(Bloomberg) — South Korea reported the first fatality from the coronavirus outbreak amid a surge of cases tied to a church, while Japan confirmed two deaths from a quarantined cruise ship.
The global death toll climbed to 2,128, including 10 fatalities outside of mainland China. Hubei province reported a sharp drop in new cases after another change in the way China diagnoses infections, raising questions over the reliability of the data.
Key Developments
China death toll rises to 2,118, with cases at 74,576Hubei adds 108 deaths, new cases up 349; 1,209 discharged
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South Korea Reports First Death (4:24 p.m. HK)
South Korea reported its first fatality from the coronavirus. Confirmed cases in the country have surged to 104, with the increase tied to a church whose members may have contracted the virus from a single person.
South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier 24 infected people had attended the “same Korean cult” with at least five of them having an “epidemiological link“ to a patient confirmed with the coronavirus earlier this week.
The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, formerly known as Shincheonji Church of Jesus, said in a statement on its website that the patient identified as No. 31 by KCDC attended a worship service in one of its churches in Daegu. The pastor told local media that some 1,000 people attended the same service.
The outbreak in Daegu, a city about 235 kilometers (150 miles) south of Seoul, has raised renewed concerns about the virus in South Korea after a lull in reported cases last week.
Hubei Region Sells First Bonds Since Lockdown Began (3:46 p.m. HK)
The Chinese province at the center of the outbreak sold about 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) of bonds in its first public fundraising effort since Beijing quarantined its capital.
Thursday’s sale by Hubei province included 7.26 billion yuan of general bonds and 2.74 billion yuan of so-called “special bonds” that are meant specifically for infrastructure needs.
Air France-KLM Warns of Profit Hit From Virus (2:23 p.m. HK)
Air France-KLM said China’s coronavirus outbreak will wipe as much as 200 million euros ($216 million) from earnings, hammering home the financial impact of the crisis even thousands of miles from its epicenter.
The estimate includes losses from halting flights to the Asian nation this month and next, and assumes that services will resume in April, the Paris-based company said. An extended delay would escalate costs still further.
Japan Confirms Two From Cruise Died From Virus (2:14 p.m. HK)
Japan confirmed two people who were on the cruise ship off Yokohama died from the novel coronavirus.
The fatalities were a man and woman, both Japanese nationals in their 80s, who had existing medical conditions, NHK reported.
The cruise ship has the most infections anywhere outside China, with more than 600 confirmed cases. Following 14 days of quarantine, Japan on Wednesday allowed passengers to start disembarking from the Diamond Princess liner, despite worries the country hasn’t done enough to prevent the spread of disease from the vessel.
China Premier Says Don’t Halt Grain Planting (2:10 p.m. HK)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told local governments to make sure farmers don’t miss the crucial grain planting season during a critical time for controlling the spread of coronavirus.
Government officials are worried that the epidemic could spread to rural areas, where medical facilities are less developed than urban locales. The outbreak that began in the city of Wuhan has caused more than 2,000 deaths in the nation.
“If we miss the planting season, we’ll be unable to make up for it, which will have an impact on the economic foundation and social stability of the whole year,” Li said in a release posted on the government’s website. “We are holding the rice bowl for 1.4 billion people in our own hands.”
Japan Machinery Orders Rebound Delayed: Lobby (2 p.m. HK)
The Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association said a rebound in machinery orders it has previously forecast for the April-June quarter is likely to be delayed by three months as demand in China is hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
The lobby group had previously forecast the slump in orders to bottom out in the current quarter, but now expects the declines to continue beyond March, JMTBA Chairman Yukio Iimura said at a briefing in Tokyo on Thursday. “We can’t travel to China to get orders and our customers there can’t come here either,” Iimura said.
Fecal Transmission May Be Behind Virus’s Rapid Spread (12:37 p.m. HK)
The novel coronavirus is shed in the feces of infected people, which may help explain why it’s spread so fast, according to Chinese researchers.
The finding of live virus particles in stool specimens indicates a fecal-oral route for coronavirus, which may be why it’s caused outbreaks on cruise ships with an intensity often seen with gastro-causing norovirus, which also spreads along that pathway. More than 600 Covid-19 infections were confirmed among passengers and crew aboard the Diamond Princess, the ship quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan.
“This virus has many routes of transmission, which can partially explain” its rapid spread, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Saturday.
The agency recommends strengthening sanitation and hygiene measures to prevent fecal-oral transmission in epidemic area. These include drinking boiled water, avoiding eating raw food, implementing separate meal systems, frequent hand-washing, disinfecting toilets, and preventing water and food contamination from patients’ stool.
“The virus can also be transmitted through the potential fecal-oral route,” the Chinese CDC said. “This means that stool samples may contaminate hands, food, water” and cause infection when the microbes enter the mouth or eyes, or are inhaled, they said.
Hong Kong Extends Work-From-Home for Civil Servants (12:23 p.m. HK)
Hong Kong will extend work-from-home arrangements for civil servants to March 1 to reduce social contacts and the risk of spread of novel coronavirus in the community, according to an official statement. The government previously announced it would extend the work-from-home arrangement for civil servants to Feb. 23.
U.S. Condemns China’s Expulsion of WSJ Reporters (11:04 a.m. HK)
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized China’s move to revoke the press credentials of three Wall Street Journal reporters over a controversial headline, a decision that comes as Beijing continues to lash out at countries that fault its handling of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
“The United States condemns China’s expulsion of three Wall Street Journal foreign correspondents,” Pompeo said in a statement late Wednesday. “Mature, responsible countries understand that a free press reports facts and expresses opinions,” he said. “The correct response is to present counter arguments, not restrict speech.”
China made the rare move of punishing multiple journalists at a single news organization after it said the Journal refused to apologize for a “racially discriminatory” op-ed, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday. Foreign journalists need press passes issued by the foreign ministry to qualify for visas to report in the country.
China Loan Rate Drops After Central Bank Eases Policy (9:48 a.m. HK)
China’s banks lowered the benchmark borrowing costs for new corporate and household loans after Beijing slashed a range of policy rates this month to blunt the economic impact of a deadly virus outbreak.
The one-year loan prime rate was lowered to 4.05% from 4.15%, according to a statement from the central bank. The five-year tenor was set at 4.75%, down from 4.8%. Earlier this month, the central bank cut the rates on its short-term funds and one-year loans to commercial lenders.
China’s economic growth is coming under pressure as the virus outbreak shuts down much of the economy. The health crisis has prompted investment banks to lower their forecasts for the nation’s gross domestic product.
Hubei Adds Fewer New Cases (7:50 a.m. HK)
China’s Hubei province reported 349 additional confirmed cases for Feb. 19, a sharp drop from almost 1,700 the previous day.
No explanation was given for the decline, although it came a day after national guidelines advised the province to only report two numbers in its overall count: confirmed cases and suspected cases. Prior to that, the province reported whether cases were confirmed via CT scans, or testing kits.
China has faced questions about the transparency of its data as it repeatedly adjusts how it reports coronavirus cases. Last week, a shift in methods resulted in a surge of almost 15,000 new Hubei cases.
The number of discharged patients in Hubei rose by 1,209 for Feb. 19, topping the number of new infections for the first time. Hubei’s numbers for additional cases have been falling for the past week, while those for discharged patients have been rising.
Qantas Slashes Capacity, Freezes Hiring (7:15 a.m. HK)
Qantas Airways Ltd. is slashing capacity on international flights in Asia by 15% and freezing recruitment as the coronavirus drives down travel demand. The reductions apply to flights to mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore and will be in place until at least the end of May, the Australian airline said.
The cuts are the equivalent of grounding 18 planes across Qantas and its low-cost division Jetstar, the company said. Qantas forecast the coronavirus will reduce profit by as much as A$150 million ($100 million) in the year ending June.
–With assistance from Michelle Fay Cortez, Jason Gale and Peter Pae.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeff Sutherland at jsutherlan13@bloomberg.net
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