production, as public health restrictions make it harder to workers to return to their jobs after an extended holiday.
The survey polled 109 companies with manufacturing operations in Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and the wider Yangtze River Delta. (Reuters)

China is considering a rare move to postpone its annual parliament session scheduled to be held in early March as the country grapples with the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 1,700 lives, official media reported on Monday. The 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, is due to hold its annual session in Beijing on March 5, according to an official announcement in December last year. (PTI)

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The Japanese cruise ship Diamond Princess, docked off the coast of Yokohama, has 3,711 people on board — 132 crew members and six passengers are Indian nationals. Sources said the ship reached Yokohama on February 3 after visiting Hong Kong and Okinawa.

The ship was placed under quarantine after one passenger who had disembarked at Hong Kong on January 25 was found to be infected with the virus on February 1. The quarantine is expected to be in place till February 19.

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