The Nikkei Asian Review is tracking the spread of the new coronavirus that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
China’s National Health Commission raised the total number of cases on the mainland to 80,151 as of the end of Monday, an increase of 125 from the previous day. The official mainland death toll is 2,943.
To see how the disease has spread, click this interactive virus tracker:
Here are the latest developments (Tokyo time):
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Wednesday, March 4
5:55 a.m. Google advised all of its 115,000 employees worldwide not to travel internationally for work after an employee in Switzerland has tested positive for the new coronavirus.
4:29 a.m. The first death from the novel coronavirus was reported in Spain. The man had died on Feb. 13 but tests later showed COVID-19 was the cause.
4:11 a.m. Argentina confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus. The patient arrived in the country on March 1 after a two-week trip that included northern Italy.
12:16 a.m. The U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates in an emergency move designed to shield the world’s largest economy from the impact of COVID-19.
Tuesday, March 3
7:35 p.m. Singapore said all new visitors who had traveled to South Korea, northern Italy or Iran over the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through the country from Wednesday 11:59 p.m. Singapore will also apply a COVID-19 swab test on travelers entering the country who have a fever or shown any symptom of respiratory illnesses, even if they do not meet clinical suspect case criteria.
7:04 p.m. Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health announced that travelers from high-risk countries and regions will have to self-isolate for 14 days. The high-risk areas are mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Iran, Italy, France and Germany.
6:20 p.m. India has suspended visas issued on or before March 3 to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan who have not yet entered the country.
6 p.m. Travelers to Beijing from South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy will have to be quarantined for 14 days, the city’s municipal government said. Shanghai also said that those who had recently visited countries with “relatively serious virus conditions” will have to be isolated for 14 days, but did not name the countries.
5:30 p.m. South Korea confirmed 374 more infection cases, bringing its total to 5,186.
4:57 p.m. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced seven more coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the total to 36. Of those, 22 patients had recovered from the virus.
4 p.m. Malaysia’s central bank trimmed its key policy interest rate to nine-year low shortly after Australia cut its rate to a record low, as the coronavirus outbreak begins to spook the two economies.
2:30 p.m. Chinese authorities to reconsider their travel plans to return home as the new coronavirus epidemic is now spreading faster in some other countries than in China. Seven of the 125 new cases reported on Tuesday were imported, involving Chinese nationals who had traveled from Italy to China.
13:12 a.m. Australia’s central bank cut interest rates to record lows in a move to cushion the economic impact from the new coronavirus, bringing the cash rate to 0.5%.
China’ coronavirus prevention measures have taken a new turn with the request for its citizens to delay returning home from other countries affected by the epidemic. © Reuters
11:50 a.m. Pakistan confirmed its fifth case, after having reported its first cases last week. A local TV station reported that the patient had been in Iran, according to Reuters.
11:10 a.m. Hong Kong will bring home 533 citizens who are scattered around Wuhan, Hubei Province, the epidemic’s epicenter, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said. Four chartered airliners will bring back the returnees, who will be quarantined for 14 days upon their Wednesday and Thursday arrivals.
10:15 a.m. South Korea confirmed 600 more cases and three more fatalities, raising the totals to 4,812 infections and 29 deaths.
9:30 a.m. China’s National Health Commission announced 125 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections in mainland China as of the end of Monday, the fewest daily total since January and a fall from the 202 cases reported a day earlier. The total number of mainland cases now stands at 80,151. The death toll is at 2,943, up by 31 from the previous day.
5:40 a.m. Some 81 countries and regions have placed travel restrictions on visitors from South Korea, the No. 2 country ranked in terms of infections.
5:30 a.m. The number of deaths caused by the coronavirus in the Seattle area of the U.S. reached a total of six, Washington state officials say.
4:10 a.m. France confirmed 61 new cases of the coronavirus infection, bringing its total cases to 191, the country’s head of the public health service said. The death toll so far is three.
1:45 a.m. The South Korean government says it will seek murder charges against the head of the secretive church in which many members were infected with the coronavirus.
Monday, March 2
8:40 p.m. An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader died, state radio reported. He was the first top official to succumb to the virus, which has affected leading members of government, AP reported.
8:30 p.m. China’s daily production of face masks hit 116 million units as of Saturday, 12 times more than on Feb. 1, state news agency Xinhua reported.
7:33 p.m. In Iran, 66 people have died and 1,501 people have been infected, the government said, according to Reuters.
7:13 p.m. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development slashed its world growth forecast to 2.4% in 2020 from 2.9% last year. But it said growth could fall to as low as 1.5% if the virus spreads across the wider Asia-Pacific region and into advanced economies. “Containment measures and loss of confidence would hit production and spending and drive some countries into recession, including Japan and the Euro area,” the OECD said.
6:19 p.m. India confirmed two new cases, raising the total number to five. One person had traveled from Italy and the other from Dubai. Both are in stable condition.
6 p.m. South Korea announced additional 123 cases, raising the total number to 4,335 with 26 deaths.
5 p.m. Lee Man-hee, founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus religious group, apologized that one of its members had infected many others in South Korea. With hundreds of cases linked to the church, Lee said, “We did our best but were not able to stop the spread of the virus.”
4:30 p.m. South Korea will postpone the start of all schools’ next semester by two weeks to March 23, the education minister said.
4 p.m. Vietnam will temporarily suspend visa-free travel for Italians from Tuesday as the number of coronavirus infections surges in the European country, the government said. Vietnam had said it would suspend visa-free travel for South Korean nationals starting on Feb. 29.
3:30 p.m. The city of Wuhan closed its first makeshift hospital, one of 16 hurriedly built to handle the epidemic, after it discharged the last patients, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The news came as Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, had 196 new confirmed cases on Sunday, down from 570 cases a day earlier.
2:40 p.m. South Korea reported four more deaths, bringing its overall toll to 26.
1:30 p.m. Indonesia has confirmed its first coronavirus cases, President Joko Widodo said. Two Indonesians have tested positive and been hospitalized.
12:30 p.m. Kazakhstan on March 5 will begin barring Iranian nationals from entering the country due to the fast-spreading coronavirus epidemic.
11:30 a.m. Tokyo stocks rebounded after Bank of Japan Governor reassured that the central bank will take necessary measures to maintain market stability. Following a weak start, the benchmark Nikkei average closed morning trade at 21,377 points, up 234 from the previous day’s closing.
11 a.m. South Korea confirmed 476 more cases, raising its total number to 4,212 with 22 deaths.
10:30 a.m. New York state has confirmed its first coronavirus infection. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the patient is a woman in her late 30s who contracted the virus while traveling in Iran. The patient is isolated in her home, Cuomo said.
10:06 a.m. Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda pledged to join the fight against the epidemic’s economic effects. He said the central bank “will monitor developments carefully, and strive to stabilize markets and offer sufficient liquidity via market operations and asset purchases.” The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main gauge was up 143.24 points shortly after Kuroda issued the statement, bucking the global trend.
9:17 a.m. Mainland China had 202 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the country’s National Health Commission said. The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China is 80,026. The death toll is at 2,912, up 42 from Saturday. This pushed the global death toll above 3,000.
9:09 a.m. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 293.17 points, or 1.4%, to 20,849.79 yen after trading opened on Monday. Investor sentiment is worsening due to the epidemic. The yen rose to the 107 per dollar level.
4:56 a.m. Global corporate bond issuances in January and February fell 6% on the year to $364 billion as of Thursday, as the new coronavirus wreaks havoc on business and sends investors fleeing to safe assets, according to Dealogic. The trend, particularly pronounced in Asia, comes in stark contrast to 2019, when a favorable fundraising environment pushed up offerings to a record $2.5 trillion.
4 a.m. Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 54, with the number of people infected reaching 978, a health ministry spokesman told state TV.
1:40 a.m. South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Japan to work with his country to contain “the crisis,” referring to the growing COVID19 outbreak in a speech commemorating resistance to Japanese rule more than a century ago.
1 a.m. Italy’s coronavirus death toll has risen to 34, five more than a day earlier, officials said on Sunday. The cabinet is set to approve measures worth 3.6 billion euros ($3.5 billion) to help companies through the epidemic, Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said. The head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency said the cumulative number of confirmed cases had jumped to 1,694 from 1,128 on Saturday.
A display shows the latest information on the spread of the novel coronavirus worldwide during a crisis meeting of government officials in Berlin on Feb. 28. © Reuters
Sunday, March 1
9:13 p.m. China’s copper industry, hobbled by the epidemic, has been forced to store vast amounts of sulfuric acid, a byproduct of the smelting process that is normally sold off.
8:40 p.m. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has jumped to 117 from 66, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said on Sunday.
6:42 p.m. Japan’s work-from-home devotees are creating demand for office furniture.
5:30 p.m. Japan and China are discussing postponing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit in April at least until the fall as the nations combat the growing outbreak, sources said.
5:10 p.m. South Korea confirmed 586 new cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections in the country to 3,736. The nation also reported an 18th death.
1:31 p.m. Thailand announced its first coronavirus death, a 35-year-old man.
1:11 p.m. Armenia reported its first coronavirus infection, in a citizen returning from neighboring Iran.
10:46 a.m. Australia has confirmed its first coronavirus death, a 78-year-old who was aboard the ill-fated Diamond Princess.
8:22 a.m. The U.S. raised its travel advisory to regions of South Korea and Italy to its highest level, while increasing restrictions on travelers from Iran.
Saturday, February 29
8:23 p.m. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government will provide subsidies to help working parents cope with school closures aimed at containing the epidemic.
7:49 p.m. After recording the biggest daily jump in infections — 813 new cases took the tally to 3,150 — South Korea urged citizens to stay indoors and warned of a “critical moment” in the nation’s battle against the virus. South Korea is grappling with the largest outbreak outside China and has suffered 17 deaths.
A veterinarian scans a microchip in a tiger at Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, in October 2016. © Reuters
3:10 p.m. Chinese President Xi Jingping issued a directive banning wildlife smuggling, giving a shot in the arm to Thai investigators who have been battling the illegal trade for decades. Thailand is a key node for traffickers looking to move their catches from the forests of Africa to markets in China.
11:13 a.m. China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to a record low of 35.7 in February from 50.0 in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said, well below the 50-point mark that separates monthly growth from contraction.
10:20 a.m. South Korea confirmed 594 new cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections in the country to 2,931.
9:40 a.m. Mainland China had 427 new confirmed cases on Friday, the country’s National Health Commission said. The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China is 79,251. The death toll is at 2,835, up 47 from Thursday.
To catch up on earlier developments, see last week’s latest updates.
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