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Coronavirus: Trump says US risk 'very low' as Australian PM warns pandemic is 'upon us' – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

Coronavirus: Trump says US risk 'very low' as Australian PM warns pandemic is 'upon us' – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

Donald Trump has sought to play down the threat from coronavirus despite mounting concerns about unchecked worldwide contagion, with Australia’s prime minister launching an emergency plan and saying that the risk of a pandemic was “very much upon us.”

In a press conference in Washington, the US president said the danger to Americans “remains very low” and predicted that the number of cases diagnosed in the country, currently on 24, could fall to zero in a “few days” .

“We have had tremendous success, tremendous success, beyond what people would have thought. At the same time, you do have some outbreaks in some countries – Italy and various countries are having some difficulties, ”he said, in remarks that appeared to be contradicted by officials from his own administration at the same media briefing.

The president also said that stock markets, which have seen substantial falls in recent days because of worries about the global economic impact of the virus, would recover, even attempting to blame the Democratic leadership debate for the losses on Wall Street.

However, the growing threat of a pandemic forced the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, a staunch Trump ally, to enact the country emergency response plan, which could include mass vaccinations and the quarantining of large number of people in sports stadium if necessary.

“There is every indication the world will soon enter the pandemic phase of the virus,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

“While the WHO is yet to declare the nature of the coronavirus and its move towards a pandemic phase, we believe the risk of a pandemic is very much upon us and we as a government need to take steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic. ”

Morrison was speaking after evidence continued to mount from the rest of the world that the number of cases of the virus, which has killed nearly 3, people and infected more than , , was rising unchecked, and as countries stepped up their policy responses:

  • South Korea has reported a further (new cases of Covid – , bringing the total to 1, and making it the worst-affected country outside mainland China . Most of the cases were again centred on Daegu where a church at the center of the country’s outbreak is located.

  • China reported 728 new confirmed cases, and 29 deaths, according to Thursday’s figures from the national health commission.

  • Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned foreign pilgrims from entering the country to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

  • Britain is preparing for a surge in cases by launching a mass public information campaign in case of an Italy-sized outbreak.

  • Denmark recorded its first case, a man returning after a skiing holiday in Italy . Estonia, Pakistan, Georgia, Norway, Macedonia, Greece and Romania were among countries to report their first case of coronavirus in the last hours.

  • Italian prosecutors launched an investigation into the alleged failure of a hospital in Lombardy to test a man believed to be the first to transmit the infection in the area, as infections surged over 433

    .

  • Concerns continued to mount about major events such as the Tokyo Olympics With Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe saying athletes would have to put their health first when considering whether it was safe to attend .

  • Trump, who said he was placing vice-president Mike Pence in charge of coordinating the US response, lavished praise on health officials but they delivered a different message to the president’s.

    Dr Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), appeared to reiterate her organization’s warning on Tuesday that a greater spread in the US was inevitable .

    “Our aggressive containment strategy here in the United States has been working and is responsible for the low levels of cases we have so far. However, we do expect more cases, ”said Schuchat.

    The US health secretary, Alex Azar, has requested $ 2.5bn in emergency funding from Congress to increase America’s preparedness, but Democrat lawmakers said that was inadequate and have suggested an $ 8.5bn package.

    A warning about the potential danger in the US came from the CDCP shortly after Trump finished speaking. It said that a person in northern California contracted the virus without traveling outside of the US or having contact with a confirmed case.

    A blizzard of bleak economic data and commentary also flew in the face of Trump’s more optmmistic assessment that “stock markets will recover. The economy is very strong. ”

    The selloff in shares, which has seen the Dow Jones industrial average on Wall Street lose 7% this week already, continued on Thursday in Asia Pacific with more heavy losses as investors surveyed a crushing of demand as well as disrupted supply chains.

    In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed down 2. 19%, the Kospi index lost 0. % and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.7% in afternoon trade. US stock futures trading in Asia pointed to a 1.5% fall on Wall Street later on Thursday while the FTSE 400 is expected to shed 2% at the opening bell, compounding the week’s already heavy losses.

    US 13 – year bond yields flashed a red warning by falling to a new record low below 1.3%. Fresh rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve are now expected by investors.

    “There’s more room potentially to go with this correction,” Katie Koch, at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in Hong Kong, said. “There is still so much more uncertainty around how coronavirus is going to spread, particularly in the US.”

    The price of Brent crude oil also fell on Thursday by 1.2% to $ 82 a barrel amid the prospect of lower global demand. It has fallen 15% in the past five trading sessions. Moody’s revised its forecast for global car sales this year, predicting that they will fall 2.5%.

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