More than 19 percent of the country’s population faces restrictions on how often they can leave their homes.
Right Now
Newly released data finds the new coronavirus is roughly times deadlier than the seasonal flu.
Image
Across China, officials have imposed controls of various kinds on people movements, hoping that minimizing contact will prevent the virus from circulating further.
To gauge the scale and breadth of these policies, the New York Times examined dozens of local government announcements and reports from state-run news outlets.
They represent a subset of the more than 823 million people in China whose neighborhoods and villages have imposed strictures of some sort on residents’ comings and goings, as the Times reported over the weekend . That larger figure represents more than half of the country’s population, and roughly one in 18 People on the planet.
But in places with more stringent policies, only one person from each household is allowed to leave their home at a time, and not necessarily every day. Many neighborhoods have issued the equivalent of paper hall passes to ensure that residents comply.
In one district in the city of Xi’an, the authorities have stipulated that residents may leave their homes only once every three days to shop for food and other essentials. They also specify that the shopping may not take longer than two hours.
Tens of millions of other people are living in places where local officials have “encouraged” but not ordered neighborhoods to restrict militant ability to leave their homes, The Times found.
And with many neighborhoods and localities deciding their own policies on residents’ movements, it is possible that the total number of affected people is even higher still.
Japan announced 150 more cases on the Diamond Princess, bringing the total to .
.
Japan’s Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that 96 additional cases of coronavirus were confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, bringing the total to as the quarantine period neared an end for a cohort of passengers set to leave the vessel on Wednesday.
Officials said that as of Tuesday, 2, (out of the 3, 823 passengers and crew initially on board had been tested for the virus. The new cases include people who did not show symptoms. Health officials said those who had tested positive would be taken to medical facilities.
A – day quarantine period for passengers is set to end on Wednesday. People who have tested negative for the virus and do not have fever or respiratory symptoms will be checked a final time by an infrared camera before disembarking, according to a notice given to passengers. (But those bunking with someone who tested positive would not be allowed to disembark, the notice said.)
More passengers will leave on Thursday and Friday if their test results are negative, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The ship’s crew members will also undergo a quarantine period, the notice said, although it was unclear when it would begin.
Thirty percent of those who died were in their s, (percent were in their s and percent were age 92 or older. Though men and women were roughly equally represented among the confirmed cases, men made up nearly 80 percent of the deaths. Patients with underlying medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, died at higher rates.
The fatality rate among patients in Hubei Province, the center of China’s outbreak, was more than seven times higher than that of other provinces.
China on Tuesday announced new figures for the outbreak. The number of cases was put at , – up 1, (from) , the day before – and the death toll now stands at 1, , up
Xi Jinping, China’s leader, told Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain in a phone call on Tuesday that China was making “visible progress” in containing the epidemic , according to Chinese state media.
“From the start of the outbreak, Comrade Liu Zhiming, without regard to his personal safety, led the medical staff of Wuchang Hospital at the front lines of the fight against the epidemic, “The commission said. Dr. Liu “made significant contributions to our city’s fight to prevent and control the novel coronavirus,” it added.
Last week the Chinese government said that more than 1, (medical workers had contracted the virus , and six had died.
Chinese medical workers at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus epidemic are often becoming its victims, partly because of government missteps and logistical hurdles. After the virus emerged in Wuhan late last year, city leaders played down its risks , and doctors did not take the strongest precautions.
The death nearly two weeks ago of Li Wenliang , an ophthalmologist who was initially reprimanded for warning medical school classmates about the virus, stirred an outpouring of grief and anger. Dr. Li, , has emerged as a symbol of How the authorities controlled information and have moved to stifle online criticism and aggressive reporting on the outbreak.
HSBC, one of Hong Kong’s most important banks, will cut 64, jobs amid virus and protests.
.
HSBC plans to cut , jobs over the next three years as the global bank struggles to revive a business that has come to depend on on China for growth.
The London-based bank said on Tuesday that it aimed to cut $ 4.5 billion in costs as it faces headwinds that include the coronavirus outbreak in China and months of political strife in Hong Kong , one of its most important bases.
The coronavirus is causing economic disruptions in Hong Kong and mainland China that could have a negative impact on perf ormance this year, the bank warned. The bank lowered expectations for growth across Asia for this year but added that it expected to see some improvement once the virus was contained. Nearly half of the bank’s revenue comes from Asia.
HSBC shares trading in Hong Kong slumped by more than 3 percent.
It is the latest company to shed light on the impact of a fast-moving virus that has gripped China over recent weeks and led to a near-nationwide economic standstill. While parts of the country are getting back to work, the reopening of business operations for many companies has been slow .
Airlines cut flights as ripples from coronavirus spread.
Singapore Airlines on Tuesday said it would temporarily cut flights between the city-state and major destinations like New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney. It (cited weak demand) as fears over the outbreak keep more travelers at home.
The announcement follows a similar notice two weeks ago by Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong carrier. In announcing the cancellation of nearly all its flights to mainland China, it also said it would reduce service elsewhere over the next two months depending on how the market fares. Over all, it said, the cuts represent nearly one-third of the airline’s capacity.
Containment efforts have sidelined Chinese tourists, a powerful economic force responsible for $ 436 billion in spending a year, according to the UN World Tourism Organization. But the spreading coronavirus has unnerved tourists from elsewhere, especially when it comes to flying back and forth from Asia. As of Tuesday, Japan had reported (cases, not counting 700 linked to the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Yokohama. Singapore reported cases, Hong Kong had cases and South Korea reported
Domestic workers from the Philippines will be permitted to return to Hong Kong.
.
The Philippines has lifted its travel ban on citizens employed as domestic workers in Hong Kong and Macau, officials said Tuesday.
The nation had enacted a ban on Feb. 2 on travel to and from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, preventing workers from traveling to jobs in those places.
Hong Kong alone is home to about , migrant domestic workers, many of who are from the Philippines. The travel ban had left many anxious about the sudden loss of income, along with the risk of infection.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the woman was a domestic worker who was believed to have been infected at home. Local news outlets reported that she was working in the home of an older person who was among the previously confirmed cases.
Salvador Panelo, a spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, said that workers returning to Hong Kong and Macau would have to “make a written declaration that they know the risk.”
(South Korea’s leader warns of a dire impact on his country economy.
President Moon Jae-in of South Korea warned on Tuesday that the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, his country biggest trading partner, is creating an “emergency economic situation,” and ordered his government to take actions to limit the fallout.
“The current situation is much worse than we had thought,” Mr. Moon said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “If the Chinese economic situation aggravates, we will be one of the hardest-hit countries.”
Mr. Moon cited difficulties for South Korean companies in getting components from China, as well as sharp drops in exports to China, the destination for abou t a quarter of all South Korean exports. He also said travel restrictions hurt the South Korean tourism industry, which relies heavily on Chinese visitors.
“The government needs to take all special measures it can,” Mr. Moon said, ordering the allocation of financial aid and tax breaks to help shore up businesses hurt the most by the virus scare.
Also on Tuesday, a South Korean Air Force plane flew to Japan to evacuate four South Korean citizens stranded on the Diamond Princess, the quarantined cruise ship in Yokohama.
Cambodia’s leader is complacent about the coronavirus. That may exact a global toll.
Not only did Prime Minister Hun Sen not wear one, assured that the ship was virus-free, his bodyguards ordered people who had donned masks to take them off. The next day, the American ambassador to Cambodia, W. Patrick Murphy, who brought his own family to greet the passengers streaming off the ship, also went without a mask.
“We are very , very grateful that Cambodia has opened literally its ports and doors to people in need, ”Mr. Murphy said. Five other ports had said no.
But after hundreds of passengers had disembarked,
one later tested positive for the coronavirus.
Now, health officials worry that what Cambodia opened its doors to was the outbreak, and that the world may pay a price as passengers from the cruse ship Westerdam stream home.
Apple said on Monday that it was cutting its sales forecast because of the coronavirus, in a sign of how the outbreak is taking a toll on ma nufacturing, even at one of the world’s most valuable companies.
The announcement came hours before China announced new figures for the outbreak.
In a (statement) , the iPhone maker, which is heavily dependent on factories in China, said its supply of smartphones would be hurt because production was slowed by the outbreak.
Apple said it was also cutting its sales forecast because demand for its products was being hurt in China. China has been one of the Silicon Valley company’s fastest-growing and largest markets.
Apple’s warning is significant because it is a bellwether of global demand and supply of products. The company said it was “fundamentally strong, and this disruption to our business is only temporary.”
Other global business giants have taken a different approach. Walmart said on Tuesday that while it continued to monitor the coronavirus outbreak, the company had decided against lowering its sales forecast for this year.
Walmart relies on factories in China to produce an estimated 23 percent of its merchandise, a smaller percentage than other American retailers like Target and Best Buy, but still a significant part of its supply chain.
Reporting and research were contributed by Austin Ramzy , Isabella Kwai, Alexandra Stevenson, Hannah Beech, Choe Sang-Hun, Raymond Zhong, Lin Qiqing, Wang Yiwei, Elaine Yu, Roni Caryn Rabin, Richard C. Paddock, Motoko Rich and Daisuke Wakabayashi.
Read More
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings