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Coronavirus pandemic inevitable, U.S. warns as disease spreads across globe

Published 02/26/2020, 04:37 AM
Updated 02/26/2020, 05:08 AM
Coronavirus pandemic inevitable, U.S. warns as disease spreads across globe

Coronavirus pandemic inevitable, U.S. warns as disease spreads across globe

By David Stanway and Josh Smith

SHANGHAI/SEOUL (Reuters) - Asia reported hundreds of new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, including the first U.S. soldier to be infected, as the United States warned of an inevitable pandemic, and outbreaks in Italy and Iran spread to more countries.

Asian shares fell on Wednesday as the U.S. warning to Americans to prepare for a likely coronavirus pandemic jolted Wall Street again and pushed yields on safe-haven Treasuries to record lows.

Stock markets globally have wiped out $3.33 trillion of value in the past four trading sessions, as measured by the MSCI all-country index (MIWD00000PUS) that comprises stocks across 23 developed and 26 emerging markets.

The disease is believed to have originated in a market selling wildlife in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and has infected about 80,000 people and killed more than 2,700, the vast majority in China.

Adding to a growing sense that a rapid spread of the virus in more places is inevitable, a top World Health Organization (WHO) official urged that preparations be made now.

In the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also urged Americans to prepare, saying that while the immediate risk there was low, the global situation suggested a pandemic was likely.

"It's not a question of if. It's a question of when and how many people will be infected," the CDC's principal deputy director, Anne Schuchat, said on Tuesday.

The United States has reported 57 cases of the virus.

Dr Bruce Aylward, head of a joint WHO-Chinese mission on the outbreak, told reporters on his return to Geneva that preparations should not wait.

"Think the virus is going to show up tomorrow. If you don't think that way, you're not going to be ready," he said.

"This a rapidly escalating epidemic in different places that we have got to tackle super fast to prevent a pandemic."

Aylward said China's "extraordinary mobilization" showed how an aggressive public health policy could curb its spread.

OLYMPIC WORRIES

The WHO says the outbreak peaked in China around Feb. 2, after authorities isolated Hubei province and imposed other containment measures.

China's National Health Commission reported another 406 new infections on Wednesday, down from 508 a day earlier and bringing the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 78,064. Its death toll rose by 52 to 2,715.

South Korea, which with 1,261 cases has the most outside China, reported 284 new ones including a U.S. soldier, as authorities readied an ambitious plan to test more than 200,000 members of a church at the center of the outbreak.

Of the new cases, 134 were from Daegu city, where the virus is believed to have been passed among members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The U.S. military said a 23-year-old soldier based in Camp Carroll, about 20 km (12.4 miles) from Daegu, had been infected and was in self-quarantine at home.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for sports and cultural events to be scrapped or curtailed for two weeks to stem the virus as concern mounted for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics even though officials have repeatedly denied the Games will be affected.

Japan has nearly 170 virus cases and 691 linked to a cruise ship that was quarantined this month. Six people have died in Japan, including four from the ship.

There have been nearly 50 deaths outside China, including 11 in Italy and 16 in Iran, the most outside China, according to a Reuters tally.

Iran's deputy health minister - seen mopping his brow at a televised news conference - was among the infected.

Cases linked to Iran have been reported across the region.

Kuwait said it had two new coronavirus cases, some among people returning from Iran, took its tally to 18, while Bahrain said its infections had risen to 26 after three new ones on a flight from Iran.

CHINESE STOCKS GAIN

In Europe, Italy has become a front line in the global outbreak with 322 cases. Italians or people who had recently visited the country, have tested positive in Algeria, Austria, Croatia, Romania, Spain and Switzerland.

Two hotels, one in Austria and one in Spain's Canary Islands, were also locked down after cases emerged linked to Italy. Spain also reported its first three cases on the mainland.

China's containment efforts have hobbled the world's second-biggest economy, with growth set to fall further from a three-decade low of 6.1% last year.

But a growing number of Chinese regions are downgrading their emergency response level after assessing that risks have receded and authorities are urging a return to work.

The effects of the outbreak are reverberating through the region with most of its major economies expected to either slow or shrink this quarter, Reuters polls found.

Forecasts from economists collected by Reuters on Feb. 19-25 showed that Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand are all expected to put in their worst performance in years in this quarter.

Latest comments

better build a wall to stop corona like the at Mexican bordet.
Darwin
About 3% death rate mostly elderly and people with other illnesses in the first place die. Sounds like another nasty flu but are these stats signifcanrly worse than flue season in the US each year?
Yes they are immensely worse! You should learn to use a web site called Google and you would know this already
30 times more fatal than the flu
David Wong is Xi’s lapdog. I bet he’s a loyal commie who’s getting paid to post these ridiculous comments here.
The cult church in South Korea had maintained a section of their church also in Wuhan. Then the brother of the leader of the cult church died and many Wuhan members came to attend the funeral which was held in the basement of the mental hospital in South Korea, and then all the patients of that mental hospital got infected and some died. The cult members are very secretive and have not come forward with information but the authorities have gotten the member lists in some parts of the country. Hopefully the Korean gov't can declare this cult a ter'rori_st organization because many such members have knowingly infected others for the sole reason of remaining unknown about their ties with the church. But as ppl say: Lies have short legs and the truth will come out sooner or later.
Sounds like the plot of a movie a few years down the line~
this covid-19 is a joke. the US swine flu was far more interesting and it came and went... over reaction
hundred of cases in the US are under observation, but the CDC won't test. crazy $6.5 billion isn't enough for them...but don't worry it's just the flu
Lower death rates 0.7% and mild symptoms than known flu. Wont read that anywhere in the hyper media frenzy.is the main concern. https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/25/new-data-from-china-buttress-fears-about-high-coronavirus-fatality-rate-who-expert-says/ “ If large numbers of mild or virtually symptom-free cases are evading detection, that would suggest that estimates of the proportion of people who might end up in ICUs or might die during a Covid-19 epidemic would be lower than what has been seen to date in China.”
I read somewhere that 27000 people were already cured and sent home
Would like to know how many people were cured? And how?
yep. the whole open border fully integrated one world economy model is suuuper awesome.. just ask the democrats - it's most certainly racist to discriminate against people based on the viruses they are infected with! where's your woke compassion people?
The good thing is, there are 50+ cases in the USA and none in Mexico, good that Trump buit the wall to keep sick Americans outside Mexico.Thanks Trump for paying for the Mexican wall
  It's always nice when both sides feel good about the same thing..
 : feels good, but likely Mexico is not doing all its testing nor all its reporting. Then again, how many Wuhan tourists visited Mexico? or how many Mexican biz ppl visited Wuhan?
The way china handled this is the wrong way. China totally messed up it's economy and it will be hit by the virus none the less. The correct way is to keep things as usual and just avoid crowding people too much and send those ill to their homes. 30% of population will get sick eventually and 2% of those 30% will die but the economy will slow down by 5-10% over a year, but it won't be catastrophic. What china deed was cripple it's economy by 15% in one month will now get a slow down over the year of additional 10-15%  over the year and the virus won't go away. The west should learn from it and not imitate it otherwise the results will be indeed catastrophic.
In democratic countries like the West, people remember the difference between right and wrong, and people remember that doing wrong has big consequences. But in non-democratic countries like Japan or China the leaders remember that they can do wrong and suppress the truth with a hard hand. The way Japan's Abe suppressed the truth in the first 5 days but now the cr'ap flies into his face, but still right now he is suppressing the truth by minimizing the testing whereas Korea is maximizing the testing to fix the problem faster. So, think about future tourists for Japan's Chernobyl, those tourists will not feel like they are in good hands seeing the way Abe handled the Yokohama cruise ship and the way he is suppressing the testing right now. The west will not imitate the vain leaders of Japan and China.
Is it because the market and the experts so worry that all human kind in US and Europe can be infected with this outbreak?
Btfd!
Behave
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