Coronavirus LIVE: Four Indians on board cruise ship test positive

The viral outbreak that began in China has so far infected more than 77,000 people globally

8:13 PM

US says Russia behind huge coronavirus disinformation campaign

Thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to combat the epidemic, US officials told AFP.

 

The disinformation campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that the United States is behind the COVID-19 outbreak, in an apparent bid to damage the US image by seizing on international health concerns, they said.

 

False personas are being used on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to advance Russian talking points and conspiracies, including suggesting that the CIA is behind the virus that has claimed more than 2,300 lives, mostly in China.

7:47 PM

WHO team visits Wuhan city as death toll in China's coronovirus crosses over 2,300

A team of WHO experts visited China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, on Saturday as death toll due to the epidemic climbed to 2,345 with 109 more fatalities reported, while the confirmed cases of infection rose to 76,288, Chinese health officials said on Saturday.

 

The team of public health experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has visited Wuhan city, the capital of Hubei province, to conduct a detailed probe about the virus which reportedly originated from a sea food market in December last year.

 

The NHC said the WHO experts along with their Chinese counterparts who formed a joint investigation team have held talks with the local health authority in Wuhan and visited relevant healthcare institutions.

 

The UN team comprises specialists from the United States, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore and South Korea, Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post reported.

 

The 12-member team, which arrived in China on Monday, was initially designated to visit only Beijing, Guangdong and Sichuan provinces, while the worst-affected Hubei province and its capital Wuhan were missing from the list.

7:45 PM

IMF's Georgieva says coronavirus to shave 0.1 percentage points from global growth

The fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak will likely lower China's economic growth this year to 5.6%, down 0.4 percentage points from its January outlook, and shave 0.1 percentage points from global growth, the IMF said on Saturday.

 

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva presented the outlook to central bankers and finance ministers from the world's 20 largest economies gathered in Riyadh, but said the IMF continued to look at more dire scenarios.

 

China reported a sharp fall in new deaths and cases of the coronavirus on Saturday but world health officials warned it was too early to make predictions about the outbreak as new infections continued to rise in other countries.

7:27 PM

WHO sounds alarm over Africa coronavirus preparedness

The World Health Organisation warned Saturday that African health systems would be ill-equipped to respond to the deadly coronavirus outbreak should cases start to proliferate on the continent. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on African Union member 

states "to come together to be more aggressive in attacking" the virus, known as COVID-19.

 

"Our biggest concern continues to be the potential for COVID-19 to spread in countries with weaker health systems," Tedros, speaking by video link from Geneva, said during a meeting of African health ministers at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

 

 

The outbreak which began in December has already killed more than 2,200 people and infected more than 75,500 in China.

7:00 PM

Amid Coronavirus threat, Centre plans to begin screening for flights from Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia too

In the wake of Coronavirus outbreak, the Centre is now planning to start universal screening at airports for flights from Kathmandu (Nepal), Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia along with those from other countries, this decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Saturday.

 

This universal screening will be in addition to those as per the earlier advisories.

 

Gauba chaired the high-level meeting to review the status, actions taken and preparedness of states and union territories, amid the scare caused by Novel Coronavirus outbreak.

 

According to a release by the PIB, Secretaries of Health and Family Welfare, Civil Aviation, Defence, Information and Broadcasting, DG AFMS and representatives from External Affairs, Home Affairs, Bureau of Immigration, ITBP and Army were also present in the meeting.

6:36 PM

G20 ministers weigh coronavirus risks at Saudi meeting

Finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 nations weighed the potential impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the world economy as they met in Riyadh Saturday for a two-day gathering.

 

At the meeting in Saudi Arabia, the first Arab nation to hold the G20 presidency, financial leaders from the world's top 20 economies are also seeking consensus on ways to achieve a global taxation system for the digital era.

 

The gathering comes amid growing alarm over the new coronavirus as Chinese authorities lock down millions of people to prevent the spread of the disease, with major knock-on effects for the global economy.

6:10 PM

Markets underprice coronavirus risk: UBS chairman

Markets are underpricing the risk that the coronavirus outbreak poses to the global economy, and central banks need to help business survive the impact of the virus, the chairman of Swiss lender UBS, Axel Weber, said.

 

6:00 PM

Iran now says 5 dead out of 28 infected with new coronavirus

Iranian health authorities on Saturday reported a fifth death from the new virus that emerged in China, and said the fatality was from 

among 10 new confirmed cases of the virus in Iran.

 

So far, 28 cases have been confirmed in Iran, including the five who died.

6:00 PM

India's apparel exports may get boost as coronavirus impacts China's market

India may register an increase in its apparel export as China's market has been hit due to the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (nCoV), said A Sakthivel, the chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

 

Since December, more than 2,000 people, mainly in China, have lost their lives to Coronavirus that causes a respiratory disease called Covid-19.

 

"Maybe there will be a 20 per cent immediate increase in the exports and later it may slowly increase up to 50-60 per cent," A Sakthivel said.

5:45 PM

Aamir Khan urges Chinese fans to take precautions, follow instructions of govt

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who is very popular in China, has expressed concern over the coronavirus outbreak in the country that has claimed over 2,300 lives and advised people to take precautions and follow government's instructions in "this time of crisis".

 

Khan, 54, has become a household name in China due to the huge popularity of his movies such as "3 Idiots" and "Dangal".

 

The actor interacts with his Chinese fans through Weibo social media account which is akin to Twitter.

5:30 PM

Vietnam reports supply chain issues from virus, says may hit Samsung output

Vietnam's manufacturing sector is suffering supply chain problems caused by the coronavirus epidemic, which may delay production of Samsung Electronics' new phones, the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Reuters on Friday.

 

"Car, electronics and phone manufacturers are experiencing difficulty in acquiring supplies and materials due to disruptions from the virus," the ministry's Industry Agency said in an emailed statement.

 

"Vietnam relies much on China for materials and equipment, which makes the country become vulnerable when such outbreak happens," it said.

5:17 PM

China expects more transport companies to resume operations by late Feb, early March

More transport sector companies in China are expected to resume operations by late February or March, a transport official said on Saturday, as officials try to get the economy up and running again while containing a coronavirus outbreak that has created massive business disruptions.

 

In particular, authorities are trying to get delivery companies back in operation as quickly as possible, Wu Chungeng, an official at the Ministry of Transport, told a news briefing.

 

Some companies which have reopened have complained of shortages of parts and materials due to transport restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the virus, while others say they can't get finished goods to customers. The disruptions are increasingly spilling over into global supply chains.

4:57 PM

Japan's new virus cases rise again as doubts about prevention grow

Japanese government officials confirmed 14 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday as public health authorities struggle to contain a global epidemic.

 

Among the cases was a junior high school teacher in Chiba prefecture just east of Tokyo, who went to work even though she had symptoms, raising fears the virus could spread among her students and co-workers.

 

In the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, a boy less than 10 years old was added to the list. On Friday, two brothers in an elementary school in Hokkaido were confirmed infected.

4:30 PM

Second coronavirus patient dies in Italy: Reports

A second patient infected with the new coronavirus has died in Italy, ANSA news agency reported citing healthcare sources, as an outbreak spreads in the north of the country with 30 cases reported so far.

 

The victim was a female resident in Milan's Lombardy region, ANSA said. Her reported death comes hours after a 77-year-old man died overnight near Padua, in the nearby Veneto region.

4:08 PM

Govt asks citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Singapore

In furtherance to the travel advisory issued earlier in the wake of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, the government on Saturday advised citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Singapore.

 

It also said screening at airports is now being planned for flight passengers coming to India from Kathmandu, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia from Monday.

 

Currently, passengers from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore and Japan are screened at 21 designated airports in the country for a possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. Read more