Initial Tests Say No Virus Aboard Quarantined Italian Cruise Ship; Airlines Extend Flight Cancellations

Thursday, January 30, 2020
By Paul Martin

by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Thu, 01/30/2020

Summary:

7,921 confirmed cases worldwide, 170 fatalities
South Korea confirms first human-to-human transmission
China reported largest one-day jump in fatalities on Wednesday with
Hong Kong warns of surgical mask shortage
Russia closes border
6,000 quarantined aboard Italian cruise ship
Thailand leads with most cases outside China (14)
Chinese national hospitalized and quarantined in York
Virus arrives in India, Philippines
Air France suspends flights to/from mainland
IMF now monitoring crisis as economic fears grow
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Update (1015ET): Bloomberg reported that the number of total cases in China has climbed past 8,000, the number of cases from the SARS outbreak (which lasted for months). However, that figure hasn’t been confirmed anywhere else.

Instead, SCMP says the number of confirmed cases hasn’t budged since early Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Australia reported its eighth coronavirus case on Thursday, a 42-year-old Chinese national from Wuhan tested positive for the virus and was isolated in Gold Coast University Hospital. The Australian government is also in talks with Beijing to evacuate its citizens.

As we mentioned earlier, Tang Zhihong, the head of the health commission of the central Chinese city of Huanggang, was sacked on Thursday night, according to the city’s Communist Party committee. This has morphed into a local scandal, as the scapegoating of local officials continues.

Tang was embarrassed when CCTV aired footage of him failing to answer key questions at a press conference. Huanggang, near the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan, has 324 confirmed cases of the illness, as of Thursday, the second-largest toll after Wuhan.

As worries about the economic fallout intensify, the IMF said it has started working with the WHO to monitor the crisis. The IMF Direct impact of the coronavirus outbreak is mostly on demand as people stay home during a busy time for retail and tourism, while on supply side there have been transport stoppages and workers idled, International Monetary Fund spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington. Direct impact of the coronavirus outbreak is mostly on demand, as the outbreak overshadows the holiday season of leisure consumption, while on the supply side, whole factories have been idled.

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