The number of people infected with
coronavirus topped 107,000 across the world as the outbreak
reached more countries and caused more economic damage.
DEATHS/INFECTIONS
* More than 107,000 people have been infected by the
coronavirus
across the world and 3,600 have died, according to a Reuters
tally of government announcements.
* Mainland China, where the outbreak began, has seen at
least
3,097 deaths, but the epidemic is now spreading faster
elsewhere.
EUROPE
* Italy ordered a virtual lockdown across a swathe of its
wealthy
north on Sunday, including the financial capital Milan, in a
drastic new attempt to try to contain a rapidly growing outbreak
of coronavirus.
* The number of deaths in Italy jumped to 366 from 233 on
Saturday, officials said on Sunday. Total cases reached 7,375,
up from 5,883.
* Nineteen people in France have died, authorities said on
Sunday.
The number of confirmed cases has increased by around 500 over
the weekend.
* Germany had 902 confirmed cases by Sunday afternoon. There
were
just 66 cases on Feb. 29. Health Minister Jens Spahn called on
organisers of large public events to cancel them and urged
people to stay at home.
* The number of cases in Britain has risen to 273, the
Department
of Health said on Twitter on Sunday, up from 209 a day earlier,
and the biggest one-day increase so far.
* Bulgaria on Sunday reported its first four confirmed cases
of
the coronavirus.
* Moldova has reported its first confirmed coronavirus case,
the
Health Ministry said late on Saturday.
* Malta reported its first case on Saturday - a 12-year-old
Italian girl who lives on the island.
AMERICAS
* U.S. passengers on the cruise ship Grand Princess, which
had
been barred from docking in California because of suspected
cases of coronavirus on board, will be sent for testing to at
least four quarantine centers, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said
on Sunday.
* Americans, especially those who are vulnerable, may need
to stop
attending big gatherings as the coronavirus spreads through U.S.
communities, a top health official said on Sunday, adding that
the possibility of large-scale quarantines cannot be ruled out.
* A patient diagnosed with coronavirus died in Argentina on
Saturday, the Health Ministry said, marking the first death
related to the virus in Latin America.
* Paraguay has registered its first confirmed case of
coronavirus,
the Health Ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.
ASIA
* The mayor of Daegu, the city hardest hit in South Korea's
outbreak, expressed hope the numbers of new cases may be
dropping, after the rate of increase slowed to its lowest in 10
days. Authorities reported 272 new cases, giving a total of
7,313 in the country, with 50 dead.
* The spread continues to slow in China. According to
China's
National Health Commission, cases fell by roughly half on
Saturday from the day before. Of the 44 new confirmed cases, 41
were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus' outbreak.
Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures put in
place over a month ago.
* Bangladesh on Sunday confirmed its first three cases, two
of
them in people recently returned from Italy.
* The Maldives has curbed movement on several resort
islands,
authorities said on Sunday, after the country reported its first
two cases of coronavirus.
* Japan's health minister said testing capacity would
increase by
the end of the month, as national health insurance begins to
cover it. The number of infections in Japan has risen to 1,159
cases, public broadcaster NHK said.
* Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will declare a
public
health emergency after the country recorded its first case of
community transmission, officials said on Saturday.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran said 194 people had died from coronavirus and 6,566
were
now infected, in a TV announcement by the Health Ministry on
Sunday.
* A 60-year-old German tourist has died in Egypt, becoming
its
first fatality from the new coronavirus, the Health Ministry in
Cairo announced on Sunday.
* Saudi Arabia on Sunday imposed a temporary lockdown on its
eastern Qatif province, home to a large Shi'ite Muslim
population, to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the kingdom.
* Thirteen Americans quarantined in a West Bank hotel on
suspicion
of having caught the coronavirus have tested negative and will
leave soon, a Palestinian official said on Sunday.
* South Africa, Cameroon and Togo confirmed their first cases of
coronavirus, bringing the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa
reporting infections to five.
AUSTRALIA
* A man in his 80s died in a Sydney hospital, becoming the
third
casualty in Australia, state health authorities said on Sunday.
Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt said the government has
secured an additional 54 million face masks to help protect
medical workers.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* China's exports contracted sharply in the first two months
of
the year, and imports slowed, as the health crisis triggered by
the coronavirus outbreak caused massive disruptions to business
operations, global supply chains and economic activity.
* The outbreak likely halved China's economic growth in the
current quarter compared with the previous three months, a
Reuters poll found.
* U.S. officials are wrestling with what to do in the
worst-case
economic scenarios, if large numbers of people can't go to work,
are told to stay home, or stop going out in public entirely.
* Strategists from top U.S. financial firms have cut their
earnings per share and other targets for the S&P 500 and
globally as the expected impact of the coronavirus on corporate
results escalated.
* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government
will
create a special loan programme to offer zero-interest loans to
companies hit by fallout from the coronavirus epidemic.
* British finance minister Rishi Sunak, under pressure to
fund the
fight against the coronavirus and meet election promises in this
week's budget, has said he is looking at possible changes to
rules which could allow him to spend more.
* More than 50 staff at Societe Generale's London office
were
working from home on Friday, while Bank of America Corp is
splitting its trading force and sending 100 New York-based staff
to nearby Stamford, Connecticut, from Monday as a precaution
against spread of the coronavirus.
* The European Central Bank has told most of its more than
3,500
staff to work from home on Monday to test how it could cope with
a shutdown over coronavirus concerns, a spokesperson said
Sunday.
* The Asian Development Bank said the outbreak could slash
global
economic output by 0.1-0.4%, with financial losses forecast to
reach between $77 billion and $347 billion.
* The cost of insuring exposure to sovereign as well as
corporate
debt rose almost across the board on Friday as the spread of
coronavirus raised the prospect of debt distress and government
bailouts.
MARKETS
* Bargain-hunting investors are eyeing the shares of
airlines,
hotels, cruise lines and other companies that have been among
the worst-hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
* Yields on U.S. Treasuries plunged to historic lows on
Friday as
fear the coronavirus outbreak will slam the global economy drove
investors to snap up risk-adverse assets and dump equities,
overshadowing data highlighting a strong U.S. labour market. '
EVENT CANCELLED, POSTPONED, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
* The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead this
month
without spectators.
* Japan's sumo wrestlers faced off for the spring grand
tournament
on Sunday in front of empty seats in Osaka.
* Britain's government has called a meeting with its sports
authorities and broadcasters on Monday to discuss how events
could be staged without fans present if the outbreak escalates,
two people familiar with the matter said.
* Saying he felt "caged", Pope Francis delivered his Sunday
blessing over the internet from inside the Vatican instead of
from a window to stop crowds gathering during Italy's
coronavirus outbreak.
* The South by Southwest music, technology and film festival
in
Austin, Texas, scheduled for March 13 to 22, was cancelled on
Friday.
* The World Economic Forum has postponed a Latin America
conference set to be held in Brazil at the end of April.
* The oil and gas industry is cancelling key networking
events and
academic and technical meetings, shifting some to virtual
conferences.
* The Barcelona marathon scheduled for March 15 has been
postponed
until October.
* The Alpine skiing World Cup finals in Cortina d'Ampezzo,
Italy,
scheduled for March 18-22, have been cancelled.