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What to watch today: Trump blasts Fed, Boeing predicts delay, virus spreads to US

U.S. stock futures are poised to erase Tuesday's losses despite concerns about the China-based virus that has resulted in nine deaths, as well as Boeing's announcement about further delays in the return of the 737 Max jet. Boeing's losses accounted for about half the Dow's Wednesday drop, which ended a five-day win streak. The Nasdaq did set an intraday record high Tuesday, and the S & P 500 was a fraction of a point away from doing the same before the day's gains were erased. ( CNBC) On today's economic calendar, the National Association of Realtors releases December existing home sales at 10 a.m. ET. The Mortgage Bankers Association will release its weekly look at mortgage applications at 7 a.m. ET. The usual Wednesday release by the Energy Department on oil and gasoline inventories will be delayed until Thursday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday. ( CNBC) Meanwhile, world leaders continue to meet at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Click here to follow our coverage, including an exclusive interview with President Donald Trump. ( CNBC) Dow component Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ) leads this morning's list of corporate earnings reports, with Abbott Labs ( ABT), Baker Hughes ( BKR), Fifth Third Bankcorp ( FITB) and Northern Trust also releasing quarterly numbers. After-the-bell reports are expected from Citrix Systems ( CTRX), Kinder Morgan ( KMI), Raymond James ( RJF) and Texas Instruments ( TXN).Netflix ( NFLX) added 8.8 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter, on par with the 8.8 million added last year and ahead of the company's internal forecast of 7.6 million. The streaming platform said growth in the U.S. and Canada is slowing rather dramatically. The company added just 550,000 net subscribers in the region this quarter, and just 420,000 in the U.S., down from 1.75 million in the same quarter one year ago. ( CNBC) President Donald Trump told CNBC Wednesday that the U.S. economy's GDP growth would have been closer to 4% if it weren't for the lingering effect of Federal Reserve rate hikes. `` But we had Boeing ( BA). We had the big strike with General Motors ( GM). We had things happen that are very unusual to happen, '' Trump said. * Read the transcript of CNBC's interview with President Trump in DavosTrump also said the EU has `` no choice '' but to negotiate a new trade deal with the U.S. The president met with European Union President Ursula von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum and told CNBC's Joe Kernen that the pair had a `` great talk. '' The World Health Organization will convene a panel of experts in Switzerland today to consider whether a mysterious coronavirus that has killed at least nine people and sickened hundreds of others in China should be a global health emergency. Public health officials have confirmed the first U.S. case of the virus in Washington state. ( CNBC) * Trump says he trusts China's Xi on coronavirus and the US has it 'totally under control ' here ( CNBC) * Chinese airlines, hotels could be hit hardest if coronavirus outbreak drags on ( CNBC) Boeing ( BA) is telling airlines and suppliers that it doesn't expect regulators to sign off on the 737 Max until the middle of 2020, months later than the manufacturer previously expected, CNBC reported. The extended delay poses another headache for carriers who have already missed one peak travel season without the fuel-efficient planes. Senate Democrats won two key changes to the rules of Trump's impeachment trial as proceedings kicked off Tuesday afternoon. Each side will now have three days to make its opening statements instead of two. The Senate will also automatically admit evidence from the House investigation into Trump last fall. ( CNBC) * Trump impeachment trial: Here are the highlights from the first day of debate in the Senate ( CNBC) Sen. Elizabeth Warren said that if she is elected president, she would create an independent task force in the Justice Department to investigate corruption by government officials during the Trump administration. The Democratic presidential hopeful said her goal is to restore `` integrity and competence '' to the federal government after President Trump leaves office. ( CNBC) * In reversal, Clinton says she 'd back Sanders if he is the Democratic nominee ( AP) * Democrats swarm industrial Iowa to prove they can beat Trump ( AP) The Trump administration reportedly plans to add seven countries to a group of nations subject to travel restrictions. The restrictions would apply to travelers and immigrants from Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. The Wall Street Journal reported that the list isn't finalized, as the White House is still debating on countries. U.S. prosecutors will begin presenting their rape case against Harvey Weinstein today, with the once powerful Hollywood producer facing life in prison if convicted, in a trial that has become a watershed moment for the # MeToo movement. Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting two women. ( Reuters) BlackRock ( BLK) has built a 5.12% stake in Toshiba Machine, a former Toshiba subsidiary that has been targeted by Japan's most prominent activist investor. Xerox ( XRX) is preparing to nominate as many as 11 directors to HP's ( HPQ) board, The Wall Street Journal reported, as the company seeks to push its $ 33.5 billion takeover offer for the personal computer maker. Toyota ( TM) said it would recall 3.4 million vehicles globally due to an electronic defect that could prevent airbags from deploying in a crash. Tesla ( TSLA) crossed the $ 100 billion market cap threshold in off-hours trading. A number of stock option bonuses for CEO Elon Musk will trigger if the market cap stays at $ 100 billion or more for an average of one month and six months. Intel ( INTC) named Medtronic ( MDT) CEO Omar Ishrak as its new independent chairman effective immediately, after Andy Bryant stepped down from that role at the chipmaker earlier this month. A new, low-cost Apple ( AAPL) iPhone will go into mass production in February, Bloomberg reported. IBM ( IBM) reported better-than-expected quarterly profit. Revenue also came in better than Street forecasts and broke a five-quarter streak of year-over-year declines. IBM also gave better-than-expected full-year 2020 earnings guidance. United Airlines ( UAL) beat estimates by 2 cents with quarterly profit of $ 2.67 per share, while the airline's revenue was slightly above expectations. United's performance came despite numerous flight cancellations resulting from the grounding of Boeing's 737 Max jet. Yankees legend Derek Jeter was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame 2020 class on Tuesday but fell one vote short of a unanimous selection. Larry Walker, who won a National League MVP award and played for the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals, was also voted into the Hall of Fame. ( CNBC)

business

Would the Coronavirus Quarantine of Wuhan Even Work?

It’ s almost impossible to shut down a megacity. And even if you do, people ( and their germs) would find a way out.

tech

Jeff Bezos’ Hacked Phone, Coronavirus Hits the US, and More News

Catch up on the most important news from today in two minutes or less.

tech

Could China's New Coronavirus Become a Global Epidemic?

Scientists are racing to understand just how bad things could get with the outbreak of a pneumonia-like disease that first appeared in China and has now spread to the US.

tech

Gold slips on resurgent risk appetite as virus fears ebb

Gold eased slightly on Wednesday as risk sentiment recovered and the dollar held firm, but expectations of dovish monetary policy from global central banks capped bullion's losses and kept prices above the $ 1,550 an ounce level. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $ 1,556.12 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $ 1,556.3. `` Investors are actually selling excess positions, and that is keeping the prices capped, '' said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities. `` On the other hand, we're also seeing a steady flow of interest in ( gold), and markets are currently building as capital looks to shelter itself from negative real rates across the globe. '' Investors will keep a close eye on the European Central Bank's first policy meeting of the year on Thursday, while the U.S. Federal Reserve's first meeting is scheduled for Jan. 28-29. Both banks are expected to be dovish. The dollar index has gained about 1.3% since the start of this year. In 2020, `` precious metals remain a story linked to easy monetary policy globally and broad U.S. dollar weakness, '' UBS analysts said in a note. `` Apart from low U.S. real rates and a weaker dollar, gold should benefit from any sudden spikes in market volatility due to late cycle dynamics and ongoing geopolitical noise, especially when we approach the 2020 U.S. presidential election, '' UBS said, forecasting gold to rise to $ 1,600 this year. Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion and weigh on the dollar. `` Concerns are growing that we will see a return of risk aversion once the Fed signals the balance sheet will no longer keep growing at a pace of $ 60 billion a month or if we see phase-two ( U.S.-China trade) talks hit a road block, '' said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA, in a note. The Chinese response and quick updates about the new coronavirus has boosted optimism that its spread would be contained, helping world stock markets recover. Worries the outbreak could hit economic activity ahead of the Lunar New Year festivities in China had knocked equities off record peaks on Tuesday. Elsewhere, palladium gained 2.3% to $ 2,457.36 an ounce, having slid by about 4% in the previous session. A structural change in demand after tighter emission rules in some countries will boost palladium demand, said Ghali. Palladium touched a record high of $ 2,582.19 on Monday. Silver rose 0.4% to $ 17.84, and platinum was up 1% at $ 1,008.86.

business

Trump on coronavirus from China: 'We have it totally under control '

President Donald Trump told CNBC on Wednesday he trusts the information coming out of China on the coronavirus, which has killed nine people and sickened nearly 500 others in that country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday confirmed the first case in the United States. `` We have it totally under control, '' Trump told `` Squawk Box '' co-host Joe Kernen in an interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. `` It's one person coming in from China. We have it under control. It's going to be just fine. '' The CDC on Tuesday said a resident of Snohomish County, Washington, who was returning from China on Jan. 15 was diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus. Trump told CNBC he believes that Chinese President Xi Jinping and health officials there are going to continue to tell authorities around the world everything they need to know about the virus. `` I do. I do. I have a great relationship with President Xi, '' said Trump, addressing a question about whether he's concerned about transparency in China. `` The relationship is very good. '' This weekend, the CDC and Homeland Security began screening people traveling to major airports in California and New York from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak is believed to have started. Health officials have also confirmed cases in Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The coronavirus evoked memories of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in China. SARS, which killed nearly 800 people worldwide, hit Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Beijing the hardest and triggered a severe economic downturn in the region. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually infect animals but can sometimes evolve and spread to humans. Symptoms in humans include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, which can progress to pneumonia. Health officials have confirmed that the latest strain can spread from person to person. — CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace contributed to this report.

business

European markets in focus amid coronavirus fears

European markets edged lower on Wednesday afternoon despite China's unveiling of measures to rein in the spread of a new strain of coronavirus that has killed 17 people so far. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.17% by the close of trade. Financial services led gains while autos and bank stocks slid lower. Italian banks led the decline following reports that Luigi di Maio, leader of the Five Star Movement ( M5S) and deputy prime minister, has resigned. Stocks worldwide had began Wednesday offering a tentative recovery as the Chinese government's plans to contain the virus seemed to ease equity investors ' concerns over a possible pandemic. Germany's DAX hit a record high on Wednesday morning after the ZEW economic sentiment survey logged the highest `` expectations '' reading since July 2015, while the `` current situation '' gauge saw double-digit improvement. In other news, market focus in the region continued to be on the World Economic Forum ( WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. U.S. President Donald Trump told CNBC on Wednesday that the European Union has `` no choice '' but to agree to a new trade deal. In a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Davos on Tuesday, Trump again threatened to levy tariffs on European car imports in the absence of renewed trade commitments from the bloc. Housebuilder Berkeley Group saw its shares climb almost 5% after announcing that it would increase its returns to shareholders by around £455 million ( $ 593.3 million) to investors over the next two years. Meanwhile, Gjensidige stock jumped 5.8% to lead the Stoxx 600 after the Norwegian insurer beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations. At the other end of the European benchmark, K+S shares fell 7.5% after Bank of America rated the German chemical company's stock at `` underperform. '' Tui's London-listed stock fell by 5.6% after the announcement of further delays to the return of the grounded Boeing 737 Max aircraft. Italian banks slid across the board following news of di Maio's imminent resignation as leader of M5S, with shares of Unicredit and Banco BPM shedding more than 3%. — CNBC's Fred Imbert and Eustance Huang contributed reporting to this story.

business

Experts Can't Agree If the Wuhan Virus Is a Global Crisis

As the death toll and infection numbers climb, international health officials struggle to make sense of sparse data on the coronavirus from China.

tech

Intel’ s volatile forecast, Comcast’ s changing cycle and airlines’ Boeing drama take earnings stage

A previous version of this story identified the wrong Bernstein analyst in comments on Intel. Stacy Rasgon is the analyst who made those comments. Intel Corp. is one of three Dow Jones Industrial Average components scheduled to report earnings Thursday. Bloomberg Intel Corp.’ s 2020 forecast will determine how its stock swings on Thursday, but what are the chances that outlook actually stays the same for more than a quarter? Intel INTC, -1.35% investors suffered a choppy ride last year, after the chip maker set its forecast at the start of 2019 , lowered it three months later , then brought it back up again toward the end of the year amid production challenges , a leadership transition and resurgent competition from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, -0.56% Full preview: How Intel figures in data-center recovery is key That amount of drama is not normal for a chip maker long seen as untouchable by rivals and consistently successful to a level of almost being boring. Wall Street will be looking for signs that it can avoid similar forecast whiplash this year with Thursday’ s fourth-quarter earnings report, in which Intel is expected on average to project 2020 revenue of $ 72.4 billion and $ 4.66 in earnings per share, both barely up on the year. Video: Intel CEO sits down for Barron’ s Big Interview Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon thinks expectations for the company’ s outlook are fairly positive amid a strong cloud spending environment. The question for him is whether the company can keep riding this momentum as the year progresses, with concerns about whether PC demand will fall off after a recent corporate refresh as well as whether Intel will make the right tactical moves in response to its CPU shortages and AMD’ s ascent. Don’ t miss: The biggest question looming over tech — Is the cloud boom over? The company’ s supply constraints don’ t seem to be letting up, according to Rasgon, which could be pushing “ infuriated ” customers to take a stronger look at AMD. Management should give a more complete view of the production landscape on the call, scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern time Thursday. • Comcast Corp .’ s CMCSA, +0.44% story has been a twist on the conventional cord-cutting narrative. As video subscribers leave its service, broadband users are staying put, which helps to boost the company’ s margins for its cable segment. This “ virtuous cycle ” for cable—with video losses actually helping operators—is a bit more complicated for Comcast, according to MoffettNathanson’ s Craig Moffett, since the company is a media play as well. He expects the NBCUniversal and Sky businesses to keep weighing on the overall company. Full preview: Comcast earnings expected to focus on Peacock streaming service due in April Now the Comcast narrative is getting an additional layer as the company prepares to launch its Peacock streaming service in the coming months. Though the offering isn’ t yet out, it’ s likely to be a focus of Comcast’ s Thursday morning earnings call, especially since the company is deviating from peers with its reception to ads. •There was already some drama heading into the flood of big airline reports Thursday, and the week’ s events have added further twists. Executives from Southwest Airlines Co. LUV, -3.67% , JetBlue Inc. JBLU, +0.12% , and American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, -1.20% will have to answer questions about the latest drama at Boeing Corp. BA, -2.05% as well as responses to the coronavirus when they address investors Thursday morning. Global airlines like American are under relatively more pressure amid concerns about the deadly virus , and the company’ s operating profit could take a small hit if the outbreak plays out similarly to the SARS crisis in the early 2000s, according to Bernstein’ s David Vernon. Still, he thinks that the market is overreacting to the virus, and the airline executives will be trying to quell the nerves. • Intel is one of three Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.25% components reporting Thursday, joining Travelers Cos. Inc. TRV, +0.10% and Procter & Gamble Co. PG, +0.70% , both of which are scheduled for the morning. FactSet reports that 21 S & P 500 SPX, +0.39% companies are expected to report, the busiest day of the busiest week so far of this young earnings season .

business

Coronavirus looks like it's contained for now, pharma CEO says

The coronavirus spreading in China appears to be contained for the time being, according to the CEO of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. Speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Pascal Soriot said AstraZeneca had `` plans for this kind of event '' but, like competitor Merck, was waiting for guidance from the World Health Organization ( WHO) on how to respond to the outbreak. `` It really looks like at this point it's very contained, '' Soriot told CNBC. `` We have a very large presence in China — we're the number one pharmaceutical company there, we employ 16,000 people — so as you would imagine it matters to us, we really care a lot and we 'll monitor this, but it really looks like it's contained for the time being. '' Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can be transmitted between animals and humans, and cause a range of illnesses from the common cold to more severe respiratory diseases, according to the WHO. A new strain of coronavirus that causes pneumonia was identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan earlier this month, with Chinese authorities confirming 440 cases and nine fatalities so far. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) confirmed the first U.S. case of coronavirus on Tuesday, and cases of the disease have also been reported in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. WHO officials will convene in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday to determine whether the outbreak should be declared an international health emergency. Speaking to CNBC in Davos on Wednesday, Christoph Franz, chairman of Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, said the mortality rate for coronavirus was relatively low compared to other viruses. `` Every person who is passing away is a person who should have survived — that is a fact, '' he said. `` We have a particular attention on diseases which are breaking out in parts of the world where we do not have this kind of transparency, '' Franz added. `` We have seen this also with the Ebola crisis in some African countries. '' He noted that when the disease burden of coronavirus was compared to a `` very normal flu season in the United States, '' a substantially higher proportion of people died of flu. In an interview with CNBC's Joe Kernen on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said there had been no discussion among U.S. officials about declaring a pandemic. `` We have it totally under control, '' he said. `` It's one person coming in from China, it's going to be just fine. '' Last week, the CDC and Homeland Security began screening travelers returning from Wuhan for the disease at three major U.S. airports. The WHO recommends regular hand washing, covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing and avoiding close contact with people who appear unwell to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. — CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Sunny Kim contributed to this article.

business

Tyson Foods starts coalition to tackle sustainable protein

As consumers consider which products to buy at the grocery store, their decisions are increasingly influenced by issues that go beyond just the food or beverage product. Shoppers are giving greater weight to the role businesses play in tackling global problems such as the environment, traceability, transparency and sustainability. Nielsen found that a company’ s commitment to sustainability can sway product purchases for 45% of consumers. For companies that don't take these steps, they potentially risk losing millions of dollars in sales to their competitors who do. In recent years, businesses including Mars, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Walmart have announced some type of pledge — most often focusing on where their products come from, who produces them, how they are manufactured and their impact on the environment. But with nearly all food and beverage companies accounting for some type of sustainability effort, there has been criticism from some environmental groups as to how much impact it's having on the underlying cause and if businesses are actually following through on those pledges. A 2019 report from Greenpeace said none of the companies that pledged to reduce deforestation in their supply chain, for example, had been successful yet. In forming a coalition, Tyson is trying to expedite the role it plays in tackling issues such as food waste, hunger and conservation while at the same time acknowledging it can't do it alone. For the pork, chicken and beef processing giant to have a meaningful impact, Tyson is saying that it needs to have input from entities beyond corporate America. The Coalition for Global Protein is tapping into academics, non-govermental organizations, financial institutions and other protein makers for their own expertise and opinions that may be far different than what the Arkansas-based Tyson could bring to the table on its own. “ We’ re focused on uniting the world’ s most influential, food-focused stakeholders around a shared purpose to build a future of protein that is sustainable and equitable across global communities — at every link in the supply chain, ” John Tyson, chief sustainability officer of Tyson Foods, said in a statement. “ Igniting transformative change in our food system requires industry-wide collaboration and a willingness to go beyond our individual businesses through strong commitments and actions. ” After several years where individual food and beverage companies announced their own initiatives, there is early evidence that at least a few groups are finding that it helps to look beyond their own walls. The board of the North American Meat Institute, which represents 95% of red meat processors and 70% of turkey products, ​ unanimously agreed in July to encourage companies to share sustainability best practices. Prior efforts focusing on collaboration in worker safety, food safety and animal welfare yielded improvements in each of those categories. And in October soda rivals Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo partnered with the World Wildlife Fund, the Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners to recycle more and reduce the industry's use of new plastic. To be sure, partnerships like the Coalition for Global Protein doesn't preclude companies from moving forward with their own initiatives. Tyson noted prior commitments it has made to improve land stewardship practices on two million acres of corn, partnering with the World Resources Institute to set science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets, reducing water use intensity by 12% and working with Proforest to identify deforestation risks across the company’ s global supply chain. In the end, it will likely take a combination of joint partnerships and individual efforts for companies to have an impact on sustainability that moves the needle. While consumers are interested in which companies are partaking in sustainability, it's not always enough. People want to see results, and coalitions like this one could be the best way to do that. Follow Christopher Doering on Twitter As consumers turn to other beverages, Gavin Hattersley has moved aggressively into energy drinks, diet soda and tequila to revive his company's portfolio — all while combating challenges like COVID-19 and a security breach. With its products in public school cafeterias and a teen-focused website that connects animal agriculture to global warming, the company aims to feed and educate the next generation. Subscribe to Food Dive to get the must-read news & insights in your inbox. Topics covered: manufacturing, packaging, new products, R & D, and much more. Discover announcements from companies in your industry. As consumers turn to other beverages, Gavin Hattersley has moved aggressively into energy drinks, diet soda and tequila to revive his company's portfolio — all while combating challenges like COVID-19 and a security breach.

general

Coronavirus: US companies restricting China travel as outbreak spreads

General Motors, Ford and other U.S. companies have started restricting employee travel to Wuhan, China, as an outbreak of a flu-like coronavirus that has killed at least 17 people spreads throughout Asia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Homeland Security started screening passengers flying to major U.S. airports from China for the disease over the weekend. The World Health Organization convened an emergency meeting in Geneva on Wednesday to assess the severity of the illness and issue recommendations to control the outbreak. Fears that the coronavirus could disrupt travel and commerce and slow economic growth sent a chill through global risk markets, hitting Asian stocks hard, depressing copper and oil prices, and sending investors into safe havens, such as U.S. Treasurys and German bunds. Business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, privately expressed concerns this week about the virus, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Some even raised the issue directly with President Donald Trump at a private breakfast Wednesday morning, according to an executive who attended the meeting. This story is developing. Please check back for updates. — CNBC's Leslie Josephs, Brian Schwartz and Michael Wayland and Reuters contributed to this article.

business

Coronavirus set to impact Chinese airlines ' first quarter profit -Aercap CEO

- The chief executive of one of the world's largest aircraft lessors, Aercap, expects the new coronavirus that has emerged from Wuhan, China to impact Chinese airlines ' profitability in the first quarter. Aengus Kelly said the outbreak was hitting traffic in the Chinese New Year when travel and yields peak but that past examples of the SARS and Ebola viruses show that if contained successfully, the impact on traffic will not be long-term. `` There's certainly going to be an impact on the profitability of Chinese airlines in the first quarter, '' Kelly, whose customers include some of the world's biggest airlines, told a conference in Dublin. ( Reporting by Laurence Frost, writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

business

Trump says coronavirus outbreak is 'under control ' as he calls for more Fed rate cuts

President Donald Trump said the U.S. has the outbreak of the coronavirus under control and has been briefed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Speaking to CNBC, Trump said he wasn't worried it would turn into a pandemic and said the only person infected had flown in from China. He repeated his view that the impeachment is a `` hoax. '' Trump batted away a question on whether the Fed's balance sheet was the prime reason for the stock-market SPX, +2.64% gains. He said Fed interest rates should still go lower because the dollar DXY, -0.19% is strong.

business

This one stock will signal whether coronavirus is getting serious

If investors want their finger on the pulse of the coronavirus threat, they can look no further than InterContinental Hotels Group. The London-based hotel chain is largely exposed to threats to international travel. InterContinental's Asia Pacific revenue was down 27% year-over-year in 2003, when the SARS virus swept China. `` IHG is the most exposed of the major Western hotel companies, '' AB Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke said in a note to clients on Tuesday. Shares of InterContinental Hotels fell more than 4% on Tuesday on fears that the coronavirus outbreak in China would dent international travel. The outbreak of the new coronavirus in China has killed nine people with confirmed cases exceeding 400 ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, during which hundreds of millions of people are expected to travel. On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control told Reuters that a traveler from China was diagnosed with the first U.S. case of coronavirus in Seattle. In 2003, InterContinental Hotels warned about the impact severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS would have on the hotel chain's profit. Clarke said the SARS outbreak coincided with the threat and outbreak of the Iraq war, which also contributed to weakness in travel. `` More encouragingly, the SARS outbreak saw no headwinds to unit growth, with additions of 1,646 rooms in Greater China in 2003, '' said Clarke. Today, China makes up 8% of InterContinental's earnings, according to AB Bernstein. `` IHG's business model is materially more resilient today than in 2003, and the chances of a profit warning feel remote, '' Clarke added. While Clarke is less worried about the outbreak, billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones said Tuesday the coronavirus could be a `` curveball '' that derails in the bull market. `` If you look at what happened in 2003... stock markets sold off double digits. If you look at the escalation of the reported cases, it feels a lot like that, '' Jones said. `` There's no vaccination. There's no cure.... If I was an investor, I 'd be really nervous. '' InterContinental Hotels Group trades on the London Exchange but has an ADR, or American depositary receipt, that frequently trades on the U.S. stock exchange. InterContinental reports full-year earnings results next month. AB Bernstein said the hotel group faces other headwinds, including weakness in Hong Kong and the fires in Australia. — with reporting from CNBC's Michael Bloom.

business

Stock market live updates: Rally ends in last hour, Boeing wild day, Netflix falls

This is a live blog. Check back for updates. There was a lot of action in the middle, but by the end of the day nothing really changed. The Dow was up more than 100 points at one point but the gains were gone by the time the close came. Blame a rebound in Boeing that failed to materialize, heavy selling in Netflix and some worries about the coronavirus. Tesla also closed off its highs of the day. The Dow ended Wednesday down a few points —Melloy There is a lot for traders to focus on in the next trading day, including Procter & Gamble and Intel earnings. There's also an ECB rate decision and some key economic data. —Melloy Netflix stock fell into the close and was down nearly 4%. If Netflix closes at current levels, it would be the stock's worst day on Wall Street since October. Investors decided to focus on weak subscriber numbers rather than the EPS beat. ( See earlier update on Jon Najarian's short bet.) —Franck The Dow turned negative as markets lost steam into the close. The Dow was up more than 120 points at one point. Blame declines in Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft for pushing stocks into the red. —Melloy Shares of Tim Cook-led Apple jumped nearly 1% on Wednesday to another all-time high for the stock. Apple hit $ 319.99 per share at its high of the day. Apple's stock has rocketed more than 108% in the last 12 months. Despite analysts bullish on the iPhone maker as the 5G cycle approaches, the average 12-month price target on Wall Street is $ 290.98 per share, about 9% downside to its current price, according to FactSet. — Fitzgerald Shares of the alternative meat maker dropped more than 6% following a Bloomberg news report that Burger King is cutting prices on its Impossible Whopper due to weak sales. The maker of the burger, Impossible Foods, is a competitor of Beyond Meat. Wednesday's slide is a stark change from Tuesday when the often-volatile stock soared more than 18%. The stock is still up more than 58% for 2020. — Stevens U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.8% Wednesday to settle at $ 56.74 per barrel, its lowest settle since Dec. 3. Oversupply concerns pressured prices, along with fears of waning demand if the outbreak of coronavirus isn't contained and air travel slows. On Thursday the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its inventory report for the week ending Jan. 17, which was delayed by one day due to the holiday. Analysts polled by S & P Global Platts are expecting it to show a build of 500,000 barrels. Share of Exxon Mobil fell 0.64%. — Stevens With roughly one hour left in Wednesday's trading session, the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were poised to close at record levels. IBM shares are leading tech stocks higher, rising about 3%. The Dow is also up about 40 points, but a 2% drop in Boeing shares is keeping the 30-stock index just below its all-time high. —Imbert The Boeing rebounded lasted under an hour. The stock is back under pressure after earlier rebounding on comments from the CEO ( see below). The stock was last down 2.2%, subtracting about 47 points from the Dow. — Melloy Airline and hotel stocks turned lower again on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains, as Chinese media reported China halted outbound flights and rail service from Wuhan, the city at the center of the conronavirus outbreak. Shares of United Airlines dropped 2%, while Delta Air Lines also dipped 0.6%. Shares of casino and hotel companies Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands were both down nearly 1%. —Li Boeing shares rebounded from their lows of the day after new CEO Dave Calhoun said on a call that the company plans to resume production of the 737 Max months before regulators sign off on the plane. The vote of confidence in the revamped plane by the CEO has boosted Boeing off the lows of the day and the stock is now down just 0.6%. It had hit a 52-week low earlier in the trading day. The Dow was last up 82 points as the drag from Boeing dissipated. The CEO also said Boeing would continue to pay its dividend. —Melloy Longtime options trader and `` Halftime Report '' trader Jon Najarian said on Wednesday he's joined Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn in a bet against Netflix. In explaining his `` big '' short, Najarian said the video streamer's stock is so expensive that it can't afford to disappoint Wall Street's subscriber expectations like it did on Tuesday. Netflix fell short of subscriber addition estimates in the U.S. and Canada in the fourth quarter, a fact the company said could be due to recent price changes and launches of rival streaming platforms. Najarian's announcement comes a day after CNBC reported that Einhorn increased his own short bet against Netflix in late 2019. The Greenlight founder told investors that `` there are now a half-dozen subscription services and in the coming year there will be additional credible entrants with deep content libraries. '' Netflix shares slumped about 2.4% in afternoon trading. — Franck High-flying tech stocks had an impressive run in 2019, returning more than 37% last year. The rally stretched valuations to levels not seen in the past decade, worrying investors that stocks are overvalued like during the dotcom bubble. However, Credit Suisse HOLT tech specialist John Talbott told clients on Wednesday, `` expectations are nowhere near March 2000 levels. '' The sector's current price-to-earnings multiple is only 28 times, compared with 59 times back in 2000, Talbott noted. — Fitzgerald The euro has been treading water, ahead of what could prove to be a more interesting than expected European Central Bank meeting Thursday. `` We initially thought the January meeting would be a strict placeholder event, '' wrote Bank of America ECB watchers. `` But data flow, Governing Council member comments and the prospect of some information about the strategy review have increased the risk of a hawkish undertone. The last set of policy minutes from the December meeting already point that way. '' European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is expected to lay out details of a sweeping ECB strategy review. `` It could be controversial, but not at this meeting…The market is focused on inflation and the inflation target. The review is going to be very broad, and it could include the tools and communications, '' said Marc Chandler, Bannockburn Global Forex chief market strategist. —Domm Stocks are trading off their highs around midday as a steep decline in Boeing shares offset some of the positive sentiment from strong IBM earnings. The Dow, in particular, was impacted by Boeing's 2.7% drop as it shaved off about 58 points from the 30-stock average. Still, the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were headed for a record close and reached intraday all-time highs earlier in the day as IBM and semiconductors led tech shares higher. IBM advanced 2.8%. —Imbert Oil fell on Wednesday as over-supply concerns weighed on prices. Speaking at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol said he sees an `` abundance of energy supply in terms of oil and gas, '' according to a Reuters report. His comments come as the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that U.S. shale production is expected to hit a record high in February. International benchmark Brent Crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate both fell more than 2%, with WTI dropping to $ 56.73 at the session low, its lowest level since Dec. 4.— Stevens Shares of AT & T gained 1.5% in midday trading after Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating. The bank said AT & T has a `` unique scale '' across the communications and media business. It also pointed out that AT & T has outperformed rival Verizon over the past 12 months thanks to `` a renewed focus on driving cost efficiency. '' — Li Boeing shares are weighing on the market, and the Dow in particular, as concerns linger about when the 737 Max will be up and flying again. On Tuesday, Boeing said it didn't expect regulators to approve the Max until mid-year, later than expected. Boeing is down more than 2% and at the lows of the day, subtracting 48 points from the Dow, which is now barely higher, up just 6 points. —Melloy Homebuilder stocks and the SPDR S & P Homebuilders ETF all moved to highs after the 10 a.m. ET report of better than expected existing home sales. But the XHB, Lennar, DR Horton, Pulte, KB Home all kicked into gear and started moving higher in the minutes ahead of the 10 a.m. release. Some gains were given back after peaking, after the report. `` They 've been having pretty good news. I think it's just carry through, '' said Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS. Home sales in December totaled 5.54 million, vs. 5.43 million expected. It's the highest level since February 2018. The clincher is the supply of homes for resale at 3 months, a record low, and that in itself is enough to put a lift in the homebuilders.Recent housing data has been very strong. —Domm U.S. home sales easily beat expectations, jumping to a nearly 2-year high. U.S. home sales increased 3.6% in December to a seasonally adjusted 5.54 million. Economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 1.3% to 5.43 million units sold. The report from the National Association of Realtors is the latest sign the U.S. housing market is getting a boost from the three rate cuts implemented by the Federal Reserve last year. Data released last week showed housing stars surged last month to a 13-year high. Homebuilders Toll Brothers and Lennar were higher. —Imbert Regional banks are the losers in early trading, with Zions Bancorporation and Northern Trust suffering two of the largest declines. Zions was down 5.3% after reporting earnings for the fourth-quarter Tuesday night. The Utah-based bank holding company reported a decline in its loan balance, and Raymond James lowered its price target on the stock to $ 59 per share from $ 61 per share while lowering its earnings estimate. Zions was also downgraded to neutral from buy at Bank of America, according to FactSet. Northern Trust reported its fourth-quarter results Wednesday morning, and its $ 1.56 billion in revenue was above the $ 1.55 billion expected, according to Refinitiv. However, Piper Sandler said in a note to clients that higher than expected expenses would put pressure on the stock and shares are down roughly 3.3%. - Pound -Francolla The 10-year Treasury yield has been resting at 1.76%, after dropping to that level as the world worried about the new Chinese coronavirus Tuesday. Risk markets are rallying, and yields are higher Wednesday, but the 10-year still hovers near Tuesday's lows, a key level on the charts. `` That 1.76 level has provided support at a few different moments in January. It also corresponds to the bottom of an opening gap, back to some of the volatility around the Iranian tensions, '' said Jon Hill of BMO. `` But the intraday low of Jan. 8 was 1.70. That to me is the defacto range bound. '' He said it's now testing resistance for further rallies in duration. Yields move lower when bond prices rise. Treasurys were expected to trade quietly this week due to the light data calendar, lack of new supply, and dearth of Fed speak ahead of next week's FOMC meeting. — Domm CNBC's Eunice Yoon reported Chinese state TV confirmed the coronavirus has killed 17 people with confirmed cases climbing to 444 in total. The virus stemmed from Wuhan, China, less than a week before Lunar New Year, when millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad. Related stocks were still higher, however. Wynn Resorts was up 0.4% and United Airlines added 0.6%. —Li Bank of America said its retail clients were net buyers of stocks last week after an eight-week selling streak. The S & P 500 gained 2% in the week ending Jan. 17, hitting new records. The buying was largely driven by inflows into exchange-traded funds, the bank noted. Meanwhile, buybacks by Bank of America's corporate clients picked up as earnings season kicked off and the amount has been consistent with the historical trends, the bank said. Its hedge funds and institutional clients, however, continued to sell for four and three weeks, respectively. — Li The S & P 500 added about 0.3% and touched a new intraday record. The Nasdaq Composite also hit a record. Shares of Tesla jumped 4%. IBM added more than 3% and was the biggest gainer in the S & P 500. Netflix, meanwhile, was lower, falling almost 2%. -Melloy Shares of Tesla rose about 5% in premarket trading. If the gains hold, the company's market value would climb to more than $ 103 billion at the open of trading. That's a closely watched level for the electric automaker's stock, as CEO Elon Musk would land the first of a possibly massive payout if Tesla can stay above $ 100 billion in value on both a 30-day and six-month trailing average. -Sheetz The fallout from Boeing's 737 Max keeps getting worse. On Tuesday the company said it doesn't expect regulators to sign off on the jet until June or July, which is later than some, including Vertical Research's Robert Stallard, were predicting. On Wednesday Stallard downgraded the stock to a hold and lowered his target to $ 294, saying the `` ramifications '' of the grounded jet have `` yet to reverberate. '' He slashed his estimates for 2019-2022, and said the company will likely halt buybacks until 2022. With shares of Boeing down nearly 17% in the last six months, Stallard acknowledged that the call is belated. -Stevens The firm's internet analyst Ross Sandler said he expects `` management teams to sound upbeat '' when technology companies reporting fourth quarter results soon. Sandler noted continuing strength of Alphabet and Amazon, saying to buy any weakness in the stocks as `` large caps likely see growth accelerate in 1Q20. '' The Barclays analyst also called out its three best picks for investors looking to buy before tech earnings: Snap, Facebook and Uber. - Sheetz Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his price target on shares of Tesla to $ 550 from $ 370, saying `` we believe Musk & Co. will not disappoint '' when the electric automaker reports earnings on Jan. 29. Ives ' note was incrementally more optimistic about Tesla's outlook in China, as he updated the potential for those operations to `` at least $ 100 '' a share from `` $ 75 to $ 100 '' two weeks ago. Wedbush has a neutral rating on Tesla. -Sheetz Travel and hotel stocks rebounded on Wednesday, after falling Tuesday on fears that the coronavirus outbreak in China would dent international travel. Shares of casino and hotel companies Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands gained nearly 1% each, after falling 6% and 5%, respectively on Tuesday. United Airlines jumped nearly 1%, American Airlines rose more than 1% and Delta Air and Southwest all gained slightly in premarket trading. -Fitzgerald Wall Street may be using the earnings season to take profits off the table after the market's stunning run to record highs this past one year. Data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group shows stocks have opened higher by an average of 0.62% after a company reports quarterly earnings. However, those stocks decline by an average of 0.56% into market close. `` We're seeing investors use earnings as a reason to lighten up a bit, '' Bespoke said in a tweet.—Imbert Netflix was the first of the so-called FANG stocks to report fourth-quarter results. The streaming giant beat on the top and bottom line, but gave disappointing guidance and posted a miss on domestic subscriber growth. Wall Street analysts largely looked past the weakness and believe Netflix is on the right track to profitability. Goldman Sachs said the company's content investments, distribution partnerships and global positioning should drive subscriber growth `` significantly above consensus expectations. '' Bank of America expects Netflix to be `` increasingly dominant overseas '' in the next year. Credit Suisse said the set-up is `` quite favorable for Netflix heading into 2020, '' and the subscriber guidance looks `` conservative. '' Shares of Netflix rose more than 1% in premarket trading on Wednesday, after losing as much as 2% Tuesday after the bell following the earnings report.Click here to read more about what every major analyst had to say about Netflix's latest earnings. -Li Big IBM gains and easing coronavirus fears are boosting stock futures. The implied open for the Dow is about 80 to 100 points higher. IBM shares popped more than 4% in the premarket on the back of strong earnings. S & P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also pointed to solid gains at the open. Sentiment on Wall Street was lifted amid dissipating concerns over the coronavirus that has swept across China. Chinese authorities have unveiled measures to curb the virus ' spreading. President Donald Trump also said the U.S. has everything `` totally under control '' as it relates to the coronavirus. —Imbert —With reporting by Fred Imbert, Yun Li, Maggie Fitzgerald, Michael Sheetz, Pippa Stevens, John Melloy, Patti Domm, Gina Francolla, Jesse Pound, Tom Franck

business

Thailand finds fourth China coronavirus infection

- Thailand has quarantined a fourth patient with the new coronavirus including one Thai national, authorities said on Wednesday, days before the Lunar New Year holiday when thousands of Chinese tourists are expected to arrive. Nine people have died from the flu-like coronavirus in China, with 440 confirmed cases, most in the central city of Wuhan where the virus first appeared late last year. The Thai patient, a 73-year-old woman, had traveled to Wuhan during the New Year holidays and developed a fever after returning, the Public Health Ministry said. She was being monitored in a separate ward in a hospital in Nakhon Pathom, 60 km ( 37 miles) west of Bangkok, where her condition was gradually improving, it added. `` We can control the situation. There have not been cases of human-to-human transmission in Thailand because we detected the patients as soon as they arrived, '' Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters. Two other Chinese patients had recovered and been sent home while a third would return once tests showed he was clear of the virus, Anutin said. Thai officials were stepping up screening at airports to look for passengers with high body temperatures, coughs, headaches and trouble breathing, police said. The virus has spread to other cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the United States, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. ( Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Stephen Coates)

business

German DAX struggles to hold onto record territory as European investors fret over China virus fears

German stocks had a slippery hold on record territory Wednesday, as equities across Europe struggled to make gains amid lingering concerns over the spread of China’ s coronavirus. The German DAX 30 index DAX, +1.84% pushed into record territory earlier in the day, rising to a high of 13,640.06, before turning flat to trade at 13,550.79. Bucking losses across Europe on Tuesday, the index rose 0.05% to finish just barely off a January 23, 2018 record close of 13,559.60. It’ ll need another positive push to cement a fresh high on Wednesday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +1.76% was flat at 423.60, after slipping 0.1% on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 index PX1, +2.02% was also flat at 6,042.50, while the FTSE 100 index UKX, +1.82% slipped 0.3% to 7,590.49. Investors are keeping a close eye on developments surrounding China’ s coronavirus, which has killed nine people and infected hundreds, and as the U.S. reported its first case on Tuesday . Market jitters could return if the World Health Organization labels the virus a global health emergency after its meeting on Wednesday, raising fears of a pandemic that could slow economic growth. U.S. stock futures indicated a positive start for Wall Street after coronavirus concerns helped drag benchmark indexes lower on Tuesday . Data showed French manufacturing sector sentiment rose in January , a day after German Ifo economic expectations reached their highest level since 2015 . Among companies on the move, ASML Holding ASML, -3.67% announced a higher profit for the fourth quarter of 2019 and a three-year share-buyback program of up to 6 billion euros ( $ 6.66 billion). But the memory-chip maker’ s first-quarter gross margin forecast was sharply below expectations, noted analysts at ING. Shares slipped 1.2%. Shares of Daimler DAI, +2.01% fell 1.7% after the automobile maker said earnings almost halved last year and said it would book additional expenses of up to 1.5 billion euros related to Mercedes-Benz’ s diesel issue. “ Bottom line: the balance sheet pressure clearly means risks to dividends and although not our base case this could necessitate a capital raise, ” said Citi analysts in a note to clients. Shares of Burberry Group BRBY, -5.61% fell 2.5%. In a trading statement, the luxury fashion retailer lifted its full-year revenue guidance after same-store sales rose 3% in the third quarter. But it said Asia Pacific sales rose by a low single-digit percentage as Hong Kong sales halved. British multinational enterprise software company Sage Group SGE, +3.76% reported strong trading in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 and backed its fiscal year 2020 guidance. Shares jumped 4%.

business

“ Snake Pneumonia ” – Coronavirus Outbreak in China Traced to Snakes by Genetic Analysis

Patients who became infected with the virus were exposed to wildlife animals at a wholesale market, where seafood, poultry, snakes, bats, and farm animals were sold. Emerging viral infections — from bird flu to Ebola to Zika infections — pose major threats to global public health, and understanding their origins can help investigators design defensive strategies against future outbreaks. A new study provides important insights on the potential origins of the most recent outbreak of viral pneumonia in China, which started in the middle of December and now is spreading to Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. The findings are published early online in the Journal of Medical Virology. The study notes that patients who became infected with the virus — which is a type of virus called a coronavirus and was named 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization — were exposed to wildlife animals at a wholesale market, where seafood, poultry, snakes, bats, and farm animals were sold. By conducting a detailed genetic analysis of the virus and comparing it with available genetic information on different viruses from various geographic locations and host species, the investigators concluded that the 2019-nCoV appears to be a virus that formed from a combination of a coronavirus found in bats and another coronavirus of unknown origin. The resulting virus developed a mix or “ recombination ” of a viral protein that recognizes and binds to receptors on host cells. Such recognition is key to allowing viruses to enter host cells, which can lead to infection and disease. Finally, the team uncovered evidence that the 2019-nCoV likely resided in snakes before being transmitted to humans. Recombination within the viral receptor-binding protein may have allowed for cross-species transmission from snake to humans. “ Results derived from our evolutionary analysis suggest for the first time that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV, ” the authors wrote. “ New information obtained from our evolutionary analysis is highly significant for effective control of the outbreak caused by the 2019-nCoV-induced pneumonia. ” An accompanying editorial notes that although the ultimate control of emerging viral infections requires the discovery and development of effective vaccines and/or antiviral drugs, currently licensed antiviral drugs should be tested against the 2019-nCoV. Concerned about this viral infection from China that may have originated in snakes and bats? Read Research Underway to Address Threat of Novel Coronavirus That Recently Emerged in China. Reference: “ Homologous recombination within the spike glycoprotein of the newly identified coronavirus may boost cross‐species transmission from snake to human ” by Wei Ji, Wei Wang, Xiaofang Zhao, Junjie Zai and Xingguang Li, 22 January 2020, Journal of Medical Virology. DOI: 10.1002/jmv.25682

tech

Mainland Chinese stocks drop as coronavirus fears grip investors

Stocks in mainland China dropped on Thursday, leading losses among major markets regionally as the death toll rises in China due to a pneumonia-causing virus outbreak. The Shanghai composite fell 2.75% on the day to around 2,976.53 while the Shenzhen component dropped 3.52% to close at 10,681.90. The Shenzhen composite also declined 3.451% to end its trading day at approximately 1,756.82. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also fell 1.89%, as of its final hour of trading. Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.98% to close at 23,795.44 while the Topix index also shed 0.78% to end its trading day at 1,730.50. Japanese trade data released Thursday showed exports falling more than expected in December. Japanese exports for December fell 6.3% in December as compared to a year before, data from country's Ministry of Finance data showed. That was far lower than expectations of a 4.2% decrease expected by economists in a Reuters poll. South Korea's Kospi also saw losses as it declined 0.93% to close at 2,246.13. Meanwhile, shares in Australia declined on the day, with the S & P/ASX 200 falling 0.63% to 7,088. Data on Thursday showed that jobs growth smashed expectations. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 28,900 jobs were created in Australia in December, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That was far above expectations of a 15,000 increase from a Reuters poll. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.6869 after seeing an earlier low of $ 0.6836. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index fell 1.02%. Investor sentiment has taken a hit this week as the mysterious coronavirus that has infected hundreds in China spreads. The World Health Organization postponed a decision Wednesday over whether to declare the disease a global health emergency. Beginning Thursday morning Beijing time, all public transportation was suspended in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak is believed to have started. One strategist told CNBC on Thursday that the situation at present was `` very much wait and see. '' `` Wait till after Chinese New Year, '' David Roche, president & global strategist at Independent Strategy, told CNBC's `` Squawk Box '' on Thursday, adding that `` a much clearer idea on mortality '' is likely to be present by then. `` After Chinese New Year, we will know the degree, the speed and... the breadth... of infections... by this virus. '' The Lunar New Year period is set to kick off on Saturday, with hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens expected to travel domestically or abroad during the period. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 97.526 after seeing earlier lows below 97.5. The Japanese yen traded at 109.58 per dollar after strengthening from levels above 110 yesterday. Amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak both the onshore and offshore Chinese yuan continued to see weakness, with each trading at 6.9277 against the dollar. Oil prices continued to remain in negative territory in the afternoon of Asian trading hours. International benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.41% to $ 62.32 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures declined 1.67% to $ 55.79 per barrel.

business

Dow Jones Industrial Average and S & P 500 Rise

U.S. stocks rose despite concerns about the coronavirus in China. Illustration by Michael George Haddad Bouncing. The three major U.S. stock market indexes rose modestly, bouncing back despite fears about the newly identified virus spreading in China . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 20 points, or 0.1%. The S & P 500 gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%. Midday Movers Capital One Financial ( ticker: COF) gained 4.7% after the credit-card issuer reported strong earnings buoyed by solid consumer credit performance. Ball ( BLL) was up 3.1% as the metal packager bounced back from Tuesday’ s slump in packaging companies caused by a report that containerboard prices have fallen this month. Texas Instruments ( TXN) rose 3.1%. The company—the first chip maker to report fourth-quarter earnings—saw its shares gain ahead of its after-the-close release. Northern Trust ( NTRS) fell 5.9% after it missed Wall Street’ s earnings expectations, but exceeded analysts’ revenue consensus. Zions Bancorp ( ZION) lost 4.5% after the stock was downgraded to neutral from buy by Bank of America. Write to Ben Walsh at ben.walsh @ barrons.com

business

Oil prices at 7-week low on forecast for surplus in crude supplies

Oil futures fell on Wednesday to mark their lowest settlement in about seven weeks as fears of an oversupply of crude, and potential hit to demand on the back of the coronavirus outbreak in China, outweighed a disruption to Libyan production. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery US: CLH20 fell $ 1.64, or 2.8%, to settle at $ 56.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest settlement for a front-month contract since Dec. 3, according to Dow Jones Market Data. March Brent crude UK: BRNH20 lost $ 1.38, or 2.1%, to finish at $ 63.21 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe—the lowest since Dec. 4. “ The fact that potentially around 1 million [ barrels a day ] of supply is offline whilst outright oil prices move lower signals a broader concern over continued oversupply potential, ” wrote analysts at JBC Energy, a Vienna-based consulting firm, in a note. Oil had rallied early Tuesday after Libya’ s largest oil field shut down production after a pipeline was cut off, but ended the day lower . The topic of supplies was underlined by remarks Tuesday by International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Birol said he sees “ an abundance of energy supply in terms of oil and gas. It’ s the reason that recent incidents we have seen — with the Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, killed, Libya unrest — didn’ t boost international oil prices, ” Reuters reported . In its annual World Energy Outlook report Wednesday, the IEA said increasing U.S. shale output will continue to blunt the influence of other energy producers, including members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. In a monthly report issued Tuesday, the Energy Information Administration forecast a monthly rise in U.S. shale oil production of 22,000 barrels a day to 9.2 million barrels a day in February. Concerns over the “ potential for oil demand destruction if fears about the spread ” of the coronavirus increase have also contributed to the weakness in oil prices, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. “ Oil traders have good reason to worry because after the SARS virus, we saw a significant drop in oil demand, ” he wrote in a daily update. “ People did not fly and stayed home, fearing the infectious disease. ” The number of new cases has risen sharply in China, with 440 confirmed cases as of midnight Tuesday and at least nine deaths, according to the Associated Press . Read: What the 2003 SARS epidemic tells us about the potential impact of China’ s coronavirus on oil and metals In other energy trading, February gasoline US: RBG20 fell 3.5% to $ 1.5796 a gallon, while February heating oil US: HOG20 dropped 1.6% to $ 1.8002 a gallon. February natural-gas futures US: NGG20 tacked on 0.5% to $ 1.905 per million British thermal units, following a drop of more than 5% a day earlier to the lowest settlement since 2016 . Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies will be released a day later than usual because of Monday’ s holiday. The American Petroleum Institute will release its report late Wednesday, with the EIA’ s figures due out Thursday morning. On average, the EIA is expected to report a climb of 500,000 barrels in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended Jan. 17, according to a poll of analysts conducted by S & P Global Platts. The survey also showed expectations for weekly inventory increases of 3.3 million barrels for gasoline and 1.6 million barrels for distillates. Analysts expect the EIA’ s Thursday report on natural gas, meanwhile, to show a weekly decline of 88 billion cubic feet in natural-gas stockpiles, which would be much less than the year-ago and five-year average weekly decline, according to S & P Global Platts.

business

China’ s new coronavirus cases rise sharply to 400, as death toll rises to nine

BEIJING ( AP) — Chinese health authorities urged people in the city of Wuhan to avoid crowds and public gatherings after warning on Wednesday that a new viral illness infecting hundreds of people in the country and causing at least nine deaths could spread further. The number of new cases has risen sharply in China, the center of the outbreak. There were 440 confirmed cases as of midnight Tuesday in 13 jurisdictions, said Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission. Nine people have died, all in Hubei province, since the outbreak emerged in its provincial capital of Wuhan late last month. “ There has already been human-to-human transmission and infection of medical workers, ” Li said at a news conference with health experts. “ Evidence has shown that the disease has been transmitted through the respiratory tract and there is the possibility of viral mutation. ” The illness comes from a newly identified type of coronavirus, a family of viruses that can cause the common cold as well as more serious illnesses such as the SARS outbreak that spread from China to more than a dozen countries in 2002-2003 and killed about 800 people. Thailand authorities Wednesday confirmed four cases, a Thai national and three Chinese visitors. Japan, South Korea, the United States and Taiwan have all reported one case each. All of the illnesses were of people from Wuhan or who recently had traveled there. “ The situation is under control here, ” Thailand Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters, saying there are no reports of the infection spreading to others. “ We checked all of them: taxi drivers, people who wheeled the wheelchairs for the patients, doctors and nurses who worked around them. ” Travel agencies that organize trips to North Korea say the country has banned foreign tourists because of the outbreak. Most tourists to North Korea are either Chinese or travel to the country through neighboring China. North Korea also closed its borders in 2003 during the SARS scare. Other countries have stepped up screening measures for travelers from China, especially those arriving from Wuhan. Worries have been heightened by the coming of the Lunar New Year holiday rush, when millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad. Officials said it was too early to compare the new virus with SARS or MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome, in terms of how lethal it might be. They attributed the spike in new cases to improvements in detection and monitoring. “ We are still in the process of learning more about this disease. ” Gao Fu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control said at the same news conference. Gao said officials are working on the assumption that the outbreak resulted from human exposure to wild animals that were being traded in illegally at a food market in Wuhan and that the virus is mutating. Health officials confirmed earlier this week that the disease can be spread between humans after finding two cases of people in southern Guangdong province who had not been to Wuhan. It’ s not clear how contagious it is, but person-to-person transmission could allow it to spread more widely. The Lunar New Year is a time when many Chinese return to their hometowns to visit family. Li, the health commission official, said that measures were being taken to monitor and detect infected people from Wuhan, and that people should avoid going to the city and people from the city should stay put for now.

business

Asian currencies could be hit by coronavirus fears as uncertainty lingers

Growing concerns over the outbreak of a mysterious pneumonia-like virus in China, which has killed 9 and infected hundreds more, has impacted currency markets and pushed the Chinese yuan lower. `` It is starting to have an impact … on financial markets over the past 24 to 48 hours, '' Adarsh Sinha, co-head of Asia rates and foreign exchange strategy at the Bank of America Securities told CNBC's `` Street Signs '' on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Japanese yen — often seen as a safe-haven in times of economic uncertainty — strengthened sharply against the dollar to levels below 109.8. It last traded at 110.01. Meanwhile, both the onshore and offshore Chinese yuan have seen a steep weakening against the greenback and last traded at 6.902 and 6.9036, respectively. The yuan saw levels below 6.86 earlier in the trading week. So far, more than 400 cases have been confirmed by public healthcare officials, with the bulk of them coming from China. Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Concerns of the disease spreading were further fueled by the fact that millions are expected to be traveling within China and outside the country ahead of the extended Lunar New Year holiday that is set to begin on Saturday. `` The key thing here is just the uncertainty and also the uncertainty heading into the holiday period, '' Sinha said. `` From an investor point of view, people are just reducing risk and I think that's what we're seeing particularly in the exchange rate markets in the region. '' `` It's not so much that people have a view on how this develops, but it's just the uncertainty ahead of a period where we're not going to be getting a dollar- ( Chinese yuan) fixing and … the local stock markets ( in China) are going to be closed, '' the strategist added. The Chinese currency is allowed to trade within a narrow 2% band above or below a so-called daily midpoint fix that is set by the People's Bank of China. The virus outbreak has evoked memories of the SARS pandemic in 2002 and 2003. The outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome at that time killed about 800 people, most of them from China and Hong Kong, according to data from the World Health Organization. `` SARS had a significant impact on Asia ( foreign exchange), rates and equities from the point at which infections were officially identified by the World Health Organisation in February 2003 to the peak of new daily infections ( 23 April 2003), '' analysts at Nomura wrote in a report dated January 21. In particular, Nomura said the Korean won and Singapore dollar sold off broadly against the dollar at that time. The South Korean currency was last at 1163.99 per dollar while the Singapore dollar traded at 1.3497 against the greenback. `` Under similar conditions, we would expect a similar behavior, with most of the pressure concentrated on ( the Korean won) and ( Chinese yuan), '' the analysts said. `` If infections become region-wide, the rest of Asia would likely suffer, especially ( the Singapore dollar) and ( Thai baht). '' Still, Bank of America Securities ' Sinha said: `` I think people are looking at that as a case study, if you will, but the fact is 2003 was 17 years ago and i think especially in terms of Asia spillovers to the rest of the world, it is a very different time. '' — CNBC's Weizhen Tan contributed to this report.

business

Just Egg folds into vegan grab-and-go breakfast market

While 2019 was the year Just Egg cracked open the egg substitute category, 2020 is already shaping up to be even bigger. With the new folded egg product​, a new formulation, a new facility in which to make the mung bean protein and lower prices, the brand seems poised to expand its position in the category. According to point-of-sale data from IRI provided by Just, the egg product is currently the No. 1 liquid egg substitute product, based on average store sales per week. Since launching Just Egg, the company has sold the equivalent of more than 20 million eggs. The bottled liquid plant-based egg substitute, which cooks like beaten eggs, is available at many grocery stores nationwide. Just Egg also is part of the menu at restaurants including Tim Hortons, Bareburger and the hot bar at Whole Foods Market. In December, Just announced it acquired Del Dee Foods, a protein ingredients company in Appleton, Minnesota, for an undisclosed amount. Just had worked with Del Dee as a co-packer, and bought the company as its owners contemplated a sale. The acquisition included a 30,000 square-foot facility and 40 acres of land. Noyes told Food Dive at the time Just anticipates expanding the business there. As plant-based everything has expanded in popularity, Just has dominated the egg substitute segment. Its vegan competitors include Follow Your Heart's VeganEgg and Spero Foods ' Scramblit. Other popular egg substitutes on the market actually contain egg or are powdered ingredients for recipes that use egg as a binder. Considering the plethora of plant-based milks, meats and cheeses available to consumers, it seems strange that more manufacturers haven't gone after plant-based eggs. However, this could be confirmation of the simple fact that plant-based eggs that look, taste and cook like those that come from chickens are difficult to develop. Having found a solution, Just is smart to not only perfect its product, but also spend time on innovations and improvements that make it more desirable and less expensive. Plant-based egg sales increased 38% between April 2018 and April 2019, according to SPINS numbers published by the Plant Based Foods Association. The folded egg product, which is kept frozen but can cook in minutes in the toaster or a microwave, helps bring a convenient, high protein and on-the-go breakfast to consumers who are vegan or want to eat plant-based for sustainability reasons. This product has high market potential for Just. According to a 2017 report from Future Market Insights, the global on-the-go breakfast product market is predicted to be worth $ 1.9 billion in 2026, up from $ 1.2 billion in 2015. And in the case of Just, it's important to build the brand and expand the market among consumers who care about sustainability. Because while the ( plant-based) egg came first, the company has long been working on ( cell-cultured) chicken meat. The company has said it is prepared to bring its chicken nuggets to market in Asia as soon as it can get regulatory approval. Sustainability is one of the key marketing points for plant-based and cell-based food companies, and with another successful plant-based product line, Just is ahead of the game. As the company expands its reach with additional new and innovative products, it's able to build further momentum for the plant-based brand and further solidify its already dominant position in the segment. Follow Megan Poinski on Twitter With its products in public school cafeterias and a teen-focused website that connects animal agriculture to global warming, the company aims to feed and educate the next generation. As consumers turn to other beverages, Gavin Hattersley has moved aggressively into energy drinks, diet soda and tequila to revive his company's portfolio — all while combating challenges like COVID-19 and a security breach. Subscribe to Food Dive to get the must-read news & insights in your inbox. Topics covered: manufacturing, packaging, new products, R & D, and much more. Discover announcements from companies in your industry. With its products in public school cafeterias and a teen-focused website that connects animal agriculture to global warming, the company aims to feed and educate the next generation.

general

China Coronavirus Update: What it is, How Dangerous it is, What is Being Done

It originally started as mysterious cases of pneumonia reported in China. It has now been identified as a new strain of coronavirus, which as of today, has infected more than 440 people and killed nine in China. On Jan. 21, 2020, the first case was reported in the U.S. The unnamed patient is being treated at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington. He recently returned from Wuhan, China, the source of the infections. The U.S. National Institutes of Health ( NIH) is taking the risk of these infections seriously, and beginning work on a vaccine. But the first phase of clinical trials of the vaccine wouldn’ t take place for several months and it would be more than a year before a vaccine might be available. However, biotech company Moderna is working with the federal agencies on a vaccine. The company’ s chief executive officer Stephane Bancel told CNBC they might be able to develop one in less than two months. In the company’ s SEC filing, it wrote, “ Moderna’ s mRNA vaccine technology could serve as a rapid and flexible platform that may be useful in responding to newly emerging viral threats, such as the novel coronavirus. While we have not previously tested this rapid response capability, Moderna confirms that we are working with NIH/NIAID/VRC on a potential vaccine response to the current public health emergency. ” The virus was first reported in December 2019. Most of the cases have been in China, although there have been reports of infections in Thailand, South Korean, Japan, and now the U.S. The virus is a coronavirus, the same family of viruses that causes colds, but also more severe infections such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ( MERS). At the moment, the risk appears to be relatively low, although the concern is similar to those seen with SARS, MERS and even very different types of viruses, such as Ebola. One reason is that they all appear to have originated in animals and then spread to humans. The term for this is zoonotic. And the new coronavirus appears to be communicable between humans. “ Human-to-human spread has been confirmed [ but ] how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading remains unknown, ” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’ s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases in a press conference. “ Right now we are testing for this virus at CDC, but in the coming weeks we anticipate sharing these tests with domestic and international partners. ” The World Health Organization ( WHO) is holding an emergency meeting today to decide if the outbreak should be classified as an international public health emergency. Although there are more than 440 reported cases, epidemiologists believe there are likely thousands of cases that have gone unreported or undiagnosed. SARS was believed to have originated in bats then spread to civet cats before infecting humans. MERS is believed to have originated in camels. HIV, Ebola and H5N1 influenza all came out of wildlife before humans interacted with infected animals. In SARS, for example, almost 40% of the first cases were in food preparers and people who handled, killed or sold wild animals. The new coronavirus infection appears connected to a seafood market in Wuhan City in China, which has more a population of more than 11 million. A CNN report found that the South China Seafood City market in Wuhan not only sold seafood, but also raccoon dogs and deer. “ When you bring animals together in these unnatural situations, you have the risk of human diseases emerging, ” Kevin Olivan, a disease ecologist and conservationist at the EcoHealth Alliance, told National Geographic. “ If the animals are housed in bad conditions under a lot of stress, it might create a better opportunity for them to shed virus and to be sick. ” At this point, not enough is known about the new coronavirus to determine how great the risk actually is. At the moment, public health experts don’ t believe the risk is as high or as dangerous as the measles or the flu. But there’ s clearly concern, and with the ease of international travel and the possibility of the virus mutating further to become either more deadly or more communicable, public health officials are on high alert. Pascal Soriot, the chief executive officer of AstraZeneca, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the company “ plans for this kind of event, ” but like its competitor Merck, was holding off until the WHO provided guidance on how to respond. “ It really looks like at this point it’ s very contained, ” he said.

general

Infectious Disease Expert Discusses What We Know about the New Virus in China News and Research

The first confirmed U.S. case of a traveler infected with the virus behind China’ s continuing pneumonia outbreak has health authorities on alert to prevent it from spreading. The patient—a man in his 30s—returned from the country’ s city of Wuhan ( where the virus appears to have originated) to his home in Snohomish County in Washington State on January 15. He developed symptoms and sought treatment from his doctor on January 19, and a day later, a real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction ( rRT-PCR) test confirmed he had the virus. The patient appears to be doing well and was being treated this week at a hospital in Everett, Wash., and placed in isolation out of an abundance of caution, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a news briefing on Tuesday afternoon. The virus, called 2019 novel coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV), is known to have infected hundreds of people so far, and Chinese authorities have now reported at least 17 deaths. It was first identified in Wuhan late last year and is believed to have jumped from animals to humans at a local seafood market that also sold other wild animal meat. Authorities have since confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission. The pathogen is a coronavirus, a member of a family of viruses that include severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS), which caused major outbreaks in 2003 and 2012, respectively. Cases of 2019-nCoV have been confirmed in several other countries, including Thailand, Japan and South Korea. Three U.S. airports—in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City—began screening travelers from Wuhan last week. Such measures have now been expanded to two more airports—in Atlanta and Chicago—and passengers traveling to the U.S. from Wuhan will be funneled to those five locations. The risk to the U.S. public is low at this time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the agency says it is working closely with other health organizations to contain the virus’ s spread. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci has been closely following developments related to the new virus. Scientific American spoke with Fauci about 2019-nCoV’ s likely mode of transmission, its similarity to other coronaviruses and the question of whether a vaccine is on the horizon. [ An edited transcript of the conversation follows. ] Do we know how the U.S. patient contracted the virus? He was not in any market where there may have been an animal reservoir, and he does not recall coming into contact with someone who was ill. That’ s not surprising: often people contract respiratory infections without knowing the definite exposure source. But he was in Wuhan. It almost certainly came from an animal—almost certainly. A respiratory infection is almost certainly transmitted through droplets. Respiratory spread is a very good guess. We have not definitively proved that the virus entered through the respiratory tract, but it is highly likely. When you have symptoms of fever, cough, infiltrates in the lung and respiratory symptoms, historically, respiratory is the route. First of all, it’ s a coronavirus, the same family as SARS. It has some of the same molecular homology as SARS. It’ s closer to SARS than it is to MERS. But it isn’ t overwhelmingly close. It’ s a moving target. It’ s a rough estimate. If you look at the number of cases, it’ s around 300. There have been six deaths so far. [ Editor’ s Note: On Wednesday, several outlets reported that Chinese authorities had announced 17 deaths, and some had cited more than 540 cases. ] We’ re only seeing the ones who are hospitalized. If there are asymptomatic infections, the mortality rate would be much less. Among symptomatic people, the mortality rate is around 2 percent. It was 10 percent with SARS, and 30 to 35 percent with MERS. It may be less virulent than those two or it may evolve. It’ s too early to know. It’ s a syndromic and epidemiological association. If somebody comes into an emergency room in Washington State with a respiratory illness, and they haven’ t been to China, they probably have the flu or some other virus. But if they came from Wuhan, it’ s likely to be the new coronavirus. The symptoms are very common to a number of viruses, though, so [ the association ] is based on epidemiology [ and is confirmed by the rRT-PCR test ]. It’ s mostly symptomatic treatment. There are experimental antivirals that have been used in vitro and in vivo. If the patients need antibiotics for complicating bacterial infections, you give them antibiotics. If they need to be put on a respirator, they’ re put on a respirator. Most patients in China are doing well. But a proportion of them are very ill and are on respirators. We’ ve already started to develop a vaccine. We got the [ genetic ] sequence from the Chinese. We’ re partnering with a company called Moderna to develop a messenger RNA–based platform for a vaccine. We will likely have a candidate in early phase I trials for safety in about three months. That doesn’ t mean we will have a vaccine ready for use in three months; even in an emergency, that would take a year or more. But we’ re already on it. Coronaviruses represent 10 to 30 percent of common colds. Over the past 18 years we’ ve had three coronaviruses from animal reservoirs: SARS, MERS and now this. There could be several intermediary hosts, but at least with SARS and MERS, the primary host is thought to be a bat. We don’ t know what the primary host is for this virus yet.

science

Moderna Stock Jumps as Company Hunts Quick Coronavirus Vaccine

Medical workers transported a patient into a hospital handling coronavirus infections in China. Photograph by STR/AFP via Getty Images The biotech company Moderna could run human trials as soon as April to test a vaccine for the mysterious virus that recently emerged in China, the head of a government institute collaborating with the company told S & P Global Market Intelligence on Tuesday. Shares of Moderna ( ticker: MRNA) were up 6.4% on the news on Wednesday morning. The stock, which closed at $ 20.94 on Tuesday, traded as high as $ 22.30 early Wednesday. “ We anticipate that unless we get in any land mines or unforeseen obstacles, that we will likely have material available to do an early Phase 1 study in about three months, ” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told S & P Global Market Intelligence, according to the Tuesday report . Amid the excitement, investors shouldn’ t lose sight of the fact that Moderna has yet to receive Food and Drug Administration approval for any of its drugs , or even to begin any Phase 3 clinical trials. The news emerged unusually, without formal news releases by either Moderna or the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. On Tuesday, S & P Global Market Intelligence quoted the director of the agency revealing the body’ s collaboration with Moderna. The stock-price jump, however, appears to have come after CNBC highlighted the collaboration on Wednesday morning. The program targets the novel coronavirus that has been the source of increasing worry to public-health authorities across the world in recent days. A spokesperson for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases confirmed to Barron’ s on Wednesday morning that the institute and its Vaccine Research Center were working with Moderna on a vaccine for the coronavirus. “ We are at a very early stage of development, as you can imagine, ” the spokesperson said. “ We’ ll have more to say on the topic in the coming days. ” Moderna has also confirmed the collaboration in a vaguely-worded filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company told Barron’ s it was making no further comments at this time. Moderna, which specializes in drugs based on messenger RNA, uses small amounts of mRNA in its infectious-disease vaccines to activate the immune system against a particular virus. Its most-mature infectious disease vaccine program is a vaccine for cytomegalovirus. The company began Phase 2 trials of the vaccine earlier this month after clocking promising Phase 1 results . In theory, these vaccines can be built fast. Yet the company’ s statement filed with the SEC on Wednesday morning about the new program was cautious. “ While we have not previously tested this rapid response capability, Moderna confirms that we are working with NIH/NIAID/VRC on a potential vaccine response to the current public health emergency, ” Moderna said, referring to the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health. The company has worked with government health authorities in the past. Moderna’ s current investigational Zika vaccine, mRNA-1893, is funded in part by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An earlier Zika vaccine developed by Moderna and funded by BARDA failed in a Phase 1 trial. In 2017, the company said in a statement that scientists with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases had run a study with the earlier version of the Zika vaccine. In the S & P Global Market Intelligence article on Tuesday, Fauci said that the National Institutes of Health would pay for the majority of the planned Phase 1 study. He said that the collaboration was the result of a long-term relationship between Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis @ barrons.com

business

Inside ground zero of China's coronavirus outbreak: you can't even tell Lunar New Year is in town

A deadly outbreak of the new coronavirus emerged in this city of 11 million people last month. Within weeks, the virus has killed nine people, sickened hundreds and spread as far as the United States. Wuhan has been on high alert since the number of confirmed infections surged into the hundreds earlier this week. New year celebrations that had been expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people have been canceled. In some parts of the city, including a major shopping area, streets remain largely empty, with most people walking outside donning face masks. In the city's center, the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market sits empty, its rows of stalls shuttered. Police and security officers in face masks stand guard outside, prohibiting anyone from filming or entering a cordoned off area. The market has always been a popular spot at this time of the year, packed with shoppers stocking up on fish and seafood for Lunar New Year feasts with family and friends. But this year, Chinese authorities and scientists say wild animals sold at this market are the likely source of the new strain of coronavirus, which is in the same family of viruses as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS). The virus -- which can infect humans and animals -- has since spread to Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. Officials in Washington state confirmed the first case on US soil Tuesday. The market has been closed since January 1 for disinfection, but health authorities have not found out which animals are the source. 'How can I not be worried? ' Not far from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, Xiao Chuan'an, from a neighboring city, is selling sugar cane she imported from southern Guangdong province. `` I do feel a bit scared, '' she told CNN. `` How can I not be worried? The situation sounds really serious. The news on the phone sounds really scary. '' The country's National Health Commission confirmed this week the virus can be transmitted between people, after Wuhan health authorities maintained for two weeks that there was `` no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission. '' In Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, 270 people have been infected as of Wednesday, and nine of them have died, according to the commission. At least 453 cases had been confirmed throughout China, leading to fears of a possible epidemic. Xiao said her family had repeatedly urged her to go home, fearing that she will catch the virus in Wuhan. But she wants to stay to sell the sugar cane. However, business has been bad -- people are too scared to come to the market to shop, she said. `` You can see now -- does it look like the atmosphere of Chinese New Year? '' she said. `` I don't know when the pneumonia epidemic will stop... I might have to eat instant noodles during Chinese New Year. '' Emergency measures The city government announced a series of new measures Tuesday to contain the outbreak -- efforts some critics say came too late -- the virus has already spread to a dozen provinces across the country. Tour agencies in Wuhan have been banned from taking groups out of the city. Infrared thermometers have been installed at the airport, train stations, coach terminals and passenger piers to measure the temperatures of passengers departing the city since January 14, according to state media. The city has over 60 routes connecting Wuhan with international cities, including direct flights to New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Paris and London, as well as over a hundred internal flights to other major Chinese cities. It is also a hub for the country's high-speed rail network. At the high-speed rail station, the only faces that stand out are the uncovered ones, with the vast majority of passengers donning masks. As they prepare to exit the station, a railway staff member -- also wearing a mask and gloves -- puts a thermometer at the head of each passenger, checking for a fever. On a high speed train from Beijing to Wuhan, railway attendants and security guards left their faces uncovered. A train attendant told CNN they were asked by management not to wear masks, as it may trigger a panic among passengers. But she added that the train company is preparing to purchase masks and they will begin wearing them should the situation worsen. Some hotels in the city said they will also screen guests, checking their temperature and asking them to sanitize their hands upon entry. On Wednesday, the general manager of the Westin hotel in Wuhan told CNN he had asked staff to start wearing face masks `` for both their safety and for the safety of our guests. '' Others, however, are less worried about the outbreak. Yan Weixi, a jackfruit seller who did not wear a mask, said she did not find the situation `` so scary. '' `` I have been checking online instructions... like drinking more water or washing your hands more frequently. I think that should be fine, '' said Yan, from northeastern Heilongjiang province, who is spending her first Lunar New Year in Wuhan. `` The most important thing is to keep a positive attitude, because if you're more scared, it's more likely you would catch the virus, '' she said. `` That's my opinion. ''

business

Burberry lifts outlook, but shares fall as China virus and Hong Kong cast a shadow

Burberry raised its revenue outlook for the year on Wednesday as it reported strong sales in mainland China. But shares fell amid weak Hong Kong sales and concerns that the emerging coronavirus could present a problem for the British luxury goods retailer. Burberry BRBY, +3.27% , which is known for its trademark checked print trench coats, has been hit by widespread protests in Hong Kong , where sales halved in the Christmas quarter. However, this was partially offset by sales in mainland China, which rose by a “ midteens percentage. ” The company now expects revenue to March 2020 to increase by a low single-digit percentage at constant exchange rate, compared with previous guidance of broadly stable. Retail revenue was up just 2% to £719 million ( $ 939 million) over the 13 weeks to the end of December 2019. Comparable-store sales rose 3% in the third quarter. “ This was another good quarter as new collections delivered strong growth and we continued to shift consumer perceptions of our brand and align the network to our new creative vision, ” Chief Executive Marco Gobbetti said in a statement. But investors appeared to brush aside any good news from the trading update, dropping over 2%. The stock has risen 27% over the past year, compared with a 10% hike for the wider FTSE 100 UKX, -0.36% , and 20% in the last three months alone. Burberry stock was headed for the third-straight day of losses—luxury goods makers across Europe have been under pressure this week on concerns about fallout from China’ s coronavirus that has killed nine and sickened hundreds. “ The strong run the shares have enjoyed in recent months may have prompted some profit-taking and the reminder of how closely the company’ s fortunes are tied to China may have provoked some nervousness given the deadly virus which is currently afflicting the country, ” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. “ The political disruption in Hong Kong is also having an impact too, ” he added. Strong demand for Italian designer Riccardo Tisci’ s collection helped deliver double-digit growth year-over-year. New product made up approximately three quarters of the assortment at its stores at the end of the quarter, but was offset by lower markdowns and the tough situation in Hong Kong. The fashion company, which is in the second year of its transformation plan, said it is putting a focus on elevating its product offering, re-energizing the brand and aligning distribution to its new luxury positioning. It launched its first online game “ B-Bounce ” in October 2019 as a way of trying to appeal to younger, more digital-savvy customers. Burberry said it would continue its focus on “ inspiring ” Chinese consumers, and preparations were under way to take its runway show to Shanghai in April. The company is also developing its first social retail store in partnership with gaming company Tencent 700, -4.84% , which is scheduled to open in Shenzhen in the first half of 2021. Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said Burberry is making some “ remarkable progress. ” “ It has an increasing focus on the Chinese consumer, as evidenced by its impending retail tie-up with Tencent, in a region where its high-end products are already popular. Tourist spend is holding up for the moment, particularly in continental Europe, while the Riccardo collection not only continues to delight consumers but is also an increasing presence across Burberry’ s portfolio, ” Hunter said.

business

North Korea closes borders to all foreign tourists as new coronavirus spreads from China

North Korea has blocked foreign tourists from entering the country, travel operators said Wednesday, amid fears over the spread of a new coronavirus first detected in China. Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based tour agency specializing in travel to the North, said in a notice posted on its website that the North was “ temporarily ” closing “ its borders to all foreign tourists as a precaution ” against the virus. “ Further details are yet to be confirmed by our travel partners in North Korea and we will continue to make all future announcements on our website, ” the firm added. Two other prominent Beijing-based tour agencies also issued similar statements. Uri Tours said that future tours remained open for booking, despite uncertainty over how long the travel ban would be in place. It said its partners in Pyongyang had confirmed the ban. “ It is currently not known how long this travel suspension will last, or what protocols will be implemented, ” the company stated on its website. Koryo Tours, meanwhile, said the fact that the virus had spread to South Korea “ was probably a big prompt ” for the North to close its borders. “ If the Coronavirus situation calms down, then we can expect North Korea tourism to start back up again, ” the group said in a statement. “ If it gets worse, then this may take longer. ” The number of cases of the new virus has risen to 440 in China and the death toll has risen to nine, Chinese health authorities said Wednesday. Deputy Director of the National Health Commission Li Bin said that the figures were current as of 12:00 a.m. Wednesday. All the deaths were in Hubei province, home to Wuhan city where the first illnesses from coronavirus were reported in late December. Li said that marked an increase of 149 confirmed cases. He said Japan and South Korea had each confirmed one case and Thailand three. The U.S. and Taiwan also confirmed one case each Tuesday. The Rodong Sinmun, official newspaper of the North’ s ruling party, carried an article detailing the outbreak of the virus in China and measures Beijing had taken to prevent it from spreading further. “ Harm has been reported in China as a new strain of coronavirus has recently spread quickly, ” the paper said. “ With regard to the fast spread of the highly contagious disease, China has been taking appropriate measures. ” North Korean state-run television had earlier reported that the isolated country was closely cooperating with the World Health Organization to stem the outbreak of the virus, according to South Korea’ s Yonhap news agency. South Korea’ s Unification Ministry said it was closely monitoring the situation. Tourism is one of the few North Korean sectors not subject to the international sanctions imposed, making it a crucial area for Pyongyang’ s tattered economy. Most tourists enter the country through the border with China and are Chinese nationals. North Korea closed its border to tourists for four months during the height of the Ebola epidemic in Africa from 2014 to 2015. All visitors to the country at the time were also required to spend 21 days in quarantine, including locals returning home from business trips. It put similar restrictions in place during the peak of the SARS virus outbreak in 2003. The North’ s ability to withstand a major outbreak ranks among the world’ s worst, a global public health study published last October found. The study, jointly conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative, said that “ no country is fully prepared for epidemics or pandemics, and every country has important gaps to address, ” but the North’ s position was particularly worrisome, coming in 193rd out of 195 nations in the index. The report examined six categories of preparedness for a potential disease outbreak or other catastrophic health event: prevention, early detection, rapid response to stop the spread, ability to treat the sick and protect health workers, commitment to improving these categories and overall vulnerability to an outbreak. The North was near the bottom in almost all of those categories, ranking last in the “ rapid response ” section.

tech

Coronavirus: Airports around the world start screening passengers from China

Airports around the world have started screening passengers arriving from China, including Hong Kong, for the deadly coronavirus. By Kavya Chivukula Visit our Covid-19 microsite for the latest coronavirus news, analysis and updates Follow the latest updates of the outbreak on our timeline. Airports around the world have started screening passengers arriving from China, including Hong Kong, for the deadly coronavirus. The new virus that appeared in Wuhan, China, last month, has killed six people and infected hundreds. Related The coronavirus is part of the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS), which claimed lives of more than 700 people in 2002 and 2003. Coronavirus, which started spreading from animals to humans, is capable of human-to-human transmission. India’ s Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced that all the passengers arriving from China at seven airports will be screened for the virus. In addition to the previously announced Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata airports, passengers will also undergo thermal screening at Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin airports. Additionally, passengers experiencing acute onset of fever, cough and shortness of breath have been directed to report to the health units at the airport. Airports in Russia have also commenced the screening of travellers who arrive from China to detect passengers who might have been infected by the coronavirus. Reuters reported that airports in Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Yekaterinburg and Irkutsk have began the screening measures. In Wuhan, China has implemented thermal scanning for people departing the airports. Japan and Hong Kong have also alerted the airports regarding the virus. Following a directive from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) and Customs and Border Protection ( CBP), ‘ enhanced health screenings’ were launched at three airports: San Francisco ( SFO), New York ( JFK), and Los Angeles ( LAX) on 17 January. The US registered its first case of the virus on 21 January in Seattle, Washington. The patient returned from Wuhan on 15 January. Screening has also been launched at Atlanta and Chicago airports. South Korea, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Australia, Italy, Singapore and Malaysia have also adopted various measures at the airports to identify infected passengers.

general

Burberry Faces Hong Kong Slump

News & Analysis The British luxury brand saw sales in Hong Kong halve amid anti-government protests, while sales in Europe and mainland China increased. HONG KONG, China — Luxury fashion label Burberry upgraded its full-year sales forecast on Wednesday as demand for Riccardo Tisci's new collections in Europe and mainland China offset a slump in Hong Kong.Burberry, famed for its trench coats and check scarves, said its sales in Hong Kong halved in the 13 weeks to December 28, its third quarter, as large scale demonstrations in the territory since June have deterred visitors from mainland China.Chinese luxury shoppers are a major focus for Burberry and a recent outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, which has killed nine and infected 440 so far, poses another risk to the luxury sector if travel is affected.Chief Financial Officer Julie Brown said the company was keeping the situation under review at this stage.Hong Kong was a major market for Burberry, and had previously accounted for 8 percent of sales, Brown said. `` This quarter we 've seen a halving of those sales, we 've seen a considerable reduction of Chinese tourists going into Hong Kong, '' she told reporters.Burberry had not closed any of its stores in the territory, she said, but it was keeping the situation under review and was taking steps to mitigate the impact, for example by reviewing rents.Burberry's Chief Executive Marco Gobbetti is moving Burberry further upmarket in the luxury segment, driven by new designs from Tisci, who came on board in 2018.Brown said the launch of the company's Lunar New Year campaign in China at the end of December had generated a strong early consumer response.Sales in mainland China rose by a mid-teens percentage in the third quarter, Brown said, although the growth was offset by the decline in Hong Kong.The company said it expected total revenue to grow by a low single digit percentage for the year ending in March 2020, compared to previous guidance of broadly stable.However, its shares were down 1.9 percent at £22.19 at 10:00am GMT, as analysts said the sales upgrade was already priced into market expectations.Burberry said its adjusted operating margin was expected to remain broadly stable in the year ending in March despite the impact of disruptions in Hong Kong.Comparable store sales rose 3 percent in the 13 weeks to December 28, led by full-price sales of its mainline collections, Brown said.Tisci-designed products now made up 75 percent of the offer in stores, Brown said, and the new collections delivered double-digit growth, partially offset by reduced mark-down inventory and the disruption in Hong Kong.In Europe, Burberry said it saw high single-digit growth in sales in the third quarter, helped by tourists ' spending in continental Europe.By Paul Sandle: editors: Kate Holton and Susan Fenton Burberry, famed for its trench coats and check scarves, said its sales in Hong Kong halved in the 13 weeks to December 28, its third quarter, as large scale demonstrations in the territory since June have deterred visitors from mainland China. Chinese luxury shoppers are a major focus for Burberry and a recent outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, which has killed nine and infected 440 so far, poses another risk to the luxury sector if travel is affected. Chief Financial Officer Julie Brown said the company was keeping the situation under review at this stage. Hong Kong was a major market for Burberry, and had previously accounted for 8 percent of sales, Brown said. `` This quarter we 've seen a halving of those sales, we 've seen a considerable reduction of Chinese tourists going into Hong Kong, '' she told reporters. Burberry had not closed any of its stores in the territory, she said, but it was keeping the situation under review and was taking steps to mitigate the impact, for example by reviewing rents. Burberry's Chief Executive Marco Gobbetti is moving Burberry further upmarket in the luxury segment, driven by new designs from Tisci, who came on board in 2018. Brown said the launch of the company's Lunar New Year campaign in China at the end of December had generated a strong early consumer response. Sales in mainland China rose by a mid-teens percentage in the third quarter, Brown said, although the growth was offset by the decline in Hong Kong. The company said it expected total revenue to grow by a low single digit percentage for the year ending in March 2020, compared to previous guidance of broadly stable. However, its shares were down 1.9 percent at £22.19 at 10:00am GMT, as analysts said the sales upgrade was already priced into market expectations. Burberry said its adjusted operating margin was expected to remain broadly stable in the year ending in March despite the impact of disruptions in Hong Kong. Comparable store sales rose 3 percent in the 13 weeks to December 28, led by full-price sales of its mainline collections, Brown said. Tisci-designed products now made up 75 percent of the offer in stores, Brown said, and the new collections delivered double-digit growth, partially offset by reduced mark-down inventory and the disruption in Hong Kong. In Europe, Burberry said it saw high single-digit growth in sales in the third quarter, helped by tourists ' spending in continental Europe. By Paul Sandle: editors: Kate Holton and Susan Fenton Unpacking Tiffany’ s Contentious New Ad Campaign

business

Firms in Japan struggle to prepare for coronavirus as Chinese New Year holiday looms

As Japan readies to welcome a rush of Chinese visitors during the Lunar New Year holiday period, hotels and other commercial facilities are struggling to devise appropriate measures to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus strain. One major hotel chain operator said that it did not plan to take special measures against the threat posed by the new coronavirus. In general, hotel reception staff are unable to take ordinary preventative measures, such as wearing surgical masks, as it is considered improper for them to cover their faces when attending to guests. Another hotel company, Prince Hotels Inc., plans to post warnings around its lobbbies in Japanese, English and Chinese calling on visitors to alert hotel staff if they feel unwell. Among restaurant chain giants, neither McDonald’ s Co. ( Japan) nor Ootoya Holdings Co. have taken special measures, although both firms have underscored the importance of ordinary hygiene management measures such as requiring employees to wash their hands. One source from a major department store operator said that companies’ hands are tied, as measures to distinguish Chinese visitors from other people would be infeasible. Some companies, such as electronics stores, see the wave of visitors from the coronavirus-struck Asian neighbor as a business opportunity. Laox Co. and Bic Camera Inc. plan to increase their stock of high-performance Japanese masks to meet demand from Chinese visitors. Japan is the most popular foreign travel destination for Chinese people during the seven-day holiday starting Friday, according to Chinese online travel agency Ctrip, followed by Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Lunar New Year is the busiest period in China in terms of movement, with some 3 billion people expected to move around during the 40-day period that encompasses the weeklong holiday. The epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in China from 2002 to 2003 was fueled partly by authorities not disclosing information regarding the deadly disease before the Lunar New Year holiday in 2003. A mom-and-pop candy store at a famous onsen ( hot spring) resort area in Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture has caused controversy online after it put up a poster banning the entry of Chinese nationals in order to avoid the new coronavirus strain, according to the Asahi Shimbun. The store owner told the paper he created the sign in Chinese using a translation app and put it up in front of the store from around Friday. Following criticism of the poster on the internet — with some calling for an apology — the store owner said he will use less sensational wording, according to the report. But he did not change his basic stance on rejecting Chinese customers, the report said. The move could have an impact on the tourism industry in Hakone amid an expected rise in numbers of Chinese tourists during the Lunar New Year holiday period, it added.

tech

Chinese doctor investigating coronavirus outbreak says he was infected

BEIJING – A Chinese physician who was investigating the outbreak of a deadly new virus in central China says he has himself been infected. Wang Guangfa, who heads the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at Beijing’ s Peking University First Hospital, was part of a team of experts that earlier this month visited Wuhan, where the virus emerged. “ I was diagnosed and my condition is fine, ” Wang told Kong’ s Cable TV on Tuesday, thanking people for their concern. The death toll from the flu-like coronavirus strain, which officials have confirmed can be transmitted between humans, had climbed to six as of Tuesday, with the number of reported cases rising above 300. Fifteen medical personnel are among those infected. Wang, who conducted research on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) in 2003, said he was receiving treatment and would receive an injection soon. He did not give details on how he may have been infected. “ I don’ t want everyone to put too much attention on my condition, ” he told the channel. Wang told state media on Jan. 10 that the outbreak appeared to be under control, with most patients showing mild symptoms and some having been discharged.

tech

Taiwan, excluded from WHO, calls on China to share 'correct ' virus information

TAIPEI – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on China on Wednesday to share “ correct ” information about a new coronavirus and for the World Health Organization ( WHO) not to exclude Taiwan from collaboration on the outbreak for political reasons. Authorities have confirmed more than 400 cases of the virus in China, most of them in the central city of Wuhan where the virus first appeared at the end of 2019. Nine people have died. The virus, which health officials have said can be passed from person to person, has spread to cities including Beijing and Shanghai, with cases have been confirmed in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, as well as Taiwan. Taiwan is not a member of the WHO due to the objection of China, which considers the island a Chinese province with no right to participate in international organizations unless it accepts it is part of China. Tsai, speaking to reporters after Taiwan’ s Tuesday confirmation of its first case of the coronavirus, a woman returning to Taiwan from Wuhan, said China had to live up to its international obligations. Tsai said she hoped for transparency and that China would “ share with Taiwan correct information about the virus. ” “ This is also beneficial for China’ s people. We believe that political considerations should not come before safeguarding people, ” she said. Taiwan was a part of the international community and faced the same health challenges and risks as everyone, Tsai said. “ I again call on the WHO not to exclude Taiwan due to political factors. Taiwan is at the forefront of global epidemic prevention. There needs to be room at the WHO for Taiwan’ s participation. ” Relations between Taipei and Beijing have plummeted since Tsai took office in 2016, with China suspecting her of pushing for the island’ s formal independence. She says Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China, it’ s formal name. The WHO office in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in an email Tuesday that Taiwan was being kept informed. “ Taiwanese authorities, including health experts, are being informed through cross-strait channels as well as channels connected with the International Health Regulations. WHO is informed that there is cross-strait contact on this matter. ” The deputy head of China’ s National Health Commission, Li Bin, told reporters in Beijing earlier that experts from Taiwan had been invited to visit Wuhan and the island was being provided with information. In Taipei, Chuang Jen-hsiang, deputy head of Taiwan’ s Centers for Disease Control, confirmed health experts from the island had visited China and that they had good communication channels. But Taiwan is unable to attend emergency meetings arranged by the WHO as it is not a member, he said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said no one cared more about the well-being of people in Taiwan than China, but its participation in international bodies had to happen under the “ one China ” principle. Taiwanese medical experts can participate in WHO technical meetings, WHO experts can visit Taiwan for inspections, and Taiwan can promptly receive WHO information on global public health events, Geng said. Taiwan has advised people not to visit Wuhan unless they absolutely have to and has suspended tourist groups from the city from visiting the island. Despite political tension, Taiwan and China have close business ties, with billions invested in China by Taiwanese businesses such as Foxconn, a key supplier to Apple. Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, has asked employees from its Wuhan plant in China who are in Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holidays to stay at home given the coronavirus outbreak in the city. Since the outbreak, Foxconn workers in Wuhan have been wearing face masks and getting their temperature checked, the world’ s largest contract electronics manufacturer said. Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Foxconn, advised employees not to visit China over the holiday. “ The speed of contagion will be no less than SARS, ” he said at a party for the Lunar New Year in Taipei, referring to a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) outbreak that started in China and killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002-2003. “ I advise everyone not to go to the mainland for this coming new year holiday, ” he said. Management has to decide whether employees need to return to Wuhan to work after new year, Gou said, adding Foxconn would come up with solutions for employees to work remotely. Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday in the Chinese-speaking world, when millions of people travel for family reunions in what is the world’ s largest annual human migration.

tech

US coronavirus: Here's how to protect yourself as the deadly virus spreads

In the United States, seven people have been infected -- including patients in Washington state, Chicago, California and Arizona. Most of the patients had recently traveled to Wuhan. But on Thursday, officials announced the first person-to-person transmission of the virus within the US. So what are officials doing to avert a massive outbreak in the US? And how can you minimize your risk of getting infected? What airports are doing At several US airports, passengers are being screened for symptoms such as fever, cough and trouble breathing, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those airports include John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago O'Hare International Airport. But these airport screenings might not catch everyone infected. That's because the incubation period can last a week -- meaning it can take a week after getting infected before showing any symptoms. At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, officials put up signs at the international arrivals area instructing travelers from Wuhan to watch for symptoms of the virus. The CDC started displaying the signs in English and Chinese at the SeaTac airport January 14, one day before the first American patient of the Wuhan coronavirus passed through the airport. What scientists are doing Across the US, scientists are trying to create a vaccine for the new virus. But don't expect it anytime soon. The National Institutes of Health is working on one, but it will take at least a few months before clinical trials start and more than a year until a vaccine might actually become available. Separately, scientists in Texas, New York and China are also trying to create on a vaccine, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. But the challenge is daunting. `` The lesson we 've learned is coronavirus infections are serious and one of the newest and biggest global health threats, '' Hotez said. What you can do yourself Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness, such as coughing and sneezing, the World Health Organization says. Other symptoms of this coronavirus include fever and shortness of breath. Severe cases can lead to pneumonia, kidney failure and even death. Scientists believe this coronavirus started in another animal and then spread to humans. So health officials recommend cooking meat and eggs thoroughly. Anyone with underlying medical conditions should avoid live animal markets and raw meats altogether, since those people are `` considered at higher risk of severe disease, '' the World Health Organization says. But in general, the public should do `` what you do every cold and flu season, '' said Dr. John Wiesman, the health secretary in Washington state -- where the first US case of Wuhan coronavirus was confirmed. That includes washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you're the one feeling sick, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and disinfect the objects and surfaces you touch. If you or your doctor suspect you might have the Wuhan coronavirus, the CDC advises wearing a surgical mask. What the US is doing The novel coronavirus is a public health emergency in the United States, said Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Once the health emergency declaration goes into effect at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, US citizens returning to the United States who have been in China's Hubei province in the two weeks before their return will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine, officials said Friday. The development came a day after the State Department announced a highest-level warning urging citizens not to travel to China due to the outbreak. Also Thursday, the CDC said the husband of an Illinois woman with Wuhan coronavirus is infected with the illness -- the first confirmed case of person-to-person transmission in the United States. Chinese officials have scheduled a public transportation lockdown for the city's buses, ferries and subways. Airport and rail stations have been temporarily closed for departing passengers, Wuhan authorities said. For those who traveled to China in the past two weeks and have symptoms such as fever, cough or trouble breathing, the agency recommends seeking immediate care, avoiding contact with others, not traveling and practicing good hygiene. `` At this time, it's unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people, '' the CDC said. What to do if you're planning to go to China This virus is spreading at the worst possible time of the year -- when millions of people are traveling to or within China for Lunar New Year celebrations. Chinese New Year started last Saturday, but festivities can last for two weeks and often include family rituals that are supposed to ensure a successful year. While the CDC's travel warning for Wuhan is a Level 3, the travel alert level for the rest of China is at Level 1 -- which means `` practice usual precautions. '' But Americans visiting friends and family in China might be at greater risk than tourists. `` Their risk is higher because they generally stay longer than tourists, eat local food in people's homes, and may not take the same precautions that tourists do, '' the CDC said. Before traveling, the CDC recommends visiting a health care provider to make sure you have all necessary vaccinations and travel medication. Americans should also register trips with the US Embassy or consulate.

business

A visual guide to the Wuhan virus outbreak

Its emergence has fueled fears of a deadly epidemic as hundreds of millions of people travel in China, or around the Asian region, during the Lunar New Year holiday. What is the virus? Coronavirus is a large family of viruses, which include severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS). Common symptoms include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, and possibly a headache. Those who have a weakened immune system, particularly the young and the elderly, are at risk of the virus turning into a more serious respiratory tract illness. Authorities said the Wuhan coronavirus was passed from animals to humans; can be spread from person to person; and appears to cause pneumonia in people who have weakened immune systems. It is thought to be milder that SARS and MERS and take longer to develop symptoms. Patients to date have typically experienced a mild cough for a week followed by shortness of breath, causing them to visit a hospital. Experts are now trying to understand how it is being transmitted, who is at most risk and whether transmission is occurring mostly in hospitals or in the community. In one instance, 14 doctors and nurses operating on a patient -- who was not known to be carrying the virus -- were all infected with it, suggesting it can be spread relatively easily. Where is this happening? Where it started: Ground zero The outbreak emerged last month in the largest city in central China, Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in Hubei province. Officials linked it to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, saying wild animals sold there are the likely source of the virus. The market has been closed since January 1 for disinfection and officials are scrambling to discover its animal source. Snakes -- the Chinese krait and the Chinese cobra -- may be responsible for transmitting coronavirus to humans. Scientists in China say that the virus might have jumped from bats to snakes, which were sold in the local seafood market in Wuhan, and then to humans. However, how the virus could adapt to both the cold-blooded and warm-blooded hosts remains a mystery, and further tests are necessary to determine the source animal. At least 30 people died in the province, many of them elderly and suffering from pre-existing conditions. As deaths mount in the city, officials imposed a number of new measures including the postponement of New Year celebrations in Wuhan, a ban on tour agencies from bringing groups of people out of the city and thermal monitors and screening in public spaces. Regional spread From the first reported case in December, in Hubei province, the virus has spread to almost all of China's administrative regions this week. The country has adopted prevention and control measures that are typically used for major outbreaks such as plague and cholera. This means health officials will get sweeping powers to lock down affected areas and quarantine patients. Wuhan `` temporarily '' closed its airport and railway stations on Thursday for departing passengers, and all public transport services are suspended until further notice. The city's coronavirus task force also announced the closure of highways out of the city. Meanwhile, the city made it mandatory for everyone to wear face masks in public places after confirmed coronavirus cases passed the 500 mark. Unprecedented lockdown Authorities in China have imposed indefinite travel restrictions in 15 cities in Hubei province, the most affected area in the country, impacting an estimated 32 million people. Wuhan, a city of 11 million, is under effective lockdown, with all public transport in and out of the city closed. Other cities across the province are under less severe travel restrictions. A global threat: Confirmed cases around the world The virus has spread well beyond mainland China, so far to 13 places including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Australia and the United States. Airports around the world have increased health screenings and implemented new quarantine procedures as officials race to slow the spread of the virus. Various countries, including the US and the UK, have also issued travel advisories for Wuhan. International flights from Wuhan Wuhan is a major transportation hub. Not only is the city a center for China's high-speed rail network, it has flights going to more than 60 international destinations from Tianhe International Airport. On Thursday, as confirmed cases ramped up across the country, government officials announced the temporary closure of Wuhan's airport and railway stations. All train tickets in and out of Wuhan have also been suspended, while multiple international airlines have canceled flights to the city. China has encouraged passengers traveling to and from Wuhan to change their travel plans during the busy Lunar New Year holiday period, by exempting them from service charges for refunds for all modes of transport. How does this compare to the SARS virus? Scientists say the infectiousness of the virus is not as strong as SARS, but have added that the number of people infected is climbing. A study by researchers in the UK estimated that the number of infections in Wuhan is still grossly underestimated, with the real number closer to 4,000 as of January 18, based on the spread of the virus to other cities and countries in a relatively short period of time. SARS infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774 in a pandemic that ripped through Asia in 2002 and 2003. On Thursday, David Heymann, the chairman of a World Health Organization committee gathering data on the outbreak, said the virus spreads more easily from person to person than previously thought. But there is still much that is not known about the virus and, as the above graphic shows, its death rate is far smaller than that seen during the SARS outbreak.

business

Daniel Straus ' Top Picks: Jan. 22, 2020

The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon. With a Q4 gain of 7.8 per cent, global equities ended 2019 with a bang. And at a 26.9 per cent total return, 2019 was the best year in a decade for the MSCI All Country World Index. Virtually all main equity regions posted double-digit returns. The U.S. has extended the longest ( albeit one of the slowest) business cycles in history as it chugs along through an entire decade. What should we expect for 2020? National Bank’ s strategists remind us that business cycles don’ t die of old age, but from other catalysts like restrictive monetary policies. They believe monetary policies of major central banks should remain accommodative in 2020, with the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada likely to keep their target rates unchanged. This could serve as a tailwind to risk assets with modest upward pressure on longer-term Treasury bond yields. Against this background, shorter-duration spread products should fare relatively well within the fixed income space. Because bond yields have fallen ( even though they may have bottomed out), our strategists’ models are responding to signals that there might exist value opportunities in favour of equities. In particular, the idea of shifting assets away from the U.S. market and into more cyclical indexes ( the TSX or the MSCI Emerging Markets) might be a legitimate choice assuming that global growth does indeed accelerate. That said, U.S. economic fundamentals are still supportive of further growth, and the consensus is calling for an earnings per share rebound to take place in all four quarters of 2020 for U.S. benchmarks like the S & P 500. As a result, the overall geographical allocation still favours the U.S. more than other regions. Turning to the foreign exchange market, our strategists expect the U.S. dollar to face some headwinds in the coming months, as global growth continues and a risk-on mood percolates through the FX space. This should, in turn, support the Canadian dollar, which has so far benefitted only slightly from the USMCA ratification and the sharp rise in interest rate spreads late last year. This ETF has assets of $ 80 million and a management expense ratio of 0.60 per cent. FXM holds a fairly concentrated portfolio of 30 Canadian value stocks selected for low valuation ratios along dimensions of price-to-earnings, cash flows, book value, and sales. It attempts to avoid “ value traps ” by also selecting companies with upward earnings estimate revisions. Because of its equal weight and sector-constrained index-nature, it tends to show very high “ active share ” relative to more mainstream Canadian benchmarks, so its tendency to deviate from the market can be quite high. With that in mind, the resultant portfolio still screens well for overall exposure to the value factor. VEE has assets of $ 980 million and a management expense ratio of 0.24 per cent. It is one of the main benchmark “ bellwether ” products for broad emerging market exposure, but it differs from other similar ETFs in key respects. For one, it is structured as a “ wrap ” of the U.S.-listed ETF VWO, which allows it to deliver enormous liquidity to the Canadian listing. Also, because of the way FTSE indexes categorize emerging markets, it has zero South Korea allocation. This is just something to keep in mind if an investor is using products that track other index families which might also be missing South Korea from developed market exposures. Finally, FTSE was early in including China A-share companies in its universe and VEE’ s weight in the country at 31 per cent is slightly higher than other similar products. XSB has assets of $ 2.3 billion, which makes it one of Canada’ s largest bond ETFs. It is also one of the cheapest with a 0.10 per cent management expense ratio. We’ re highlighting XSB to emphasize our strategists’ view that long-term rates might edge upwards in the coming months. XSB’ s composition of 35 per cent corporate bonds and low duration of 2.7 years helps play into that theme while remaining a possible core “ ballast ” allocation in many kinds of portfolios. WISDOMTREE U.S. QUALITY DIVIDEND GROWTH VARIABLY HEDGED INDEX ETF ( DQD TSX) ​The excess cash that has accumulated in Canadians’ bank accounts during the pandemic might not provide quite the economic boost that the federal government has been hoping for, according to a Bay Street economist. The extremely transmissible Omicron variant has prompted companies in the manufacturing and resource sectors to downgrade their earnings forecasts amid the ongoing uncertainty. The Nasdaq Composite notched its worst month in nearly two years after the Federal Reserve’ s aggressive hike signals roiled high-flying technology stocks. Joe Rogan pledged more balance and better research for his podcast in an apology aimed at quelling growing controversy about misleading coronavirus information that plunged Spotify Technology SA into controversy last week. Calgary's downtown office vacancy rate has declined for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian banks increased their pay per worker 6.3 per cent in fiscal 2021, more than twice the average boost in the previous three years, as inflation and competition make it costlier to attract and retain employees. Canadians have been scrambling to sock away their retirement savings and lower their tax bills in the popular tax shelter since 1957. Aside from a few tweaks over the decades, the basics of the RRSP remain the same.

general

Wuhan coronavirus death toll rises to 17 with 547 infected in China, sparking fears of wider spread

On Wednesday, the Chinese city of Wuhan -- where the virus was first identified -- said it would `` temporarily '' close its airport and railway stations for departing passengers. All public transport services will also be suspended, as authorities attempt to contain the virus. The city lockdown begins at 10 am local time Thursday ( 9 pm ET Wednesday), according to an announcement from the city's coronavirus command center. Chinese health authorities said that at least 547 cases had been confirmed in the mainland, with eight new deaths linked to the virus in Hubei, the central Chinese province of which Wuhan is the capital. Cases were also confirmed in the Chinese territory of Macao and the self-governing island of Taiwan. Beyond China, officials in Washington state on Tuesday confirmed the first case on US soil. The patient is a male in his 30s who is under observation at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, said John Wiesman, Washington's secretary of health, at a press conference Wednesday. Health officials have reviewed the travel history of the patient, said Dr. Chris Spitters, Snohomish Health District acting health officer on the patient's contact investigation. `` As of now, there are at least 16 identified close contacts, '' Spitters said. `` Local health departments started reaching out to them yesterday and continued doing so today. '' Spitters said `` the risk to the general public remains low and the public health system and our health care partners are working swiftly and collaboratively to address this situation. '' Cases have also been reported in South Korea, Thailand and Japan, and suspected cases detected in Australia. Worldwide, a total of 555 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak was detected in mid-December. However, the World Health Organization ( WHO) has not yet declared the virus a `` public health emergency of international concern, '' which might merit a coordinated global response. The organization's emergency committee met Wednesday in Geneva, but decided more information was needed to declare the status of the outbreak and what recommendations should be made regarding it. It is expected to take up the matter again on Thursday. China on Tuesday announced it was adopting Class A prevention and control measures, typically used for major outbreaks such as plague and cholera. This means health officials will get sweeping powers to lock down affected areas and quarantine patients. China previously used such measures in 2009 to tackle an outbreak of H1N1, introducing mandatory quarantine for anyone who had `` close contact '' with an infected person, including foreigners arriving in the country from areas where H1N1 outbreaks had been reported. Li Bin, China's national health commissioner, said that officials are aware of around 2,200 cases of `` close contact '' with known virus carriers. Regarding suspected cases, 715 patients have been discharged while more than 300 patients remain on medical watch. The disease is mainly transmitted `` through the respiratory tract, '' said Li, adding that `` there is possibility of viral mutation and further spread of the disease. '' While there are indications that Chinese authorities are ready to ramp up controls on travel -- including ordering that all trips to Wuhan be canceled and refunded -- it remains to be seen whether the virus, already reported in around a dozen locations, can be reined in before the Lunar New Year travel period truly kicks in. The largest annual human migration on Earth, hundreds of millions of people will travel across China and overseas during the four-week period, which began in mid-January and continues until February. Many will go by train or plane, raising the risk of infection as they are put in close contact with other travelers. What we know about the virus First identified in Wuhan in mid-December, the novel coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV) is in the same family of infections as severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS). Coronaviruses are transmitted by animals and people, and the Wuhan strain has been linked to a market in the city which was selling seafood and live animals, including wild species. SARS was previously linked to similar markets, particularly the sale of civet cats, a delicacy in some parts of China. Speaking Wednesday, Li, the Chinese health official, said that Wuhan and Hubei provincial authorities should tighten the regulation of farm markets and wild animals. He also urged the public to avoid crowds and minimize large gatherings. Chinese health officials said human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed, raising the chance of its spread. In one instance, 14 doctors and nurses operating on a patient unknown to be carrying the virus were all infected with it, suggesting it can be spread relatively easily. People were seen at a train station Wednesday trying to get train tickets to leave Wuhan. The true extent of the virus is unclear, and official figures may be an underestimation. A study by British researchers previously estimated -- based on the spread of the virus overseas in a relatively short time -- that the number of people infected in Wuhan alone was likely around 1,700. However, so far the death toll is relatively low, and almost all cases involved elderly people with preexisting conditions: of the more than 400 confirmed cases in China, nine deaths have been reported so far, or 2.25%. By comparison, SARS had a mortality rate of around 10%, and was even more deadly among vulnerable populations. Worldwide effort With cases and suspected cases already reported across Asia and now as far afield as the US and Australia, containment efforts are being put in place in many travel hubs. Wuhan alone has connections with more than 60 overseas destinations through its international airport, while Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, all of which have reported cases, have hundreds more. Airports across Asia have stepped up temperature screening of incoming passengers, as have several hubs in the US, including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Officials at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport put up signs at the international arrivals area instructing travelers from Wuhan to watch for symptoms of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started displaying the sign in English and Chinese on January 14, an airport spokesman said. The International Air Transport Association ( IATA) issued a statement saying it was closely monitoring developments and is actively working with the WHO secretariat, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the CDC. With all indications that the virus has a relatively slow incubation time, however, these efforts may be insufficient to stop its spread. `` You can not absolutely prevent entry into the country of a disease like this. The incubation period is probably a week, '' Australia's chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said Tuesday. `` It's about identifying those with a high risk and making sure people with a high risk know about it and know how to get medical attention. '' Raising concerns about how difficult it is to detect those with the virus, even if they have some symptoms, a patient in South Korea told doctors there she had developed a fever and muscle pains on Saturday and was prescribed cold medicine by a doctor in Wuhan, before being sent on her way. She was later confirmed to have the coronavirus during a check in Seoul. In the US, the National Institutes of Health is working on a vaccine for the new virus, though it will take at least a few months until the first phase of clinical trials get underway and more than a year until a vaccine might be available. Scientists in Texas, New York and China are also at work on a vaccine, according to Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. `` The lesson we 've learned is coronavirus infections are serious and one of the newest and biggest global health threats, '' Hotez told CNN.

business

Olympic qualifying events canceled and moved due to deadly Wuhan

The Asian Football Confederation ( AFC) also announced that the Olympic qualifying for women's football has been moved from from Wuhan to Nanjing. It follows an outbreak of the virus last month in the city of Wuhan that has since killed 17 people, sickened hundreds and spread as far as the United States. Chinese authorities and scientists say wild animals sold at the popular Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market market are the likely source of the new strain of coronavirus, which is in the same family of viruses as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS). READ: Life inside ground zero of Wuhan coronavirus outbreak READ: Wuhan coronavirus death toll rises to 17 with 509 infected says China, sparking fears of wider spread The boxing qualifiers were due to take place in Wuhan from February 3-14. The February 3-9 dates for the women's football, which includes Australia, China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei, will remain the same. `` The Boxing Task Force continues to work closely with the Chinese Olympic Committee ( COC) and all partners to explore alternatives and will immediately inform National Olympic Committees, National Federations and officials on any development, '' the IOC statement read. Tokyo 2020 takes place from July 24 to August 9.

business

Canadian health agencies ramping up preparations amid coronavirus

The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon. Canadian public health agencies are ramping up preparations to deal with a new viral illness that has killed 17 people and infected more than 400 in China and has spread to other countries, including one case in the United States. Health officials have said there are no confirmed cases of the emerging coronavirus in Canada, but public health agencies say they would not be surprised if the bug does makes its way here -- or already has. Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, notes the virus comes from the same family that can lead to the common cold. It's also the same family that caused the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, 17 years ago, which killed at least 774 people worldwide, including 44 people in Canada. However, Williams said the country is `` much better prepared '' than it was in 2003. `` The system is on alert, all the things are in place and we're monitoring, '' he told The Canadian Press. `` If it's a false alarm for Canada, so be it. '' BNN Bloomberg's Amanda Lang discusses why markets may be overreacting as a new viral illness that has spread out from China continues to make headlines. The agencies said they are awaiting direction from the World Health Organization, which has convened a group of experts to advise whether the outbreak should be declared a global emergency as the virus appears in other countries. The group will meet again Thursday to figure out the best way forward. Canada's chief public health officer said Monday the risk to Canadians of contracting the virus remains low, but airports in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal -- all of which have direct flights from China -- would begin screening passengers as one measure of defence. Williams and Dr. Barbara Yaffe, the associate chief medical officer of health with the province, said global travel and the international makeup of the country are the main reasons the virus could come to Canada. The pair say they have been in close contact with the Public Health Agency of Canada, which was created in response to two critical commissions of the health systems response to the SARS outbreak. Williams and Yaffe said they recently investigated three cases in the province that `` met some case definition: '' flu-like symptoms and travel to Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicentre of the outbreak. `` We tested all those fairly quickly and ruled them out, '' Williams said. They said there is still a lot to learn about the new virus, but Chinese health officials have said there is evidence it can be transmitted from person to person. `` If there is ( human-to-human) transmission, it doesn't so far seem to be as rapid or aggressive as SARS, but all these viruses are a little different in their communicability... and mortality, '' Dr. Williams said. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer for B.C., credited Chinese health officials for their early detection of the virus and its genetic sequencing, which has given authorities around the world the ability to test for it. `` We're in influenza season, and this causes an illness that is similar to influenza, so having a test and being able to say, 'No you don't ' or 'Yes you do have it -- and here is what you should do, ' is incredibly important, '' said Henry, who was with Toronto Public Health during the SARS outbreak. `` It really is an important step ahead from where we were with SARS. '' Communication -- both among health agencies and to the front lines -- is also markedly better, the doctors said. Yaffe said public health agencies, hospitals and paramedics have all received numerous memos with up-to-date information about the new virus. Frontline workers are also now asking anyone who has flu-like symptoms to take a travel history. Health-care practitioners are also being reminded to gear up with protective masks and gloves as well as regular hand-washing -- practices that not only help against this coronavirus, but also work for preventing the spread of the flu and other viruses, Henry said. New Brunswick has issued a similar edict to its regional health authorities, according to Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province's chief medical officer of health. The doctors also want Canadians to be careful if travelling to China, and to tell their health-care provider if they have flu-like symptoms. -- with files from Kevin Bissett in Fredericton

general

The world is better prepared than ever to stop the Wuhan coronavirus

Editor’ s note ( January 23rd): This article has been updated to mention new cases of the virus and restrictions in Wuhan. HOW AND when it infected the first human being, by making the jump from an animal, is anybody’ s guess. But one thing is certain about the new coronavirus which was discovered in December in China and is now causing a global scare: it is a known unknown. And this, along with the health authorities’ response so far, is mostly good news. Your browser does not support the < audio > element. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. People’ s fear is understandable. As The Economist went to press, over 600 cases had been confirmed in six countries, of which 17 were fatal. The new virus is a close relative of SARS ( severe acute respiratory syndrome), which emerged in China in 2002 and terrorised the world for over half a year before burning out. SARS afflicted more than 8,000 people and killed about 800, leaving in its wake $ 30bn-100bn of damage from disrupted trade and travel ( see article). That toll would have been lower if the Chinese authorities had not hushed up the outbreak for months. But things are very different this time. The Chinese have been forthcoming and swift to act. Doctors in Wuhan, the metropolis where it began, have come in for criticism, but the signs are that they promptly sounded an alarm about an unusual cluster of cases of pneumonia—thereby following a standard protocol for spotting new viruses. Chinese scientists quickly isolated the pathogen and shared its genomic details with the world. Back in the days of SARS, genetic sequencing like this took weeks. The genomic data can help scientists spot cases quickly, both in China and abroad. The government stopped travel in and out of Wuhan and two nearby cities, corralling almost 20m people. That is extreme and heavy-handed. Yet, although it could drive some cases underground, it will also slow the spread of the virus across China and abroad. Even so, an awful lot rests on some of the known unknowns. The two big questions are how easily the virus can be passed directly from person to person and just how dangerous it is. Data from monitoring people who have had contact with those infected will soon help answer the first question. The second will be harder. The 3% mortality rate among cases confirmed so far is alarming. That puts it within the range for the devastating Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 which killed 2-10% of those infected. But in many people the new virus causes only mild symptoms, so many cases may not have been recognised for what they are and hence not added to the total. As more such people are identified through expanded screening, the estimated death rate should fall. Conversely, though, that rate could go up as more of those infected become seriously ill—a progression that takes about a week and is seen in 15-20% of patients in hospitals. The true character of the new virus will become better known in the coming weeks. Public-health measures will adjust accordingly, using lessons learned from SARS and MERS, a still-deadlier cousin discovered in 2012 in Saudi Arabia that spreads only through close contact. The WHO has long worried about the possible emergence of a “ disease X ” that could become a serious international pandemic and which has no known counter-measures. Some experts say the virus found in China could be a threat of this kind. And there will be many others. Further illnesses will follow the same well-trodden path, by mutating from bugs that live in animals into ones that can infect people. Better vigilance in places where humans and animals mingle, as they do in markets across Asia, would help catch viral newcomers early. A tougher task is dissuading people from eating wild animals and convincing them to handle livestock with care, using masks and gloves when butchering meat and fish, for example. Such measures might have prevented the new coronavirus from ever making headlines. ■ Correction ( January 24th 2020): A previous version of this article said the Spanish influenza pandemic in 1918 killed 3-5% of the world's population. The piece has been clarified to note that the pandemic killed 2-10% of those infected. Published since September 1843 to take part in “ a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress. ” Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2021. All rights reserved.

business

Why wild animals are a key ingredient in China’ s coronavirus outbreak

Before its closure, exotic animals – from snakes to civet cats – were available at a wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan that is ground zero of a

business

Wuhan, Center of Coronavirus Outbreak, Is Being Cut Off by Chinese Authorities

BEIJING — Chinese authorities on Thursday morning closed off Wuhan — a city of more than 11 million people and the epicenter of a pneumonia-like virus that has spread halfway around the world — by canceling planes and trains leaving the city, and suspending buses, subways and ferries within it. The announcement, shared on Chinese state media just hours before it was to take effect, was a significant escalation from just the day before, when the authorities had urged people not to travel to or from the central Chinese city but had stopped short of shutting down transportation. The new virus, which first emerged at the end of December, has killed at least 17 people and sickened more than 570, including in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and the United States. It has raised the specter of a repeat of the SARS epidemic, which broke out in China in 2002 and 2003 and spread rapidly while officials obscured the seriousness of the crisis. That virus eventually killed more than 800 people worldwide. The virus has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and a number of other countries. In recent days, governments around the world have introduced special screening measures at ports of entry, and the World Health Organization is weighing the declaration of an international emergency. The Chinese authorities said that the measures in Wuhan were needed to “ effectively cut off the transmission of the virus, resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic, and ensure the safety and health of the people. ” They said they would later announce an end date for the restrictions. The news spread quickly. On Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like Chinese social media site, the hashtag # WuhanLockdown was the top trending topic, with more than 1.6 million views. Chinese users left comments on the government’ s announcement expressing support for the lockdown and concern for the residents of the city. “ Go Wuhan, ” several posted. Others wondered how sick residents would get from their homes to hospitals without public transportation. Some who said they lived in Wuhan asked what would happen to them. “ Who will think of the lives of those of us who are healthy in Wuhan? We are also afraid, ” wrote one user, who described herself as a designer living in Wuhan. “ Even before the city was closed, we protected ourselves and hid at home. Now we are lambs who will still be slaughtered, and we can only leave our fates to the heavens. ” Extreme measures during outbreaks have been imposed elsewhere before. During the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014, Sierra Leone ordered everyone in the nation to stay home for three days as the authorities went door-to-door checking for new cases, retrieving dead bodies and trying to stop the disease from spreading further. In Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, a sprawling neighborhood with tens of thousands of people was put under strict quarantine by the government and guarded by police officers in riot gear, setting off violent clashes with penned-in residents. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, anyone in China who displayed symptoms of the disease was hospitalized, and students were examined daily. In Singapore, people suspected of having SARS were confined to their homes and monitored with webcams and electronic bracelets. Still, medical experts were startled by the scale of the shutdown in Wuhan, which has more people than the entire country of Sierra Leone. Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that a city the size of Wuhan has “ tens of thousands of connections with the outside world that are coming and going all the time, bringing food and medicine. ” ” The complexity and downside cost of that will be potentially very high, ” Dr. Inglesby said. Roughly 30,000 people fly out of Wuhan on an average day, according to air traffic data analyzed by researchers at Northeastern University in Boston. Many more leave using ground transportation like trains and cars. The city is the hub of industry and commerce in central China, home to the region’ s biggest airport and deep-water port and sometimes known as the Chicago of China. It is popular among tourists for its colonial architecture, spicy noodles and proximity to the Yangtze River. In the short term, the sudden restrictions could upend the travel plans of millions of Chinese citizens, who travel in huge numbers during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Friday. The government said it would close Wuhan’ s airport and train stations to departures, and it urged residents not to leave the city — a major transportation hub — unless they had an urgent reason to do so. The Lunar New Year in China is typically the world’ s largest annual migration of people, with hundreds of millions of travelers fanning out across the country and the world, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent on hotels, restaurants and shopping. Before the virus emerged, the Chinese government had estimated that domestic travelers would make three billion trips over the holiday period, also known as the Spring Festival. But with the new coronavirus, the mass migration is also an epidemiologist’ s nightmare. On Wednesday, a senior Chinese health official delivered a stark warning: The tide of travel during the holiday would make it more difficult to contain the outbreak. In addition, “ the possibility exists that the virus could mutate, and there are risks that the epidemic could spread further, ” said the official, Li Bin, a deputy head of China’ s health commission. Chinese officials had already classified the virus as a class B infectious disease, a category that includes SARS. Before the transportation shutdown, the Wuhan government had also issued a ban on large public gatherings and performances at hotels and sightseeing destinations. They had announced that all locals were required to wear masks in public to help prevent the spread of the virus. Tour companies had promised penalty-free refunds for hotel bookings and air and train tickets to and from the city. Travel operators had suspended itineraries with stops there. Outside of Wuhan, many Chinese have also already canceled travel plans, forgoing vacations and what for some is their only chance to return home for family reunions during the year. “ After we heard how bad the situation was on Monday, we held a family meeting and decided that it just wasn’ t worth the risk, ” said Yan Chaowei, 32, a Shanghai resident who was planning on taking a seven-hour bullet train to her family home in southeastern Jiangxi Province. Updated May 20, 2020 Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. Over 38 million people have filed for unemployment since March. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $ 40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $ 100,000, a Fed official said. If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) There is an uptick in people reporting symptoms of chilblains, which are painful red or purple lesions that typically appear in the winter on fingers or toes. The lesions are emerging as yet another symptom of infection with the new coronavirus. Chilblains are caused by inflammation in small blood vessels in reaction to cold or damp conditions, but they are usually common in the coldest winter months. Federal health officials do not include toe lesions in the list of coronavirus symptoms, but some dermatologists are pushing for a change, saying so-called Covid toe should be sufficient grounds for testing. Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’ t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea. Taking one’ s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “ normal ” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’ t have a thermometer ( they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications. The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’ t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’ t replace hand washing and social distancing. If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested. Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities. “ It just wouldn’ t be a relaxing trip, especially with a small child, ” she added. “ When we finally made the decision to stay home, we sighed with relief. ” For Chinese companies, the outbreak could deal yet another blow at a time of slowing economic growth. According to official estimates, Chinese spent $ 74 billion on travel and $ 145 billion on shopping and food during the Spring Festival holiday last year. But this week, the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, said that all travel by tour groups between Wuhan and Taiwan would be suspended. North Korea also temporarily banned foreign tourists, many of whom come from China, according to a leading tour operator. Some international health experts, including the World Health Organization, have praised the Chinese government’ s response as timely. But the government, particularly in Wuhan, has drawn public criticism at home for what some see as a delay in the reporting of cases that evoked the memory of the SARS outbreak, in which the Chinese government withheld critical information. A top committee of the ruling Communist Party warned officials on Tuesday in a social media post that anyone who sought to hide infections would be “ forever nailed to history’ s pillar of shame. ” And new cases were continuing to emerge. In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday morning that the Mexican health authorities had identified a possible case in the northern state of Tamaulipas. The patient was “ under observation, ” the president said during a news conference. Gloria Molina, the health secretary for the state of Tamaulipas, said that the patient is a 57-year-old researcher in a university biotechnology laboratory who had visited Wuhan recently and works in Reynosa, a border town near McAllen, Texas. Despite the spread of the virus, some experts are urging the public to remain calm. “ This is a SARS-like event but not as severe as SARS, ” said Wang Linfa, director of the emerging infectious disease program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. “ During an outbreak like this from an unknown pathogen, overreacting might be better than underreacting, but we still have to be realistic. ” Zhu Niancheng, 19, a chemistry major at a university in Wuhan, appeared to be heeding that advice on Wednesday as he sat on a suitcase outside a Beijing train station smoking a cigarette. “ Don’ t worry, I’ m not going to Wuhan, ” he said, as a phalanx of People’ s Liberation Army soldiers in green uniforms and black face masks marched behind him. Asked if he was concerned about his classmates back in Wuhan, the teenager laughed and said, “ I’ m not really afraid. We just make fun of each other on WeChat, like ‘ Yo, you still alive?’ ” Amy Qin reported from Beijing and Vivian Wang from New York. Reporting was contributed by Christopher Buckley from Beijing, Roni Caryn Rabin in New York, Kirk Semple from Mexico City, and Tiffany May, Ezra Cheung and Elaine Yu from Hong Kong, and Allison McCann from London. Zoe Mou contributed research from Beijing, and Claire Fu contributed research from Chengdu, China.

business

China Silences Critics Over Coronavirus Outbreak

The SARS disaster was supposed to drag China into a new era of openness and responsibility. The deadly disease rippled across the world 17 years ago, abetted by a Chinese government that covered up its spread. As the scope of it became clear, China’ s journalists, intellectuals and other critics helped shame Beijing into opening up about the problem. “ SARS has been our country’ s 9/11, ” said Xu Zhiyuan, then a young newspaper columnist and a fierce critic of the government’ s handling of SARS, in a 2003 interview with The New York Times. “ It has forced us to pay attention to the real meaning of globalization. ” Today, China faces the spread of another mysterious disease, a coronavirus, which so far has killed 17 people and infected more than 570. And while Beijing’ s response has improved in some ways, it has regressed in others. It is censoring criticism. It is detaining people for spreading what it calls “ rumors. ” It is suppressing information it deems alarming. Though China’ s censors are busily scrubbing the Chinese internet, the country’ s online community is registering its disappointment and alarm over Beijing’ s handling of the new virus that has spread since December from the city of Wuhan to other countries, even the United States. “ I thought SARS would force China to rethink its governance model, ” Mr. Xu, now a video talk show host, wrote on social media on Tuesday, also posting a screenshot of his 2003 quote in The Times. “ I was too naïve. ” The virus has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and a number of other countries. In many ways, China has changed for the better since the SARS epidemic. Its economy has grown eightfold. It has built more skyscrapers, subways and high-speed rail lines than any other country. Its tech companies rival Silicon Valley’ s giants. A more responsive bureaucracy provides more people with health care, social services and even quality-of-life improvements like parks. When it comes to handling diseases, the public health system has greatly improved. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, is also home to one of the most advanced epidemic disease research laboratories in the world. Those improvements have come at a price. The government has tightened its grip on the internet, the media and civil society. It has deeper pockets and a greater ability to control the flow of information across the country. As a result, many of the media outlets, advocacy groups, activists and others who held the government accountable in 2003 have been silenced or sidelined. “ The system is successful in that it destroyed the people with integrity, the institutions with credibility and a society capable of narrating its own stories, ” Mr. Xu said on social media. “ What’ s left is an arrogant power, a bunch of messy information and many fragile, isolated and angry individuals. ” Even as the new virus spread through Wuhan, the government took pains to keep up appearances. The first case was reported Dec. 8. As the disease spread, Wuhan officials insisted that it was controlled and treatable. The police questioned eight people who posted on social media about the virus, saying they had spread “ rumors. ” On Saturday, two days before Wuhan told the world about the severity of the outbreak, it hosted a potluck banquet attended by more than 40,000 families so the city could apply for a world record for most dishes served at an event. On the day it broke the news to the world, it also announced that it was distributing 200,000 free tickets to residents for festival activities during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins this Saturday. The central government backed Wuhan’ s officials. Wang Guangfa, a prominent government respiratory expert, told the state broadcaster China Central Television on Jan. 10 that the Wuhan pneumonia was “ under control ” and mostly a “ mild condition. ” Eleven days later, he confirmed to Chinese media that he might have contracted the virus himself during an inspection in Wuhan. Recognizing an outbreak can take time, and China is not the first government caught flat footed by a disease. But the choices made by government officials had an impact on a major commercial and transportation hub. Wuhan is a city of 11 million people, including nearly one million college students from across the country. By the time it disclosed the seriousness of the outbreak, the 40-day Lunar New Year travel season, when Chinese people take an estimated three billion trips combined, had already begun. People might have made different decisions had websites and headlines described growing worries. Instead, they traveled. On Tuesday, all five confirmed cases in Beijing were people who had traveled to Wuhan in January for business, study or leisure. Until a week ago, some people in China called it the “ patriotic virus. '' Cases appeared in Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and elsewhere in Asia. No other Chinese city but Wuhan reported infection cases. It was not until the Hong Kong news media reported over the weekend that the virus had been found in other cities did officials elsewhere come forward. Some critics see parallels to SARS. In 2003, the Guangzhou newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily first reported the SARS outbreak. A military doctor, Jiang Yanyong, came forward with what he knew. Only then did officials act. “ The way this virus came into the public view is the same as that of SARS 17 years ago, ” said Rose Luqiu, an assistant journalism professor who covered SARS as a reporter for the Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television. Updated May 20, 2020 Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. Over 38 million people have filed for unemployment since March. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $ 40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $ 100,000, a Fed official said. If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) There is an uptick in people reporting symptoms of chilblains, which are painful red or purple lesions that typically appear in the winter on fingers or toes. The lesions are emerging as yet another symptom of infection with the new coronavirus. Chilblains are caused by inflammation in small blood vessels in reaction to cold or damp conditions, but they are usually common in the coldest winter months. Federal health officials do not include toe lesions in the list of coronavirus symptoms, but some dermatologists are pushing for a change, saying so-called Covid toe should be sufficient grounds for testing. Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’ t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea. Taking one’ s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “ normal ” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’ t have a thermometer ( they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications. The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’ t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’ t replace hand washing and social distancing. If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested. Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities. Many of those brave voices in 2003 are gone. Like almost all Chinese media outlets that were active in the 1990s and 2000s, the Southern Metropolis Daily has lost its freedom to pursue coverage that holds local governments, if not Beijing, accountable. Only a few mainland news media outlets are covering the current crisis critically, and then only with an analytical tone. In 2003, Phoenix Television called Ms. Luqiu, then a star reporter, back from Iraq to report on SARS in Beijing. She shadowed the newly appointed Beijing mayor, Wang Qishan, for a week to cover how the government dealt with the crisis. Mr. Wang later became the vice president of China. That kind of openness is unimaginable now. Last week, when a group of Hong Kong journalists went to the Wuhan hospital that took in most coronavirus patients, the police detained them for a few hours. They were asked to delete their TV footage and hand in their phones and cameras for inspection. On Tuesday, Ms. Luqiu wrote an article for qq.com, the news site owned by the internet giant Tencent, about the measures the Hong Kong government has taken in dealing with the virus. The article was deleted 10 hours later. Dr. Jiang, the military doctor who became a whistle-blower in 2003, has been put under periodic house arrest and forbidden to visit the United States to collect a human rights award. He is also portrayed as a bad role model. A multiple-choice question posed by a test-prep school in 2017 asked about Dr. Jiang’ s decision. The correct answer was B: It was wrong because it harmed the interests of the nation, the society and the community and should be subject to legal punishment. China’ s disclosures have improved in many ways since SARS. The government admitted the problem faster. Beijing officials have shown determination to be more transparent. A top party committee said on Tuesday that it would not tolerate any efforts to hide infections. “ Whoever deliberately delays or conceals reporting for the sake of their own interests will be forever nailed to history’ s pillar of shame, ” the committee said in a post on WeChat. The post was later deleted. But when the government is the only source of information, wise advice and valuable clues can be lost. A police bureau in eastern Shandong Province posted on the Twitter-like social media platform Weibo on Wednesday that it had detained four residents who spread rumors that there was a suspected coronavirus patient in the district. In that environment, others dare not speak out. “ The authorities are sending a signal, which is that only the government agencies can talk about the epidemic, ” Yu Ping, a former Southern Metropolis Daily reporter, wrote on his personal blog. “ All other people should just shut up. ” “ It’ s not public disclosure, ” Mr. Yu added. “ It’ s a naked information monopoly. ”

business

As Coronavirus Spreads from China, Scientists See Grim Reminders

Less than a month after the first few cases of a new respiratory illness were reported in Wuhan, China, travelers have carried the virus to at least four other countries, including the United States. More than 500 people are known to have been infected, at least 17 have died — and the world is bracing itself for what might come next. On Wednesday, experts at the World Health Organization decided to postpone until Thursday a decision on whether the current outbreak constitutes a “ public health emergency of international concern, ” a label given to serious public health events that endanger international public health ” and “ potentially require a coordinated international response. ” A vote by W.H.O.’ s emergency committee was split down the middle, its chairman said, and the group concluded that it did not have enough information to make a decision. “ The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence, ” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, W.H.O.’ s director general, said at news briefing. Adding that a W.H.O. team was in China gathering information, he said, “ We will have much more to say tomorrow But even as the W.H.O. debated its decision, officials in China began closing transportation links from and within Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. The move was a significant escalation in the country’ s attempts to contain the spread of the virus as the Lunar New Year approaches and holiday travel commences. Dr. Tedros and W.H.O. officials at the briefing said they had not advised China to close Wuhan, but nonetheless expressed support for the decision, saying it could protect other parts of China and other countries. Public health officials around the world are on alert because the new infection is caused by a coronavirus, from the same family that caused outbreaks of SARS and MERS, killing hundreds of people in dozens of countries. The W.H.O. has already advised governments to be prepared for the disease, to be vigilant and ready to test anyone with symptoms like cough and fever who has traveled to affected regions. Air travel is expected to surge as the Lunar New Year approaches this weekend. More important than an emergency declaration is the need for more data on the outbreak, said Jennifer B. Nuzzo of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Scientists still do not have enough information about the severity of the disease, she said. “ I want to see from the emergency committee all the information on the table and an assessment of what the risk really is, ” Dr. Nuzzo said. “ To me, that’ s far more important than their declaration. ” One purpose of an emergency declaration is to draw world attention to an outbreak, so that governments can prepare and also provide needed help. “ There’ s already a high level of global attention, ” Dr. Nuzzo said, adding that she was not sure how much a declaration would have changed things. Several countries have already begun screening travelers from China for fever and cough. Airports in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco last week started to screen arriving flights from Wuhan, and airports in Atlanta and Chicago will begin doing so this week. “ Data shows that entry screening requires a tremendous amount of resources and is not tremendously effective, ” Dr. Nuzzo said. North Korea has suspended tourism because of the outbreak, according to Reuters. The virus has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and a number of other countries. Important questions about the outbreak are still unanswered, and W.H.O.’ s expert committee now must grapple with significant unknowns. “ We don’ t know how many people are infected, ” said Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the W.H.O. “ The more you test, the more you will find people who are infected. We don’ t know if there are asymptomatic cases. If they are asymptomatic, are they contagious? ” Broad studies to test for evidence of infection, past and present, would give a true picture of how many people have been exposed to the virus. The virus causes a pneumonialike illness, with coughing and fever in some people but not all. The severity matters: If there are cases with mild illness or no symptoms at all, they may go undetected, and those people will keep working, shopping and traveling, possibly infecting others. A milder illness has the potential to spread farther and cause longer-lasting outbreaks than one with more obvious symptoms, according to Dr. Mark R. Denison, an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine who studies coronaviruses. Compared to SARS and MERS, the Wuhan illness so far does seem less severe, he said. SARS, which began in live-animal markets in China in 2002, quickly spread to dozens of countries, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing nearly 800. The virus is thought to have originated in bats and spread to civet cats that were being sold for consumption. The civets spread the virus to humans, who infected one another through respiratory secretions and also exposure to feces. SARS often caused severe illness, so cases were detectable, Dr. Denison said; aggressive public health measures, including quarantines and travel restrictions, helped stamp out the epidemic. But the travel bans, not to mention widespread fear and distrust, took a heavy economic toll on China, and since then international authorities have become hesitant about taking drastic steps to quell outbreaks. MERS cases have been occurring in the Middle East since 2012, mainly in people who have been exposed to camels, which were most likely infected by bats. Human-to-human transmission does occur, and some spread has happened in hospitals. As of November, there had been 2,494 cases of MERS in the last seven years, mostly in Saudi Arabia. The death rate is 34 percent, but may actually be lower if there are mild cases of the disease that have not been detected or counted. Dr. Denison described the new Wuhan coronavirus as “ sort of a first cousin of SARS, ” more closely related to it than to MERS, based on its genetic sequence. Researchers do not know just how contagious the Wuhan coronavirus is. The first people to be infected are thought to have contracted it at a market in Wuhan that sold meat, fish and live animals. That market has been shut down and disinfected. Which animal might have been carrying the virus is not yet known. [ Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter. ] Initially, the illness appeared to spread only from animals to people. Then, experts said there was evidence of “ limited ” human-to-human transmission. Now, more cases are emerging among people with no known exposure to the animal markets, and in medical staff members caring for infected patients. Updated June 12, 2020 So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “ very rare, ” but she later walked back that statement. Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’ s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks. A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study. The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’ s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April. Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission. Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “ start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid, ” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “ When you haven’ t been exercising, you lose muscle mass. ” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home. States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’ t being told to stay at home, it’ s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people. Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. ( Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) Taking one’ s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “ normal ” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’ t have a thermometer ( they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications. The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’ t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’ t replace hand washing and social distancing. If you’ ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. If you’ re sick and you think you’ ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’ s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’ re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’ t be able to get tested. “ Now that you have a cluster of 14 health care workers infected, it suggests that the potential for spread is much greater, ” said Dr. Ian W. Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’ s Mailman School of Public Health in New York, who has researched SARS and MERS. “ I saw film footage of a hospital lobby in Wuhan, and they are wearing full personal protective equipment from head to toe, ” he said. “ They are taking it very seriously. I still don’ t think this is as bad as SARS, but it’ s worse than they originally portrayed it. ” Dr. Denison said that with both SARS and MERS, there were episodes in which individual patients became “ super-spreaders ” who infected many other people, for unknown reasons. “ That’ s a wild card we don’ t know, the capacity to have multiple transmissions from one person, ” Dr. Denison said. “ There was no evidence they had dramatically different virus. ” It is possible, he said, that super-spreaders had received a high dose of the virus and had more of it to transmit. Alternatively, their immune systems might have not been able to control the virus, allowing it to multiply and spread extensively in their bodies, making them more contagious. Although no drugs have been approved specifically to treat coronavirus diseases, Dr. Denison said that in animal studies, an antiviral called remdesivir appeared effective. He has been working with other researchers to develop treatments. Mr. Jasarevic said that antivirals were being tested against MERS, but that none had been approved yet. How and why viruses that have peacefully coexisted with their animal hosts for a long time strike out for new territory — us — is not well understood. Coronaviruses often inhabit bats without harming them, and sometimes move into other animal species and from them to humans. In places that bring multiple animal species together with lots of people — like the food markets in Wuhan and in other parts of China that sell live mammals and birds, along with meat and fish — viruses can pass back and forth between species, mutating as they go. Along the way, they may become able to infect humans. “ Coronaviruses have repeatedly shown an ability to probe across species and cause new animal and human diseases, ” Dr. Denison said. To go successfully from animal hosts to people, the viruses need to adapt in several ways: They must gain the ability to invade human cells, evade the immune system, replicate inside the human body and spread to others. The move is often described as “ jumping ” into humans, but that is an oversimplification, Dr. Denison said. “ The process it has to go through is more like high hurdles with a thousand hurdles along the way, ” he said. Still, the new outbreak does not greatly surprise him: “ This was a matter of not if, but when. ”

business

Dollar retakes ¥110 in Tokyo trading

The dollar recovered ¥110 in Tokyo trading Wednesday, as investors calmed down after overreacting to news about the spread of a deadly viral outbreak. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.00-00, up slightly from ¥109.97-97 at the same time Tuesday. The euro was at $ 1.1085-1086, down from $ 1.1092-1092, and at ¥121.95-95, down from ¥121.99-99. After moving at levels below ¥109.90, the dollar topped ¥110 toward noon on buybacks induced by the Nikkei average’ s rebound. The greenback then lost upward momentum in the absence of fresh buying incentives. Excessive concerns over the new Chinese coronavirus receded, thanks in part to a media report pointing out that the virus is not extremely fatal, a currency broker said. Still, players found it not advisable to actively buy the dollar against the yen as long as an end to the outbreak is not in sight, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.

tech

Moderna Surges On Corona Virus Outbreak, Is Now The Time To Buy?

Shares of Moderna Inc ( MNRA) surged more than 6% in premarket trading and may be headed higher. The move is driven by a growing belief it will be a major player in the development of vaccines for China’ s latest viral outbreak. The disease, a form of coronavirus, has already claimed the lives of nine people in China and more deaths are expected. The first case of the new coronavirus has been found in the U.S. already. The victim, a male traveler from China, was found in Snohomish County, Washington and is now in isolation. Moderna is already working on vaccines for a number of commonly found illnesses so it makes sense they would tackle this one as well. Vaccines in the pipeline include those for CMV, RSV, hMPV, Zika, and H7N9 flu. Labeled the Wuhan Coronavirus, symptoms for most are similar to a heavy cold or onset of pneumonia. So far, more than 400 cases have been diagnosed in China. The disease is highly contagious which makes it of particular concern this week. The Chinese Lunar New Year celebration will begin this weekend, 100’ s of millions of people are expected to travel. The CDC is already screening travelers at airports in California and New York. They will be expanding their screens to airports in Chicago, Atlanta and other airports with traffic coming from Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization will convene a panel soon to discuss making the Wuhan Virus a global health emergency. Along with the risk to world health, world leaders are thinking back to the SARS virus and its impact on the global economy. Moderna Inc, At The Cutting Edge Of Today's Medicines Moderna Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. Clinical-stage means its vaccines and pipeline of drugs is ready to be or in the process of being tested on humans. It develops therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, and rare diseases based on messenger RNA. document.write ( ' < a style= '' text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal; color: # 696969; '' target= '' blank '' rel= '' nofollow '' href= '' https: //www.ame ' + 'ricanconsumernews.net/scripts/click.aspx? NativeDisplayAdID=472 & ImpressionID=0 & UserID=0 & Placement=PlaceOnArticlePage '' > '); Gold just moved past $ 1,700 an ounce. Stock values are doubling and tripling. Individual investors who aren’ t afraid of the risk are piling in and getting rich. You can try and figure out which companies to buy on your own… mRNA therapies are highly-advanced, cutting edge technologies that threaten to upturn the entire drug industry. They use the body as a drug-making machine, the mRNA is the means by which they do it. The mRNA delivers messages directly to cells telling them to produce complex proteins that cost millions to make in a factory. The hurdle for Moderna, and others in the gene-therapy field, is that introducing the new mRNA into the body triggers an automatic response. The response includes shutting down protein production and effectively blocking any positive effects the mRNA may have. On top of that, there is concern that if the mRNA can be delivered and not trigger a negative response, it may not be able to make enough new proteins to matter. The CEO Is Bullish, Clinical Trials Advance Even so, there is a lot of work being done. Moderna has 11 drugs in clinical trials right now and 20 development projects in the pipeline. The company has collaborative deals with top-players like Astrazenaca ( AZN), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck & Co ( MRK), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Shares of Moderna got a boost a week or so ago after the company’ s CEO appeared on Mad Money. Bottom line, CEO Stephane Bancel is bullish on Moderna’ s prospects pointing out a-key drug is moving into the Phase III stage of trials. What this means is the company has proven its therapies can work, in this case for CMV ( a common cold that can kill infants and elderly), now it has to prove they work better than today’ s standards. The Technical Outlook Is Bullish For This Risky Stock The technical outlook is bullish. Today’ s move began even before the outbreak of the Wuhan Virus and sets a new high. Sparked by the companies pipeline and outlook, this rally could have legs. The indicators support the breakout and suggest there is room for price action to run. The best targets for resistance are at the $ 24 and $ 29 levels, advances of 6% and 30% respectively. Traders looking to get into this move are cautioned, Moderna is a high-risk growth stock so be extra cautious with position size. Also, price action will probably pull-back to support or consolidate in sideways action before moving higher so there is no need to rush in or chase prices. Patience will pay off. 15 Energy Stocks Analysts Love the Most There are more than 450 energy companies traded on public markets. Given the sheer number of pipeline companies, power plant operators, oil and gas production companies and other energy stocks, it can be hard to identify which energy companies are going to outperform the market. Fortunately, Wall Street's brightest minds have already done this for us. Every year, analyst issue approximately 8,000 distinct recommendations for energy companies. Analysts don't always get their `` buy '' ratings right, but it's worth taking a hard look when several analysts from different brokerages and research firm are giving `` strong buy '' and `` buy '' ratings to the same energy stock. This slide show lists the 15 energy companies that have the highest average analyst recommendations from Wall Street's equities research analysts over the last 12 months. View the `` 15 Energy Stocks Analysts Love the Most ''. Complete the form below to receive the latest headlines and analysts ' recommendations for your stocks with our free daily email newsletter:

business

First Wuhan coronavirus case confirmed in United States as authorities say threat to public from deadly pneumonia still ‘ low’

Public health officials in Washington state confirmed on Tuesday the first case of Wuhan coronavirus in the United States.

business

WHO head says must consider all evidence before virus decision

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he needs to consider all of the evidence in order to decide if the coronavirus that emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan is an international health emergency. In a tweet, Adhanom said he asked the Emergency Committee to meet again tomorrow after a day of discussions regarding the virus. The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern on new # coronavirus is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence.

general

Hong Kong leader Lam insists to stay on to tackle crises

A confident Carrie Lam said on Wednesday that Hong Kong had several crises to manage, but insisted she was staying on as the Chinese-ruled city’ s leader, dismissing calls to step down. At times laughing and smiling, Beijing-backed Lam told the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos that she had to stay on to tackle an economic crisis and the coronavirus, which has killed 17 people in mainland China. Lam is on a mission to the Swiss Alps to reassure global leaders meeting there that the Asian financial center is open for business, despite months of anti-government protests and “ nothing is more important than the rule of law ”. “ It would be very easy to just run away from a situation. It’ s very difficult to govern and implement policies. For those who understand the political structure, leaving that position vacant would only create more confusion, ” she said. Lam’ s remarks contrast with comments made in August. In a recording obtained by Reuters she told a private meeting of business people she had caused “ unforgivable havoc ” by igniting the crisis and would quit if allowed to do so. The coronavirus could not come at a worse time for Hong Kong, whose status as a financial center has come under scrutiny as images of sometimes violent street clashes between police and protesters have been beamed live to the world since June. “ While people focus on what has happened in Hong Kong, what has not happened in the last months is massive bloodshed on Hong Kong streets.... A curfew has not happened. The gagging of the media has not happened, ” Lam said. Speaking hours after Hong Kong quarantined a man “ highly suspected ” to have contracted China’ s new flu-like virus, Lam said robust processes were in place and the city had learned lessons from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS), which killed nearly 300 people in the city in 2003. “ My health colleagues are really on guard. With this rapid flow of people across the border we are vulnerable, ” she added. Tens of millions of Chinese start traveling this week to celebrate Lunar New Year, heightening fears of contagion of the coronavirus, which has killed 17 people in mainland China and rattled global markets. Memories of the impact of SARS still haunt Hong Kong and any repeat would batter an economy that sank into recession in the third quarter as months of protests took a heavy toll. Since its return to Beijing in 1997, the former British colony has been governed under a “ one country, two systems ” formula that guarantees it broad freedoms not seen in mainland China, including an independent judiciary and free press. Some demonstrators accuse Beijing of meddling in the city’ s affairs, which it denies. The revolt in the global financial center has dealt a major setback to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said in December Hong Kong’ s situation in 2019 “ was the most complex and difficult since its return to the motherland. ” Lam said Xi was “ definitely ” committed to the “ one country, two systems ” formula of governance, which was “ sacrosanct ”. Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Alexander Smith

business

Hong Kong on high alert to tackle coronavirus outbreak

Hong Kong’ s government is on high alert to deal with a new flu-like coronavirus that has killed nine people in mainland China, the city’ s commerce secretary, Edward Yau, said on Wednesday. The outbreak has rattled financial markets as investors recall the huge impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS), which killed nearly 800 people globally during a 2002/03 outbreak that also started in China. Yau is part of a delegation on a mission to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos to convince global business and political leaders that the Asian financial hub is back on track after more than seven months of protests, even as it faces a potentially more damaging crisis. “ The whole world is watching this new epidemic... We are also getting fully prepared for this because of such close proximity between Hong Kong and the mainland, and very hectic travel, ” Yau told Reuters. During the Lunar New Year celebrations, tens of millions of Chinese travel domestically, starting from this week. “ Policy is on high alert, making sure that we can contain and prevent the spreading of the disease. ” The virus, originating in Wuhan at the end of last year, has spread to Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the United States, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in Hong Kong, although the Chinese-ruled gambling hub of Macau confirmed on Wednesday its first case of pneumonia linked to the coronavirus. Yau also said the former British colony was well placed to address any cyclical and structural challenges, just days after Moody’ s downgraded the financial hub, blaming the government for failing to deal with the sometimes violent protests. Speaking about the city’ s “ one country, two systems ” formula of governance, Yau said Hong Kong was holding on “ steadfastly ” to the system. Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997 with the promise of wide-ranging autonomy under the “ one country, two systems ” formula, including a free press and independent judiciary. Many protesters believe Beijing has been steadily encroaching on that promised autonomy, something that China denies. Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Tom Hogue and Alexander Smith

business

Saudi Arabia to screen travelers from China after virus outbreak

Saudi Arabia will start screening passengers arriving from China and take other preventive measures following the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China, the kingdom’ s health ministry said on Wednesday. Deaths from China’ s new flu-like virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with more than 540 cases confirmed, increasing fears of spreading contagion from an infection suspected of originating from illegally traded wildlife. The virus, which first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and can pass from person-to-person, has been reported in Thailand, Japan and South Korea, raising concerns about its spread through international air travel. The United States reported its first case on Tuesday in an American who had traveled to Wuhan. Saudi’ s health ministry is coordinating with the country’ s civil aviation regulator to evaluate passengers arriving on direct and indirect flights from China, it said on Twitter. It also advised individuals traveling to affected cities to avoid markets and dead or live animals. Bahrain’ s health ministry also is coordinating with the country’ s main airport to start pre-emptive measures there, state media reported on Wednesday. The Bahrain News Agency report did not disclose what action had been taken but said the country had increased preventive measures to avert an outbreak. There are no suspected cases in Bahrain, it said. The United Arab Emirates, a major air transit hub, on Monday said its airports and ports were on standby to handle cases but did not say what specific action had been taken. The United States, Australia and several other countries have introduced screening measures at major airports. Reporting by Alaa Swilam; Writing by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Bill Berkrot

business

Coronavirus not yet declared a public health emergency

Officials at the World Health Organization said the emergency committee is split on whether to declare the new coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. The committee, which met Wednesday, will meet again on Thursday `` given the rapidly evolving situation. '' The new virus was first identified in December in Wuhan City, China. Media outlets , citing Chinese health authorities, have reported that 17 people have died, and 500 people have been infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that a U.S. resident returning from Wuhan City who has been diagnosed with the virus is being treated in Washington state. Health officials now believe that the virus is spread human to human.

business

What the 2003 SARS epidemic tells us about the potential impact of China’ s coronavirus on oil and metals

The outbreak of coronavirus in China has led to concerns over a slowdown in the nation’ s economy and put pressure on oil and industrial metals prices on bets for potentially weaker demand for the commodities. However, if the 2002-2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic, known as SARS, may serve as a guide, the overall impact of the virus outbreak may be modest and short lived on the global economy, as well as on the commodities sector. “ Even the significant economic disruption related to SARS turned out to be temporary and experts expect this disease to be less deadly and better contained, ” said Jennifer McKeown, head of the Global Economics Service at Capital Economics, in report dated Wednesday. As of midnight Tuesday there were 440 confirmed cases of coronavirus in China and at least nine people have died, according to the Associated Press . Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the U.S. and Taiwan. The SARS outbreak roughly 17 years ago saw more than 8,000 cases in 26 countries and killed nearly 800 people. After news of a single coronavirus case diagnosed in the United States emerged Tuesday , prices for industrial metals such as silver and copper finished lower. On Wednesday, silver US: SIH20 prices have moved up a bit to settle at $ 17.828 an ounce, up 0.1% for the session, though copper US: HGH20 continued its decline, losing 1% to finish at $ 2.765 a pound. Oil prices US: CLH20 UK: BRNH20 , meanwhile, moved sharply lower Wednesday , with some analysts attributing weakness to the possibility that the virus will curb travel and result in less fuel consumption. Industrial metals can sell off and test or move below the 2019 lows if China’ s coronavirus becomes an epidemic, said Chintan Karnani, chief market analyst at Insignia Consultants. The virus will “ result in less consumer spending in the short term, ” he said. Depending on the scope of the spread, “ industrial metals can fall between 3% to 5% anytime. ” Jeff Klearman, portfolio manager at exchange-traded fund issuer GraniteShares, said that prices for base metals, which copper and zinc, would decline if the coronavirus becomes widespread and weaken global economic growth. He specifically mentioned copper as China accounts for about half of global demand for the metal. Crude-oil prices would decline under that scenario as well, as oil touches “ almost all phases of the economy, ” he said. “ A slowdown in industrial production, air travel and gasoline consumption would lead to less demand pitting against ample supply. ” But Karnani pointed out that a few hundred people getting the disease is “ not an epidemic ” in the world’ s most populous nation. The developments over the next three weeks will be “ crucial, ” he added. The spread of the virus comes ahead of the Lunar New Year celebration, which begins on Jan. 25 and can last through to the Feb. 8 Lantern Festival. It’ s a significant travel period for the Chinese, raising the potential for further spread of the illness. “ The recent outbreak of a new coronavirus in China has raised questions on its potential impact on the oil and jet fuel markets, ” analysts Damien Courvalin and Callum Bruce of Goldman Sachs wrote in research note dated Tuesday. “ Translating the estimated SARS demand impact into 2020 volumes ” leads to a potential 260,000 barrels per day “ negative shock to global oil demand on average, ” including a 170,000 barrel-per-day loss of jet fuel demand, the Goldman Sachs analysts said. These demand concerns will counter worries around supply disruptions in Libya, Iran and Iraq, they added. The total oil demand loss would translate into a modest $ 2.90 per barrel impact on oil prices, based on Goldman Sachs pricing model, the analysts said. Uncertainty surrounding the SARS epidemic had “ left market and forecasters initially pricing and assuming a much larger impact than eventually occurred, ” they said. Oil was down nearly 20% at its trough during that epidemic, but the “ elevated level of fear ultimately subsided when the pace of new cases reported slowed, with a total duration of the epidemic outbreak of [ approximately ] 5 months, before a quick recovery in regional activity. ” Given that, many analysts believe the impact from the spread of the coronavirus will be less significant, as well as temporary. For now, the spread of the coronavirus across Asia into the U.S. is “ clearly a major public health concern, ” but Capital Economics expects that its economic effects will be “ modest, ” said McKeown. “ Based on the information we have, we do not expect the coronavirus to have more than a temporary effect on global GDP, which is likely to be made up once the disease is brought under control, ” she said. “ And while there have already been some effects on financial markets... we suspect that these too will be short-lived. ”

business

TSX resumes record climb, loonie falls after Bank of Canada open to rate cuts

The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon. TORONTO -- Canada's main stock index resumed its climb to record highs midweek as the Bank of Canada said it was finally open to lowering interest rates. The central bank kept interest rates on hold Wednesday at 1.75 per cent in the face of a slower-than-expected start to 2020 for the Canadian economy, but governor Stephen Poloz left the door open to a rate cut if the weakness is more persistent than expected. In its latest quarterly forecast, the central bank predicted the Canadian economy will grow by 1.6 per cent this year, down 0.1 of a percentage point from its projection in October. The Bank of Canada is recognizing that the Canadian economy is slowing, said Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp. `` Does it slow down really quickly in which case they would cut ( interest rates) quickly or if it's slowing more slowly they 'll just take more time to assess the situation, '' he said in an interview. The bank's comments helped to bolster the S & P/TSX composite index, which gained 27.58 points to a record close of 17,599.86 after hitting a record intraday high of 17,666.45. It also caused the Canadian dollar to hit a one-month low of 76.24 cents US compared with an average of 76.53 cents US on Tuesday. Chopra said it's difficult to say how much of the TSX's gains were due to the Canadian central bank when other markets were also up. `` It would be hard to try to separate the news from the Bank of Canada and the strong global market reaction today offsetting yesterday, '' he said before markets lost some of their large morning gains toward closing. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.77 points at 29,186.27. The S & P 500 index was up 0.96 of a point at 3,321.75, while the Nasdaq composite was up 12.96 points at 9,383.77. U.S. markets initially climbed strongly on positive earnings results including IBM and reduced concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, said Chopra. `` I think investors are just getting a better handle on the implications of that... offsetting yesterday's decreases for sure. '' With many companies reporting positive results, investors are satisfied that earnings are coming in appropriately, he added. `` And you 've got some of the geopolitical issues around Iran seem contained, the issue around the coronavirus seems more contained and there were recession fears last year and certainly late in 2018 but investors don't seem as much concerned about a recession. '' Seven of the 11 major sectors of the TSX were higher, led by telecommunications, health care and technology. Rogers Communications Inc. gained 3.2 per cent after the Toronto-based telco said it plans to spend nearly $ 3 billion on capital investments this year assuming there's no negative changes to the regulatory environment. The heavyweight financials sector was higher as the prospect of lower interest rates is helpful for borrowers and reduces bank credit losses. Energy was the weakest sector on the day, falling as shares of Crescent Point Energy Corp. lost 2.7 per cent, ahead of declines by Fronterra Energy Corp. and Husky Energy Inc. The key sector dropped on lower crude oil prices after the International Energy Agency said the global market was in surplus, along with concerns that the coronavirus would reduce global demand as travel would decrease. The March crude contract was down US $ 1.64 at US $ 56.74 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down one cent at US $ 1.905 per mmBTU. Materials was also down on lower metals prices as Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. and Goldcorp Inc. were down 2.2 and 1.6 per cent respectively. The February gold contract was down US $ 1.20 at US $ 1,556.70 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 2.85 cents at US $ 2.765 a pound. Perhaps the most relevant comparison to the mad dash of scoring a rapid antigen test is the frenzied market for toilet paper that broke out in 2020. Nutrien remains tight-lipped on departure of two CEOs in eight months. At least one currency strategist is surprised by the Canadian dollar’ s flat performance over the past year considering the boom in commodity prices and the Bank of Canada’ s timeline for hiking interest rates. Canada's oil sands producers were able to export a record amount of crude to overseas markets thanks to a new link to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

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DNA study suggests snakes may be source of coronavirus outbreak

A newly published article in the Journal of Medical Virology is reporting the first results of a genetic study into the DNA of the novel coronavirus currently spreading across the globe. The research suggests the new virus may have originated in snakes, which were known to be sold at the animal market in Wuhan where the outbreak began. Many of the worst viral outbreaks that have struck humanity originated in animals. Referred to as zoonotic viral diseases, these viruses first evolve in animals and then acquire genetic mutations that allow them to jump into humans. The two most recent coronavirus outbreaks, SARS and MERS, were both thought to have initially evolved in bats before moving into other animals and then ultimately infecting humans. In the case of SARS, masked palm civets are the primary suspect for initial transmission between animal and human, while camels have been implicated as the animal origin for MERS. This new coronavirus outbreak, named 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization, is thought to have originated at an animal market in Wuhan, China. The particular market is known for vendors selling a wide variety of exotic animals, including wolf puppies, peacocks, porcupines and crocodiles. A team of Chinese scientists is now presenting the first genetic study of this novel virus. The new research suggests 2019-nCoV is a combination of a known coronavirus found in bats and a second coronavirus of unknown origin. Such viruses are referred to as recombinant viruses. Further study of the particular protein codes favored by the virus suggests the most likely animals that harbored 2019-nCoV before it jumped to humans were snakes. “ Results derived from our evolutionary analysis suggest for the first time that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV, ” the researchers conclude in the study. “ New information obtained from our evolutionary analysis is highly significant for effective control of the outbreak caused by the 2019-nCoV-induced pneumonia. ” An editorial on the new research, from a trio of scientists who did not work on this new study, suggests this snake hypothesis is certainly plausible, but much more work is needed before any origin is conclusively proven. And, the subsequent closure of the market in Wuhan will make it challenging to home in on any source animals. “ Snakes often hunt for bats in wild, ” the scientists write in The Conversation. “ Reports indicate that snakes were sold in the local seafood market in Wuhan, raising the possibility that the 2019-nCoV might have jumped from the host species – bats – to snakes and then to humans at the beginning of this coronavirus outbreak. However, how the virus could adapt to both the cold-blooded and warm-blooded hosts remains a mystery. ” The new study was published in The Journal of Medical Virology. Source: Wiley

science

Public transportation suspended in China city to combat coronavirus outbreak

Government officials in Wuhan, China are suspending all public transportation, including buses, trains, airplanes and ferries, to better combat the coronavirus outbreak, from Thursday morning Beijing time. Officials are also asking citizens not to leave the city unless there are special circumstances. Additionally, people in public places will be required to wear masks to prevent exposure to the illness, local officials said. The actions came after public health officials said earlier in the day that deaths from China's new virus, which is believed to have started in Wuhan, rose to 17. China's National Health Commission said Thursday there were 571 cases of the new coronavirus as of midnight local time on January 22. Fears that the coronavirus could disrupt travel and commerce, and slow economic growth sent a chill through global risk markets, hitting Asian stocks hard, depressing copper and oil prices, and sending investors into safe havens, like U.S. Treasurys and German bunds. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually infect animals but can sometimes evolve and spread to humans. Symptoms in humans include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath, which can progress to pneumonia. Chinese authorities say many of the patients with the new illness had come into contact with seafood markets, suggesting the virus is spreading from animals to people. However, health officials say some `` limited human-to-human transmission '' occurred between close contacts.

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Moderna is working on a vaccine for China's deadly coronavirus

Moderna on Tuesday told CNBC it is working with U.S. government health agencies to develop a vaccine for the current strain of coronavirus that has killed nine and infected hundreds more in China. Shares of Moderna surged 7% in premarket trading following the report. The biotech company is working with the National Institutes of Health ( NIH), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID), and the Vaccine Research Center ( VRC) on a potential vaccine, the company said in a Securities and Exchange filing. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC's Becky Quick his company is working with the NIH to develop the vaccine. `` They 've produced a cancer vaccine in 40 days; using the same tech to do this quickly, '' Quick tweeted. `` Moderna's mRNA vaccine technology could serve as a rapid and flexible platform that may be useful in responding to newly emerging viral threats, such as the novel coronavirus, '' the company said in its SEC filing. `` While we have not previously tested this rapid response capability, Moderna confirms that we are working with NIH/NIAID/VRC on a potential vaccine response to the current public health emergency. '' Moderna, founded in 2010, is using Amazon's cloud platform for more than a dozen drug candidates in the pipeline, with seven going through trial studies, according to Amazon Web Services. The cloud service is used to help speed up the amount of time it takes to get the drugs from research to clinical trials. —CNBC's Becky Quick and Tyler Clifford contributed to this report.

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Coronavirus: Heathrow to screen arrivals from affected Chinese region

People arriving at Heathrow airport from the Chinese city at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak will be met by health teams including a doctor, the government has announced, as UK infectious disease experts doubled their estimate of the likely number of cases to 4,000. Three direct flights a week arrive in the UK from Wuhan, where the outbreak began and which has been linked to a market selling seafood and wild animals. The type of coronavirus has never been identified before and it has been confirmed that human-to-human transmission is taking place. About 460 people have become ill and nine have died so far in China. The World Health Organization will decide on Wednesday whether to sound the global alarm by classifying the disease as an outbreak of international concern. Experts believe it is quite possible the disease, which causes coughing, fever and breathing problems, will arrive in the UK, as it has in the US. It can take at least five days for symptoms to show. Prof Neil Ferguson’ s team at Imperial College, who carry out disease modelling for the WHO, said they had increased their estimate from 1,700 cases at the end of last week to 4,000. However, they say there is considerable uncertainty and the true number could be between 1,000 and 9,700. “ You should not interpret that as the epidemic doubling in size in five days, ” Ferguson said. The increase was due to more information coming out of China, where doctors were struggling to deal with a rapidly evolving situation. “ All the reports I have read from within China [ suggest ] that hospitals are now overwhelmed with suspect cases. ” The confirmed cases tend to be the more severe ones, in people who end up in hospital. But it is possible there are many more mild cases, which do not get reported but may lead to greater transmission from one person to another. “ It is vital we understand the rate of human-to-human transmission, ” he said. “ That will determine the feasibility of control and what measures will need to be taken. ” Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at the University of Oxford, said there was “ quite a long latency ” after infection before serious symptoms show, starting with a mild fever and a dry cough. “ After about a week or so, they develop shortness of breath and then severe respiratory distress. About 15 to 20% of hospitalised cases are severe, requiring oxygen or ventilation. ” Experts say the spread of the coronavirus fulfils the criteria for the WHO to declare it of international concern. “ Personally, I think this is a big event, ” said Horby. “ Is it extraordinary? Yes, it pretty much is. We haven’ t seen this large-scale spread since Sars. ” The death rate at the moment appears to be about 2%, which is far lower than in Mers ( Middle East respiratory syndrome) which kills about a third, or Sars ( severe acute respiratory syndrome) which had a death rate above 10%. Both are also coronaviruses. The big Sars outbreak began in China in 2002 but spread around the world and killed more than 800 people. Mers is far less transmissible. Heathrow has put health screening in place before – notably during the huge west Africa Ebola outbreak, when all arrivals from the three affected countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, had their temperatures checked and filled out questionnaires about any possible exposure to the virus. There will be warning messages during the direct flights from Wuhan, said the Department of Health and Social Care, and captains will be required to report on any passenger feeling unwell before takeoff. Flights will arrive in an isolated area of Terminal 4, where they will be met by a port health team including a medical inspector and a doctor. All passengers will be asked about their health and checked for symptoms, including their temperature. They will be given instructions on what to do if they begin to feel ill once in the UK. “ This is a new and rapidly evolving situation where information on cases and the virus is being gathered and assessed daily. Based on the available evidence, the current risk to the UK is considered low. We are working with the WHO and other international partners, have issued advice to the NHS and are keeping the situation under constant review, ” said Dr Nick Phin, the deputy director of the National Infection Service at Public Health England. “ If you are traveling to Wuhan, you should maintain good hand, respiratory and personal hygiene and should avoid visiting animal and bird markets or people who are ill with respiratory symptoms. Individuals should seek medical attention if they develop respiratory symptoms within 14 days of visiting Wuhan, either in China or on their return to the UK. They should phone ahead before attending any health services and mention their recent travel to the city. ” Public Health England has shifted its risk assessment slightly from “ very low ” to “ low ”, but, said the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, “ obviously we want to stay ahead of the issue so we are keeping a very close eye on it ”. Most cases diagnosed have been in Wuhan but the virus has also spread to other Chinese cities, with a few cases in other countries including the US, Japan and South Korea. Ahead of the lunar new year on Saturday 25 January, Chinese authorities have advised against travel into and out of Wuhan, adding that the country was at the “ most critical stage ” of prevention and control. The UK Foreign Office has updated its advice for Britons travelling to China, warning the virus had spread to other areas outside Hubei province.

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UPDATE 1-Thailand finds fourth coronavirus ahead of Lunar New Year

( Adds background, company share price movements, impact on tourism industry) By Chayut Setboonsarng and Satawasin Staporncharnchai BANGKOK, Jan 22 ( Reuters) - Thailand has quarantined a fourth patient with the new coronavirus, including one Thai national, authorities said on Wednesday, days before Saturday’ s start of the Lunar New Year holiday is expected to bring an influx of Chinese tourists. At least nine people have died from the flu-like virus in China following an outbreak in the central city of Wuhan, and more than 470 cases have been reported globally. Global health authorities and financial markets fear the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically and abroad for the holiday. Thai officials were stepping up screening at airports to look for passengers with high body temperatures, coughs, headaches and trouble breathing, police said. The Thai patient, a 73-year-old woman, had traveled to Wuhan during the New Year holiday and developed a fever after returning. She was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 15, the Public Health Ministry said. She was being monitored in a separate ward in a hospital in Nakhon Pathom, 60 km ( 37 miles) west of Bangkok, where her condition was gradually improving. “ We can control the situation. There have not been cases of human-to-human transmission in Thailand because we detected the patients as soon as they arrived, ” Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters. The other three patients in Thailand were Chinese. Two had recovered and been sent home, while a third would return once tests showed he was clear of the virus, Anutin said. The virus has spread to Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the United States, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Singapore on Wednesday began screening all passengers arriving on flights from China. The Tourism Council of Thailand said that if the virus situation persists, it could have an impact on the industry, which accounts for 12% of the Thai economy. It predicts 41 million tourists will come to Thailand this year. “ If China asks its people from other areas not to leave the country, that will affect our tourist target this year, ” the council’ s president, Chairat Triratanajaraspon, told Reuters. Share prices of hotel operator Central Plaza Hotel Pcl fell nearly 4% and Airports of Thailand Pcl, which operates the international Suvarnabhumi airport, also dropped 1.3% with a smaller decline the benchmark index. The price movements were attributed to an overreaction by retail investors, said Vikas Kwatra, head of foreign institution sales at SCB Securities. “ Sentiment has caused more damage than reality, ” he said. ( Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Satawasin Staporncharnchai Editing by Stephen Coates and Peter Graff)

business

What is the threat to Australia from the new coronavirus?

Nine people are confirmed to have died and at least 440 have been infected in the outbreak of a new Sars-like virus that was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan less than a month ago. The World Health Organisation met on Wednesday to determine whether to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, after authorities in China confirmed the death toll had risen from six overnight. The US reported one confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, designated 2019-nCoV, on Tuesday, and cases have also been confirmed in Korea and Thailand. It has also spread to 14 health workers in China, confirming human-to-human transmission. But health authorities say there is no cause for public concern in Australia. Medical staff from the New South Wales Health department will be stationed alongside biosecurity staff at Sydney airport to meet the thrice-weekly direct flight from Wuhan, conduct an initial diagnosis of any people on the flight who are exhibiting flu-like symptoms, and if necessary send them to Westmead hospital for testing. Authorities are also providing written information, in English and Chinese, to passengers on those flights about what to do if they develop respiratory symptoms. “ We are meeting every passenger, providing information to them, asking them to declare if they have got any symptoms, but we know that an incubation period for a virus like this could be seven days, ” Australia’ s chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, told the ABC. He said temperature scanners would not be used because they did not detect infected people who had not yet developed a fever. “ We know in our experience in swine flu and other epidemics that measuring temperature might pick up a few people but it also misses a lot of people, and it probably doesn’ t add anything to the biosecurity measures that we’ ve put in place, ” he said. Under Australian law airlines are obliged to report sick passengers to biosecurity staff before the plane is unloaded. Coronavirus has also been made a notifiable condition in NSW, which means the state government must be notified of suspected cases. It also means health providers can use powers under the Public Health Act 2010 to isolate or place into quarantine people who are suspected of having the virus, but are not complying with health or biosecurity officers. “ Almost always we don’ t need to do that because people are very sensible and cooperative, but we do have powers, if need be, under the Public Health Act to control the spread of diseases, ” the NSW Health executive director, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, told reporters on Wednesday. Most people can be relied upon to self-report unless their symptoms are so mild as to be mistakenly dismissed as a common cold, said Raina MacIntyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales. “ Most people will self-report because they will be concerned, ” MacIntyre said. “ They will know that they have come from an area of concern and people do not want to die of a serious disease. ” Murphy said reports from China showed there “ clearly seem to be a number of mild cases that just have a fever, a bit like a common cold ”. McAnulty said the virus did not appear to be as severe as Sars, but that it was “ prudent to be cautious until we learn more about this situation ”. MacIntyre said severe acute respiratory syndrome ( Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome ( Mers) had fatality rates of 12% and 26% respectively, while the fatality rate for the novel coronavirus was currently about 2% to 5%. But she stressed there was no formal published data yet. One suspected case has been reported in Australia, but tests showed he did not have the coronavirus. Queensland health authorities confirmed on Tuesday that a man who had recently visited Wuhan had presented with respiratory symptoms. He was released from home isolation after Queensland Health said he no longer had flu-like symptoms, and on Wednesday afternoon it was reported that test results were negative for the virus. Australian authorities are still developing a rapid test for the virus. A laboratory in Melbourne has developed a PCR ( polymerase chain reaction) test, using the virus sequence provided by Chinese authorities. The incubation period for the virus is up to seven days, which means some people could be asymptomatic when assessed at the airport. Murphy said authorities did not have a “ clear clinical picture ” of whether people were infectious before they developed symptoms. He told reporters on Tuesday that “ you can not absolutely prevent the spread of disease into the country ”. “ So it’ s about identifying those with a high risk and making sure those who have a high risk know about it and know how to get medical attention, ” he said. Anyone is at risk who has recently been in Wuhan, or who has had close contact with someone who has been there, and has developed flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, sore throat, coughing or breathlessness. People who suspect they may have the virus are advised to ring ahead to their general practitioner or local hospital, so precautions can be taken to protect other patients from infection and appropriately triage the at-risk patient. The biggest risk to controlling the virus, MacIntyre said, was a failure to appropriately triage. “ We really want to focus on the healthcare system and make sure that detection is improved, ” MacIntyre said. “ You don’ t want somebody sitting in the emergency department for three hours with a cough or fever and not being properly triaged. ” Hospitals and general practitioners have been provided with information and advice about the virus, but MacIntyre said failure to swiftly isolate at-risk patients could increase the spread of the infection. “ We see failure of triage all the time in Australia, such as with measles, ” she said. “ You have got to look at where you can make the biggest impact and if it’ s anything like the Sars and Mers outbreaks it’ s going to be hospitals that are at the highest risk of outbreaks. ”

general

New coronavirus may have 'jumped ' to humans from snakes, study finds

By Rachael Rettner 22 January 2020 Where did this virus come from? A new study points to a slithering suspect: snakes. Editor's note: This article was updated on Jan. 23 to include discussion of the controversy around the new study. As an outbreak of a new coronavirus continues to grow in China and spread to other countries, one question remains: Where did the virus come from? Now, a controversial new study points to a slithering suspect: snakes. The study analyzed the genetic sequence of the new virus, known as 2019-nCoV, and compared it with the genetic sequences of more than 200 other coronaviruses from around the world that infect various animals. However, some experts have criticized the study, saying it's unclear if coronaviruses can indeed infect snakes. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses — some cause illness in people, while others infect animals, including camels, cats and bats, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC). In rare cases, coronaviruses in animals can evolve to infect people and then spread between people. This was the case with SARS and MERS ( Middle East respiratory syndrome) and appears to be the case with 2019-nCoV. Related: 10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species In the new study, published today ( Jan. 22) in the Journal of Medical Virology, the authors found that 2019-nCoV appears to be a mix, or recombination, of two coronaviruses — one that is known to infect bats and another coronavirus of unknown origin. Next, the researchers further analyzed the genetic sequence of 2019-nCoV to look for patterns in the genetic code that may reveal the host that the virus infects. They considered several potential hosts, including marmots, hedgehogs, bats, birds, humans and snakes. Based on this analysis, they concluded that 2019-nCoV may have come from snakes. The findings `` suggest for the first time that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV, '' the authors wrote. The two types of snakes common to southeastern China ( where the outbreak originated) are Bungarus multicinctus, or the many-banded krait, and Naja atra, or the Chinese cobra, the authors said. However, researchers not involved in the study questioned the findings. `` They have no evidence snakes can be infected by this new coronavirus and serve as a host for it, '' Paulo Eduardo Brandão, a virologist at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, told Nature News. He added that there is no solid evidence that coronaviruses can infect hosts other than mammals and birds. Brandão is currently investigating whether coronaviruses can infect snakes. The study also found that, as a result of genetic recombination, 2019-nCoV has a change in one of its viral proteins that recognizes and binds to receptors on host cells. This recognition is a key step in allowing the virus to enter cells, and the change in this specific protein may have contributed to 2019-nCoV's ability to hop species, the authors said. They also noted that snakes were among the animals sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, where many initial cases worked or visited before they became ill. Still, more animal studies will be needed to confirm the findings, the authors said. Researchers not involved in the study also called for further field and lab work to identify the source of the virus, according to Nature News. So far, there are more than 500 confirmed cases and 17 deaths linked to the virus in China, according to the BBC. The virus has been detected in travelers to Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as a resident of the United States who had recently visited Wuhan. The World Health Organization ( WHO) held a committee meeting today to determine whether the virus constitutes an international public health emergency, a distinction that was given during the swine flu outbreak of 2009 and the Ebola outbreak of 2014. However, the committee did not reach a final decision on this topic, and will reconvene tomorrow. `` The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence, '' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, said in a news conference Wednesday ( Jan. 22). Originally published on Live Science. Rachael has been with Live Science since 2010. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.

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Moderna Stock Jumps as Company Hunts Quick Coronavirus Vaccine

The biotech company Moderna could run human trials as soon as April to test a vaccine for the mysterious virus that recently emerged in China, the head of a government institute collaborating with the company told S & P Global Market Intelligence on Tuesday. Shares of Moderna ( ticker: MRNA) were up 6.4% on the news on Wednesday morning. The stock, which closed at $ 20.94 on Tuesday, traded as high as $ 22.30 early Wednesday. “ We anticipate that unless we get in any land mines or unforeseen obstacles, that we will likely have material available to do an early Phase 1 study in about three months, ” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told S & P Global Market Intelligence, according to the Tuesday report. Amid the excitement, investors shouldn’ t lose sight of the fact that Moderna has yet to receive Food and Drug Administration approval for any of its drugs, or even to begin any Phase 3 clinical trials. The news emerged unusually, without formal news releases by either Moderna or the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. On Tuesday, S & P Global Market Intelligence quoted the director of the agency revealing the body’ s collaboration with Moderna. The stock-price jump, however, appears to have come after CNBC highlighted the collaboration on Wednesday morning. The program targets the novel coronavirus that has been the source of increasing worry to public-health authorities across the world in recent days. A spokesperson for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases confirmed to Barron’ s on Wednesday morning that the institute and its Vaccine Research Center were working with Moderna on a vaccine for the coronavirus. “ We are at a very early stage of development, as you can imagine, ” the spokesperson said. “ We’ ll have more to say on the topic in the coming days. ” Moderna has also confirmed the collaboration in a vaguely-worded filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company told Barron’ s it was making no further comments at this time. Moderna, which specializes in drugs based on messenger RNA, uses small amounts of mRNA in its infectious-disease vaccines to activate the immune system against a particular virus. Its most-mature infectious disease vaccine program is a vaccine for cytomegalovirus. The company began Phase 2 trials of the vaccine earlier this month after clocking promising Phase 1 results. In theory, these vaccines can be built fast. Yet the company’ s statement filed with the SEC on Wednesday morning about the new program was cautious. “ While we have not previously tested this rapid response capability, Moderna confirms that we are working with NIH/NIAID/VRC on a potential vaccine response to the current public health emergency, ” Moderna said, referring to the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health. The company has worked with government health authorities in the past. Moderna’ s current investigational Zika vaccine, mRNA-1893, is funded in part by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An earlier Zika vaccine developed by Moderna and funded by BARDA failed in a Phase 1 trial. In 2017, the company said in a statement that scientists with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases had run a study with the earlier version of the Zika vaccine. In the S & P Global Market Intelligence article on Tuesday, Fauci said that the National Institutes of Health would pay for the majority of the planned Phase 1 study. He said that the collaboration was the result of a long-term relationship between Moderna and the National Institutes of Health.

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China coronavirus: Six questions scientists are asking

Medical staff at a hospital in Wuhan, China, where most cases of the viral infection have occurred. Credit: Getty The world is racing to learn more about the outbreak of a new viral infection that was first detected in Wuhan, China, last month and is causing increasing alarm around the world. As Nature went to press, officials in China had confirmed more than 4,500 cases of the virus, which causes a respiratory illness, and some 100 deaths. Around 50 cases had also been confirmed in other countries, in Asia, the United States and Europe. China virus: latest news on spreading infection Researchers fear similarities to the 2002–03 epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS), which emerged in southern China and killed 774 people in 37 countries. Both are members of a large virus family, called coronaviruses, that also includes viruses responsible for the common cold. China has taken unprecedented action to try to halt the outbreak — including putting Wuhan and nearby cities on ‘ lockdown’, restricting travel in and out of the cities. For now, the World Health Organization ( WHO) has held off declaring a public-health emergency of international concern — the agency’ s highest level of alarm — after a meeting of officials last week, but that could change. Nature rounds up the questions at the heart of scientists’ efforts to understand the virus. How does the virus spread? This is the most urgent question surrounding the outbreak. Chinese authorities have confirmed that it spreads from person to person after identifying clusters of cases among families, as well as transmission from patients to health-care workers. Monitoring the rate at which new cases appear, and when symptoms began for each case, should reveal how easily the virus passes between humans and whether the outbreak has the potential to persist. One figure that epidemiologists want is the number of people that someone with the virus tends to infect — known as R 0 . An R 0 of more than 1 means that countermeasures, such as quarantine, will be needed to contain the spread. The WHO last week published an estimated R 0 of 1.4–2.5. Other teams suggest slightly higher values 1 , 2 . These estimates are similar to the R 0 of SARS during the early stages of the 2002–03 outbreak, and of the novel strain of H1N1 influenza that caused a pandemic in 2009. But they are higher than R 0 values estimated during outbreaks of the Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS) virus, a coronavirus similar to SARS. “ Now it’ s in the range of these other important epidemics, and that indicates the potential that it will cause a similar scale of public-health concern if nothing else happens, ” says Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK. But researchers caution that R 0 estimates come with large uncertainties because of gaps in the data, and the assumptions used to calculate the figure. They also point out that the R 0 is a moving target and that estimates of the figure change over the course of an outbreak — as control measures are implemented. In the coming days, health authorities and researchers will be looking for signs that the travel restrictions in Wuhan and other Chinese cities, and other steps taken by to stem transmission, have reduced the R 0 there. Can infected people spread the virus without showing symptoms? Another major unanswered question is whether — and how extensively — people without symptoms can infect others. A study 3 of a cluster of six infections in a family in Shenzhen identified a child who was infected with the virus but showed no symptoms. If such asymptomatic cases are common and these individuals can spread the virus, then containing its spread will be much more difficult, researchers say. Key to controlling the SARS virus was the fact that few cases were asymptomatic. “ Defining the scale of asymptomatic transmission remains key: if this is a rare event then its impact should be minimal in terms of the overall outbreak, ” Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, UK, said in a statement distributed by the UK Science Media Centre. “ But, if this transmission mode is contributing significantly then control becomes increasingly difficult. ” Stop the Wuhan virus One way to determine whether symptom-free people can spread the virus would be to study its spread in individual households in China, says Sheila Bird, a biostatistician at the University of Cambridge, UK. By monitoring all the members of a household in which one person is infected, it should be possible to determine who else contracts the virus and how. Such studies would also be helpful for identifying ways of stopping spread in households, Bird adds. Raina MacIntyre, an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, says that although the rise in cases probably reflects an increase in testing for and detecting the virus, the dramatic jump is concerning. “ It’ s very much a dynamic picture, and until we have an indication that cases are declining, it’ s going to continue to be of concern, ” she says. But MacIntyre also notes that researchers are struggling to accurately model the outbreak, and to predict how it might unfold, because the case-report data being released by Chinese authorities are incomplete. “ What we need to identify is when people got sick, not when the cases were reported, and all we’ ve seen so far is when the cases were reported. ” How deadly is the virus? High rates of pneumonia among the first people infected had many researchers worried that the Wuhan virus was especially pernicious. Those concerns have receded slightly, as more mild cases have turned up. With some 100 deaths in more than 4,500 reported cases, the virus does not seem to be as deadly as SARS — which killed around 10% of the people it infected. But “ It’ s too early to be sanguine about the severity ”, says Neil Ferguson, a mathematical epidemiologist at Imperial College London. Where did the virus come from? Authorities are working on the theory that the virus originated in an unidentified animal or animals, and spread to humans at an animal and seafood market in Wuhan, which is now closed. Identification of the animal source of the virus could help officials to control the current outbreak and gauge its threat — and potentially prevent future epidemics, say researchers. Genetic sequencing suggests that the Wuhan virus is related to coronaviruses that circulate in bats , including SARS and its close relatives. But other mammals can transmit these viruses — SARS was probably spread to humans by civet cats. How quickly does the Wuhan virus spread? The market in Wuhan also sells wild animals. And in a controversial study 4 published last week, a team of researchers in China who had performed a genetic analysis suggested that the virus jumped to humans from snakes. But other scientists were sceptical of the study, and said that there is no proof that viruses such as those behind the outbreak can infect species other than mammals and birds. “ Nothing supports snakes being involved, ” says David Robertson, a virologist at the University of Glasgow, UK. Many researchers think that the animal host or hosts of the virus won’ t be identified without further field and laboratory work. And many hope that genetic tests of animals or environmental sources will turn up clues. A mammal is the most likely candidate, says Cui Jie, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute of Shanghai who was part of a team that identified SARS-related viruses in bats from a cave in Yunnan province in southwestern China in 2017. SARS and the new virus are part of a subgroup known as betacoronaviruses. Fieldwork in the wake of the SARS outbreak has found such viruses only in mammals, Cui says. What can we learn from the virus’ s genetic sequence? Genetic sequencing of the Wuhan coronavirus offers clues to its origins and spread. Labs in China and Thailand have sequenced the genomes of more than 20 strains found in infected people and have made them publicly available. That’ s “ pretty remarkable ”, says Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary geneticist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, who is analysing the sequences as they come in . “ People are extremely fast and excellent about data sharing, ” he adds. Bedford and other geneticists are using the data to determine when the virus emerged — current estimates point to November 2019. Viral sequences, Bedford adds, could identify any genetic changes that might have helped the virus make the jump from animals to humans. And if there is extensive human-to-human transmission, Bedford and other geneticists will be looking for signs that the virus has gained further mutations that are enabling it to spread more efficiently in humans. Bedford cautions that any conclusions are preliminary, because so few data are available. “ Adding a few key samples can change the story significantly, ” he says. Can a drug be developed to treat the coronavirus? No drugs have been shown to be effective in treating SARS or other coronavirus infections in humans, and no vaccines aimed at preventing these infections have been licensed. A team at China’ s National Engineering Research Center for the Emergence Drugs in Beijing is working on finding therapies that would work by blocking the receptor on human cells that the virus latches on to and uses to infect the cells. A comparison of the SARS and new China virus sequences , published on 16 January, found that they probably bind to the same receptor. The team is hoping to revive efforts to develop treatments for SARS and adapt them in a bid to develop a drug that could work against the latest virus. Another researcher who has been developing drugs for coronaviruses since the SARS outbreak is hoping to test drug candidates in animal models of the Wuhan virus . Chinese authorities are also testing whether existing HIV drugs can treat the infection. Ritonavir and liponavir, which are approved to treat HIV, are being given to people with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, according to media reports and a 26 January statement by the Beijing branch of China’ s National Health Commission.

science

China's Wuhan shuts down transport as global alarm mounts over virus spread

Deaths from China’ s new flu-like virus rose to 17 on Wednesday, with more than 540 cases confirmed, leading the city at the center of the outbreak to close transportation networks and urge citizens not to leave as fears rose of the contagion spreading. The previously unknown coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in the central city of Wuhan. Cases have been detected as far away as the United States. Contrasting with its secrecy over the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS), which killed nearly 800 people, China’ s communist government has this time given regular updates to try to avoid panic as millions travel for the Lunar New Year. After a meeting at its Geneva headquarters on Wednesday, the World Health Organization ( WHO) said it would decide on Thursday whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency, which would step up the international response. If it does so, it will be the sixth international public health emergency to be declared in the last decade. “ This is an evolving and complex situation, ” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. As it seeks to stop the spread of the virus, Wuhan’ s local government said it would close all urban transport networks and suspend outgoing flights from the city as of 10 a.m. on Thursday ( 0200 GMT), state media reported, adding that the government said citizens should not leave the city unless there were special circumstances. The measure was intended to “ effectively cut off the transmission of the virus, resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic, and ensure the health and safety of the people, ” state media cited Wuhan’ s virus task-force as saying. Wuhan’ s move was praised by Ghebreyesus as a “ very strong ” measure that could minimize the risk of contagion. “ If Wuhan is taking such drastic measures, we must assume widespread community transmission in this central China megacity & transport hub, ” Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, wrote in a tweet. With more than 11 million people, Wuhan is central China’ s main industrial and commercial center, home to the country’ s largest inland port and gateway to its Three Gorges hydroelectric dam. The latest death toll in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, rose to 17 by midday on Wednesday, state television quoted the provincial government as saying. However, the virus has already spread beyond the city to population centers including Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong. The official China Daily newspaper said 544 cases had now been confirmed in the country. Thailand has confirmed four cases, while the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have each reported one. Britain advised its citizens against all but essential travel to Wuhan. Many Chinese were canceling trips, buying face masks, avoiding public places such as cinemas and shopping centers, and even turning to an online plague simulation game as a way to cope. “ The best way to conquer fear is to confront fear, ” said one commentator on China’ s Twitter-like Weibo. China’ s National Health Commission Vice Minister Li Bin said the virus, which can cause pneumonia and has no effective vaccine, was being spread via breathing. Symptoms include fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. “ I feel fearful, because there’ s no cure for the virus, ” said Fu Ning, a 36-year-old woman in Beijing. “ You have to rely on your immunity if you get an infection. It sounds very scary. ” The WHO’ s head of emergencies program, Mike Ryan, said the priority was to find the roots of how the virus was passing between people. Fears of a pandemic initially spooked markets but they regained their footing on Wednesday, with investors citing the robust response from authorities as reassuring. But companies with operations in China, from Foxconn ( 2317.TW) to Huawei Technologies [ HWT.UL ] and HSBC Holdings ( HSBA.L), warned staff to avoid Wuhan and handed out masks. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention ( ECDC) said in a risk assessment that further global spread of the virus was likely. “ The likelihood of case importation is highest in countries with the greatest volume of people traveling to and from Wuhan, ” the ECDC’ s director Andrea Ammon said in a statement. Airports globally stepped up screening from China. Russia strengthened its sanitary and quarantine controls, and Singapore and Saudi Arabia started screening all passengers from China. The Chinese-ruled gambling hub of Macau confirmed its first case of pneumonia linked to the coronavirus and tightened body-temperature screening measures. A first case emerged in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, media reported, with the patient arriving via high-speed railway from the mainland, and Mexico was investigating a potential case. North Korea banned foreign tourists, several foreign tour operators said. Some qualifying boxing matches for the 2020 Olympics set for Wuhan were canceled and women’ s football qualifiers were shifted to Nanjing. Reporting by Cate Cadell, Lusha Zhang, Yawen Chen and Jiang Xihao in Beijing, David Stanway in Shanghai, Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Josh Smith in Seoul, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Kate Kelland in London, Alexandra Alper in Davos, Shreyashi Sanyal in Bangalore, Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne, Timothy Heritage and Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Nick Macfie, Cynthia Osterman and Jonathan Oatis

business

Outlook for Thursday: Earnings, ECB decision, jobless claims

Here are the most important things to know about Thursday before you hit the door. Technology company Intel reports earnings after the bell on Thursday. Bank of America said it will be watching for how Intel is working to combat market share loss, especially to AMD. Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting Intel to report earnings per share of $ 1.25, compared with the $ 1.28 per share earned in the fourth quarter the year prior. Sales are expected to come in at $ 19.23 billion, topping last year's $ 18.657 billion in sales in the fourth quarter. Shares of Intel are up nearly 30% in the past 12 months. We 'll also get earnings from consumer goods company Procter & Gamble before the bell on Thursday. Analysts are estimating earnings of $ 1.37 per share, topping last year's second quarter of $ 1.25 per share, according to FactSet. Sales are forecast to come in at $ 18.417 billion, compared to the $ 17.438 billion earned in the same quarter last year. Shares of Procter & Gamble have rallied nearly 40% in the past 12 months. Airlines American and Southwest will also report quarterly earnings before the bell on Thursday. Airline stocks have been hit this week due to concerns that the coronavirus outbreak in China would dent international travel. The euro is hovering at one-month lows ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday. A policy meeting expected to be a `` non-event, '' now has risks for a `` hawkish surprise in tone, '' Bank of America rates and currencies research group economist Ruben Segura-Cayuela said in a note to clients. ECB President Christine Lagarde is expected to detail a sweeping ECB strategy review. `` Combined with increasing emphasis on the need to monitor `` side effects '' from negative rates, the risk balance for this week is for a hawkish surprise, '' said Segura-Cayuela. The central bank voted in December 2019 to keep the main deposit rate at the historic low of -0.5%. `` It could be controversial, but not at this meeting … The market is focused on inflation and the inflation target, '' Bannockburn Global Forex chief market strategist Marc Chandler said. `` The review is going to be very broad, and it could include the tools and communications. '' We 'll get a read on the health of the labor market on Thursday when the Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Investors will be watching if the jobs market in 2020 remains a bright spot of the economy. Economists are estimating 215,000 Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, according to Dow Jones. This would be up from the previous week's 204,000 claims. Major events ( all times ET): 7:45 a.m. ECB decision 8:30 a.m. ECB press conference 8:30 a.m. Initial claims 10:00 a.m. Leading economic indicators 11:00 a.m. Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey Major earnings: Comcast ( before the bell) Procter & Gamble ( before the bell) American Airlines ( before the bell) Southwest Air ( before the bell) Union Pacific ( before the bell) Kimberly-Clark ( before the bell) Intel ( after the bell) E-Trade ( after the bell) Intuitive Surgical ( after the bell) — With reporting from CNBC's Michael Bloom and Patti Domm.

business

China coronavirus deaths rise to 17, heightening global alarm

Deaths from China's new virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with more than 540 cases confirmed, increasing fears of contagion from an infection suspected to originate from illegally-traded wildlife. The previously unknown, flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in central Wuhan city, with cases now detected as far away as the United States. Contrasting with its secrecy over the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) that killed nearly 800 people, China's communist government has this time given regular updates to try to avoid panic as millions travel for the Lunar New Year. `` The rise in the mobility of the public has objectively increased the risk of the epidemic spreading, '' National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin said. The World Health Organization ( WHO) was meeting to rule if the outbreak was a global health emergency. After official appeals to stay calm, many Chinese were cancelling trips, buying face masks, avoiding public places such as cinemas and shopping centres, and even turning to an online plague simulation game or watching disaster movie `` The Flu '' as a way to cope. `` The best way to conquer fear is to confront fear, '' said one commentator on China's Twitter-like Weibo. The virus has spread from Wuhan around China to population centres including Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong. The latest death toll in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, rose from nine to 17 by midday on Wednesday, state television quoted the provincial government as saying. Official newspaper China Daily said 544 cases had now been confirmed in the country. Abroad, Thailand has confirmed four cases, while the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have each reported one. President Donald Trump said the United States ' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had a good containment plan. `` We think it is going to be handled very well, '' he said at Davos in Switzerland. Li said the virus, which can cause pneumonia and has no effective vaccine, was being spread via breathing. Symptoms include fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. `` I believe the government for sure, but I still feel fearful. Because there's no cure for the virus, '' said Fu Ning, a 36-year-old woman in Beijing. `` You have to rely on your immunity if you get an infection. It sounds very scary. '' Fears of a pandemic initially spooked markets, with aviation and luxury goods stocks hit and the yuan falling, but they regained their footing on Wednesday in approval of China's containment response. Across China, companies from Foxconn ( 2317.TW) to Huawei Technologies [ HWT.UL ] and HSBC Holdings ( HSBA.L) were warning staff to avoid Wuhan and handing out masks. Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Apple ( AAPL.O) supplier Foxconn, said he was advising employees not to visit China. With more than 11 million people, Wuhan is central China's main industrial and commercial centre and an important transport hub, home to the country's largest inland port and gateway to its giant Three Gorges hydroelectric dam. Chinese officials believe wildlife trafficked at a market there was the source of the coronavirus. Two sources said provincial and city officials in Wuhan had been ordered to remain in the city, while those who had already left were instructed to report their whereabouts. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said new cases would appear as China stepped up monitoring. But Li said there was no evidence of `` super-spreaders '' capable of disseminating the virus more widely, as happened during the SARS outbreak. SARS was thought to have crossed to humans from civet cats sold for food. Airports round the world stepped up screening from China. Russia said it had strengthened its sanitary and quarantine control, Britain said it would start enhanced monitoring of passengers from Wuhan, and Singapore started screening all passengers from China. The Chinese-ruled gambling hub of Macau confirmed its first case of pneumonia linked to the coronavirus and tightened body-temperature screening measures. A first case emerged in Hong Kong on Wednesday, media reported, with the patient arriving via high-speed railway from the mainland. `` The whole world is watching, '' the city's commerce secretary, Edward Yau, told Reuters. Mexico was investigating a potential case. North Korea banned foreign tourists from Wednesday due to the virus, several foreign tour operators said, losing one of its main sources of foreign currency. Sport too was affected, with some qualifying boxing matches for the 2020 Olympics set for Wuhan cancelled and women's football qualifiers shifted to Nanjing. China's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the top legal authority, posted on Tuesday that anyone failing to report virus cases `` will be forever nailed to the pillar of historical shame ''. But despite such openness, some experts were sceptical. `` We have reason to doubt whether surv ( surveillance) is adequate as cases mount, '' tweeted Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University Law School in Washington.

business

Yuan, Australian dollar struggle to wipe off coronavirus concerns

The yuan dipped and the Australian dollar hit a six-week low on Wednesday as investors feared the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China could create more headaches for the Chinese economy, which is already slowing because of the U.S.-China trade war. The virus, which causes a type of pneumonia, has spread to cities including Beijing and Shanghai as the number of patients in China more than tripled. More cases were also reported outside China, including the United States. The yuan was steady after dipping earlier. It fell about 0.55% on Tuesday, its biggest decline in almost five months, in the onshore trade. It last stood at 6.9063 per dollar, almost flat on the day. The Australian dollar, often used as a proxy bet on the Chinese economy, fell to as low as $ 0.6827, a trough last seen in mid-December, and last stood at $ 0.6837, down 0.13%. The concerns surrounding the little-known virus propped up the safe-haven yen, which was firm at 109.98 yen, up from Tuesday's low of 110.23. The newly-found virus evoked memories of the 2002/03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) in southern China, which killed nearly 800 people globally and led to a sharp downturn in tourism in Asia. Some say the impact could be felt more severely this time given the Chinese economy is now several times larger than it was in 2002-03. On the other hand, with limited information available on the extent of the pandemic, market participants had little to chew on for now. `` This is certainly something companies need to think about for their contingency planning. But for financial markets, there isn't much to make a thorough case for trading in either direction given lack of further information, '' said Ayako Sera, market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. Tohru Sasaki, head of Japan market research at JPMorgan, said that while the SARS outbreak caused a massive economic downturn in Hong Kong and Singapore for about eight weeks through a drop in tourism, the pandemic had limited impact on supply chains in Asia. `` If the latest virus reaches a similar magnitude, some economies such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia could be negatively affected by a drop in tourism. But its long-term impact on the global economy and the currency market will be limited, '' he said. The euro stood little changed at $ 1.1083. Sterling traded at $ 1.3040, having gained a tad on Tuesday after data showed the British economy created jobs at its strongest rate in nearly a year in the three months to November. The strong data slightly dented expectations of an interest rate cut by the Bank of England at the end of this month, though markets are still pricing in about a 60% chance of a 0.25 percentage point cut. Correction: This Reuters report was updated to reflect that the Australian dollar touched near six-week lows earlier in the session. Reuters mischaracterized the level in a previous version of this story.

business

The Novel Coronavirus is Raising the Issue of Quarantine

From `` Typhoid Mary '' in 1907 to today's new coronavirus, both the federal government and state governments have the power to quarantine individuals. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) recently announced plans for screening incoming passengers from Wuhan, China for the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV. Passengers showing symptoms or having fevers will be quarantined until they can be tested for the virus. RELATED: U.S. TO SCREEN PASSENGERS FROM WUHAN, CHINA FOR NEW VIRUS For centuries, quarantining has been part of the organized response to outbreaks of infectious diseases, but its use has always been controversial because it pits individual rights against the public interest. In an NPR article, professor of global health law at Georgetown University, Lawrence Gostin, described quarantine as: `` The most draconian measure, because it allows you to literally imprison somebody who you don't know for sure is a danger to the public. '' Our globalized world is vulnerable to communicable diseases, and the recent outbreak of a new coronavirus in Wuhan, China has brought the issue of quarantine to the forefront. The authority for the U.S. to isolate or quarantine people comes from the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Also, Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S. Code §264) gives the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to take measures to prevent the entry and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States and between states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) is tasked with carrying out these functions, and it can both isolate and quarantine individuals. The CDC defines the difference between the two as: However, Federal isolation and quarantine can be authorized by Executive Order by the President of the U.S. The President can also revise the items in the above list by Executive Order. This raises the uncomfortable possibility that the president could add say, acne, to this list, and could quarantine indefinitely anyone suffering from that condition. During the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, President Trump tweeted that U.S. healthcare workers who had traveled abroad to help should not be allowed to return home. The U.S. can not allow EBOLA infected people back. People that go to far away places to help out are great-but must suffer the consequences! According to Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations, parts 70 and 71, the CDC is authorized to detain, medically examine, and release people who have arrived into the U.S., or who are traveling between states, who are suspected of carrying a communicable disease. Both isolation and quarantine are considered `` police power '' functions, meaning that the state has the right to take action affecting individuals for the benefit of society. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Coast Guard officers are also authorized to enforce federal quarantine orders. In most states, breaking a quarantine order is a criminal misdemeanor, while breaking a federal quarantine order is punishable by fines and imprisonment. To better understand quarantine, it pays to look at it from an historical perspective. The word quarantine originated in 14th century Venice, a time when `` The Black Death, '' or bubonic plague, killed 20 million people in Europe. While not understanding the role of fleas and rats in spreading the disease, the Venetians did understand the benefit of quarantining incoming ships for 40 days before allowing them on shore. The 40-day waiting period was known as quarantinario from the Italian word for 40. At that time, Philadelphia was the capital of the U.S. From 1793 to 1794, 5,000 people died of yellow fever, and that was 10% of the city's population. Yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes, and at the height of the epidemic, 100 people a day were dying of the disease. Federal officials fled to the countryside, and the city began quarantining people at the Lazaretto Hospital, which was opened in 1743 on the small island of Santa Maria di Nazareth. Named for the leper from the Bible, Lazaretto Hospital is the oldest quarantine hospital in the U.S. The yellow fever epidemic was finally stopped by the onset of winter, when cold temperatures killed the mosquitoes. The influx of immigrants arriving from Europe brought cholera to U.S. shores, and the federal government imposed quarantine requirements. Congress passed legislation outlining the role of the federal government in quarantine, and federal facilities were built to house those quarantined. The quarantine system was fully nationalized by 1921, and in 1944, the Public Health Service Act stated the federal government's quarantine authority for the first time. It gave the U.S. Public Health Service ( PHS) responsibility for preventing the introduction, transmission, and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States. Irish-born cook Mary Mallon loved working for the upper crust families of turn-of-the-century New York. Then, an outbreak of typhoid fever hit the city. Typhoid fever is a form of salmonella, and it can cause severe diarrhea, fever, and death. When the outbreak was traced to Mary Mallon, it was determined that while she was a carrier of the disease, she herself was immune, and it earned her the title of `` Typhoid Mary ''. Authorities immediately sent Mallon to be quarantined on North Brother Island, where she remained for the next three years. After agreeing to never work as a cook again, Mallon was released, but she soon went right back to working as a cook, and in 1915, authorities traced another outbreak of typhoid right back to her. Mary was returned to North Brother Island, where she remained for the next 23 years, which was the remainder of her life. When the U.S. military noticed that many young men couldn't be drafted into service during World War I due to diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea, they began a search for a culprit, and they found one in the women who hung around military training facilities and recruitment centers. The military requested, and got a federal order allowing the women to be rounded up and quarantined. According to Harvard University medical historian Allan Brandt an estimated 30,000 women were detained and continued to be detained long after they had tested negative for STDs. `` The Spanish Flu '' pandemic struck the world in three waves over the course of three years. An H1N1 influenza virus, it infected 500 million people around the world, including those on remote islands in the Pacific and native tribes in the Arctic. The movement of troops during World War I facilitated the spread of the virus, and health authorities closed schools, churches and theaters, and suspended public gatherings. Two additional influenza pandemics have occurred since then: the `` Asian flu '' pandemic of 1957–1958, which was a novel virus of the type H2N2, and the influenza A pandemic of 1968–1969, which was type H3N2. SARS originated in Guangdong Province, China in 2003, and quickly spread through air travel. It had a high rate of transmission, and a high mortality rate. People had no prior immunity to it, and there were no effective antiviral drugs or vaccines. Public health authorities in Canada asked those who might have been exposed to voluntarily quarantine themselves. In China, police cordoned off buildings and instituted checkpoints on roads. Punishment for breaking quarantine included death, and entire communities were discriminated against and stigmatized. When a lawyer from Atlanta, Andrew Speaker, was suspected of having extensively multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, which is a deadly version of the infectious disease, Speaker was asked to voluntarily isolate himself. Instead, while awaiting the results of tests, Speaker flew to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon, jetting off to Paris, Athens, Mykonos, Rome, and Prague. Realizing that returning to the U.S. was likely to be a problem, Speaker instead flew to Montreal, Canada. Renting a car, Speaker was waived through the Canada-U.S. border by a Customs and Border Protection Officer even though an alert had been placed on Speaker's passport because, according to the agent, Speaker `` did not look sick. '' The agent was soon after fired. Authorities immediately placed Speaker under the first involuntary isolation order since 1963. Facing a wave of negative backlash, Speaker apologized to the passengers on the airplanes on which he had flown, but seven Canadian and two Czech passengers sued him. Ironically, Speaker is a personal injury lawyer. While a patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, was being treated for Ebola, Texas officials placed four of his family members under quarantine, ordering them `` not to leave the apartment or to receive visitors without approval. '' On April 11, 2019, the Department of Public Health quarantined up to 200 students and employees for one week at the California State University, Los Angeles ( Cal State LA) after they were exposed to measles in the school's library. Those quarantined were exposed to measles and couldn't provide evidence that they had been immunized. On April 24, 2019, at the University of California, Los Angeles ( UCLA), 119 students and eight staff members who were exposed to measles and couldn't provide proof of immunization were quarantined. Quarantine is administered by the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, which is a part of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC currently has 18 quarantine stations located in: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time. By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

tech

Key insurgent group joins peace talks for Thailand's restive south

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published The key rebel group behind a 16-year insurgency in Thailand's Muslim-majority south has met the kingdom's head negotiator for the first official meeting in their peace talks. Observers see the dialogue as the best hope of ending a conflict which has left thousands dead in Thailand's three southernmost provinces. The region has been in the grip of a simmering insurgency since 2004, with clashes between Malay-Muslim rebels and the Buddhist-majority Thai state claiming more than 7,000 lives, mostly civilians. The main rebel group believed to be behind the guerilla attacks -- the Barisan Revolusi Nasional ( BRN) -- has long refused peace talks with Thai officials. They claim to be fighting for independence after Thailand annexed the three southern provinces -- Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat -- over a century ago. But this week marked a warming in relations as the two sides held their first official meeting on Monday, with Malaysia as a facilitator. The BRN said in a statement Tuesday that after years of back-channelling the two parties had agreed to `` resolve armed conflicts... by means of political resolution ''. The rebel group added that `` observers from overseas '' had attended Monday's meeting. Thailand's National Security Council also released a statement saying they are `` ready to work with every stakeholder ''. - 'Best hope ' - The rebel group has long insisted the talks be overseen by international mediators, which the Thai state has staunchly opposed, bringing the negotiation process to a stuttering halt in 2014. Since then, only MARA Patani -- an umbrella organisation representing other insurgent factions -- has taken part, and progress has been slow. A photo from Monday's meeting shows Wanlop Rugsanaoh, head of Thailand's Peace Dialogue Panel, and BRN representative Anas Abdulrahman clasping hands with former Malaysian police inspector-general Abdul Rahim Noor in the middle. `` They have agreed to resolve the issues through peace and not to fight. It can be done, '' Abdul Rahim Noor told AFP late Tuesday. The two sides agreed another meeting will be held next month, he added. Calling this the `` best hope '' for the years-long conflict, Matthew Wheeler of International Crisis Group cautioned that a long journey remains. `` As difficult as the process has been up to this point, the most difficult work remains to be done, '' he told AFP. burs-dhc/axn The key rebel group behind a 16-year insurgency in Thailand’ s Muslim-majority south has met the kingdom’ s head negotiator for the first official meeting in their peace talks. Observers see the dialogue as the best hope of ending a conflict which has left thousands dead in Thailand’ s three southernmost provinces. The region has been in the grip of a simmering insurgency since 2004, with clashes between Malay-Muslim rebels and the Buddhist-majority Thai state claiming more than 7,000 lives, mostly civilians. The main rebel group believed to be behind the guerilla attacks — the Barisan Revolusi Nasional ( BRN) — has long refused peace talks with Thai officials. They claim to be fighting for independence after Thailand annexed the three southern provinces — Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat — over a century ago. But this week marked a warming in relations as the two sides held their first official meeting on Monday, with Malaysia as a facilitator. The BRN said in a statement Tuesday that after years of back-channelling the two parties had agreed to “ resolve armed conflicts… by means of political resolution ”. The rebel group added that “ observers from overseas ” had attended Monday’ s meeting. Thailand’ s National Security Council also released a statement saying they are “ ready to work with every stakeholder ”. – ‘ Best hope’ – The rebel group has long insisted the talks be overseen by international mediators, which the Thai state has staunchly opposed, bringing the negotiation process to a stuttering halt in 2014. Since then, only MARA Patani — an umbrella organisation representing other insurgent factions — has taken part, and progress has been slow. A photo from Monday’ s meeting shows Wanlop Rugsanaoh, head of Thailand’ s Peace Dialogue Panel, and BRN representative Anas Abdulrahman clasping hands with former Malaysian police inspector-general Abdul Rahim Noor in the middle. “ They have agreed to resolve the issues through peace and not to fight. It can be done, ” Abdul Rahim Noor told AFP late Tuesday. The two sides agreed another meeting will be held next month, he added. Calling this the “ best hope ” for the years-long conflict, Matthew Wheeler of International Crisis Group cautioned that a long journey remains. “ As difficult as the process has been up to this point, the most difficult work remains to be done, ” he told AFP. burs-dhc/axn With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives. The hunt for answers - like whether the Omicron variant will trigger new waves of infection. Crime is raging across the country, from violent attacks to brazen shoplifting to mob “ smash and grab ” attacks. The Omicron variant that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up genetic material from another virus. At its core, Zero Trust is all about authenticating and authorizing access policies that have been designed to provide the least privilege, for the... COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

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Op-Ed: US offers ongoing support for Guaido attempted coup in Venezuela

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published Guaido assumes the presidency of Venezuela The election of Maduro in early January of 2019 was regarded as illegitimate by many. Guaido seized the opportunity to declare himself acting president as described in Wikipedia: “ After what he and critics of the Maduro administration described as the “ illegitimate ” inauguration of Maduro on 10 January 2019, Guaidó challenged Maduro’ s claim to the presidency. [ 60 ] The National Assembly declared Guaidó was willing to assume the responsibilities of the presidency, [ 61 ] [ 62 ] and continued to plan to remove Maduro. Guaidó told the Wall Street Journal that “ It’ s not about twisting arms, breaking kneecaps, but rather holding out a hand ” and offered “ amnesty to military officers who joined efforts for a transition in power ”. [ 20 ] They called for demonstrations on 23 January, [ 63 ] [ 64 ] the 61st anniversary of the overthrow of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez. [ 65 ] Large numbers of demonstrators came out in cities throughout Venezuela and across the world. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] Guaidó declared he was acting president and took the presidential oath at a rally in Caracas. [ 67 ] ” The US recognized Guaido as president just minutes after he declared himself president and shortly after Canada which has been active in supporting the coup followed suit. Russia, China, Cuba, and Turkey are among those countries that recognize Maduro. As of June 2019, 54 countries have recognized Guaido as the president of Venezuela. Maduro accused the US of backing a coup. In December of 2018 Guaido had gone to Washington DC where he met the Organisation of American States ( OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro. The OAS rejects the presidency of Maduro. On 14 of January he also went to a meeting in Colombia for a meeting of the Lima Group at which Maduro’ s presidency was rejected. Canada has been active in the Lima Group to which the US does not belong. Attempts to force Maduro out It is now a year since what is in effect a coup attempt by Guaido supported by the US and others began. In spite of large demonstrations, attempts to gain support from the military, buy the populace off with aid and the implementation of sanctions that have ruined the economy, the Maduro regime has managed to survive. The US uses sanctions and other methods to virtually destroy the economy and make life miserable for Venezuelans. Some sanctions date back to the Obama era but have become more extensive during the Trump administration: “ U.S. sanctions have become increasingly aggressive since they were first announced by former US President Barack Obama in 2015. Under pressure from the United States, foreign companies stopped doing business with the country. Citibank closed Venezuela’ s foreign accounts.President Donald Trump intensified sanctions in 2017 and this year imposed an oil embargo that blocked the purchase of petroleum from Venezuela’ s state oil company, PDVSA. It also confiscated Venezuela’ s US subsidiary CITGO, worth $ 8 billion. It was a huge blow for Venezuela, which received 90% of government revenue from the oil industry.The U.S. government has also frozen $ 5.5 billion of Venezuelan funds in international accounts in at least 50 banks and financial institutions. Even if Venezuela could get money abroad, the United States has long blocked international trade by threatening sanctions on foreign companies for doing business with the country. ” ” The US is willing to try to starve Venezuelans to death and actions that have led to many fleeing the miserable conditions all in order to help bring what it calls democracy to Venezuela. No doubt regime change would bring back US supported international oil companies to Venezuelan oil fields as well. US pledges continued support for Guaido Guaido support has weakened dramatically: “ By the end of 2019, support for Guaidó dropped, with protests organized by his movement resulting with low participation. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] [ 23 ] [ 252 ] Pollster Datanalisis published figures showing that support for Guaidó decreased from 61% in February to 42% in November 2019. [ 23 ] According to Jesús Seguías, the head of the Venezuelan analysis firm Datincorp, “ For years Washington and the Venezuelan opposition have said that Nicolás Maduro, and before him Hugo Chávez, were weak and about to fall … but it’ s clear that’ s not the case ”. [ 253 ] Analyst Carlos Pina stated “ The military support to President Maduro remains intact … the opposition will need to rethink its strategy ” and that “ Guaido has also been very limited in suggesting or proposing a strategy that could change the current [ status quo ] ”. [ 19 ] ” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insists that the US has not given up on Guaido. Even though he offered no specifics, Pompeo claimed that the US is not done and more efforts to support Guaiido would be coming from the Trump administration. On his part, Guaido is trying to drum up international support with a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos. It is possible he could meet with President Trump there although nothing has been announced as yet. The US negative actions against Venezuela have provided an opportunity for countries such as China and Russia to invest in Venezuelan oil and other parts of the economy. Chinese investment may be slowing down partly because of US sanctions but Venezuela is becoming even more dependent on Russia. The Maduro government appears to frightened of US reaction if it were to jail Guaido for treason as would no doubt happen in most countries. Guaido is subject to a travel ban but feels quite safe it would seem in violating it to fly off to Davos to garner international support for his coup. If he is arrested when he returns as he should be under the law there will be a huge international outcry about the dictatorial action of the Maduro government. The push for Canadians to get their vaccine booster shots is ramping up as the COVID-19 Omicron variant spreads across the country. As the Omicron variant gains momentum in Europe and the U.S., the variant is now considered the “ biggest threat to global public health. ” An FDA laboratory worker injects an influenza virus into an egg, where it will grow before being harvested—one of the many complex steps involved... Has Iran become a threat to U.S. interests on par with Russia? COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

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France's Macron slams anti-Semitism on Jerusalem visit

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday railed against anti-Semitism, saying it `` haunts our present time '', during a visit to Jerusalem to commemorate Holocaust victims. The French leader is in Jerusalem ahead of a gathering of world leaders there on Thursday, to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. In a message to Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre, which will host the high-profile event, Macron spoke of `` citizens of France and elsewhere ( who) are targeted because they are Jewish. `` This return of hatred haunts our present time, '' he said in the text published by Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot. Combatting anti-Semitism is a key theme of Thursday's event, which will remember more than one million Jews killed at Auschwitz during World War II. `` This fight against anti-Semitism, I lead it every day by tackling it in speeches, in behaviour, on the internet, '' said Macron. He invited digital platforms and public authorities, as well as civil society and individuals, to intervene `` to eliminate hateful content ''. `` Saying nothing, turning away, is making yourself an accomplice, '' he added. Ahead of Thursday's memorial, to be attended by dignitaries from more than 40 countries, Macron will have a series of high-level meetings. He began the day in Jerusalem by meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before talks with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin. With Israel just weeks away from an election on March 2, Macron also met with Netanyahu's chief rival Benny Gantz. He was due to meet with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at his headquarters in the occupied West Bank early on Wednesday evening, but the meeting was delayed until around 10:00 p.m. ( 2000 GMT) after Macron spent more time than expected touring Jerusalem's Old City. The two men did not speak to the assembled media but the official Palestinian news agency said they discussed the peace process and regional issues. French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday railed against anti-Semitism, saying it “ haunts our present time ”, during a visit to Jerusalem to commemorate Holocaust victims. The French leader is in Jerusalem ahead of a gathering of world leaders there on Thursday, to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. In a message to Jerusalem’ s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre, which will host the high-profile event, Macron spoke of “ citizens of France and elsewhere ( who) are targeted because they are Jewish. “ This return of hatred haunts our present time, ” he said in the text published by Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot. Combatting anti-Semitism is a key theme of Thursday’ s event, which will remember more than one million Jews killed at Auschwitz during World War II. “ This fight against anti-Semitism, I lead it every day by tackling it in speeches, in behaviour, on the internet, ” said Macron. He invited digital platforms and public authorities, as well as civil society and individuals, to intervene “ to eliminate hateful content ”. “ Saying nothing, turning away, is making yourself an accomplice, ” he added. Ahead of Thursday’ s memorial, to be attended by dignitaries from more than 40 countries, Macron will have a series of high-level meetings. He began the day in Jerusalem by meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before talks with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin. With Israel just weeks away from an election on March 2, Macron also met with Netanyahu’ s chief rival Benny Gantz. He was due to meet with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at his headquarters in the occupied West Bank early on Wednesday evening, but the meeting was delayed until around 10:00 p.m. ( 2000 GMT) after Macron spent more time than expected touring Jerusalem’ s Old City. The two men did not speak to the assembled media but the official Palestinian news agency said they discussed the peace process and regional issues. With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives. Citigroup is prepared to fire employees at the end of the month who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 14 deadline. The benefit of nostalgia? Positive memories activate the reward pathway in the brain, which is essentially a release of chemicals that make us feel... Cyber Ninjas, the cybersecurity firm that led a controversial GOP audit of the 2020 election results in Arizona's county, has shut down. It’ s not often you see an idea as useful as this with so many applications – Separating microplastics using sound waves. COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

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Pacific nations still reeling from measles outbreak prepare for coronavirus

Pacific nations are ramping up security measures at ports and airports amid fears the deadly coronavirus could arrive on their shores. There are particular fears for Samoa, which has a population of about 200,000 people and is still reeling from a devastating measles outbreak over the last few months, which killed 83 people, mostly babies. Measles was believed to have arrived in the south Pacific nation via a traveller from New Zealand. The Samoan government announced it had a plan for coronavirus’ arrival but did not release details. A closed-door public health meeting was held earlier this week in Samoa to discuss ways to address the potential arrival of coronavirus. Sources in the meeting told the Guardian the Faleolo International Airport is the main concern, and that senior health officials have already visited the airport to prepare for their response plan. More than 3,400 tourists from China visited Samoa in the year to October 2019, with 490 visitors in that month alone. The Guardian was told that the team has already prepared “ emergency gear ” for the airport screening process. Other Pacific nations, including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Caledonia confirmed they are increasing security at ports. Fiji’ s health minister, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, told the Fiji Times that the health protection unit met in Nadi earlier this week to discuss measures to protect Fiji, which had more than 47,000 visitors from China last year. New Caledonia has begun checking any travellers who have been to China in the last month, upon arrival in Noumea. The coronavirus was first detected last month in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread beyond China. So far, the Sars-like virus has killed 17 people. Chinese authorities have suspended all outbound travel from Wuhan and asked citizens not to leave the city unless there are special circumstances. There are fears that the virus, which causes pneumonia, could have a particularly severe impact on a nation like Samoa, where so many people are recovering from measles infections and have had their immune systems compromised. There has been criticism of the Samoan government’ s response to the measles outbreak, suggesting it was slow and led to the huge number of cases in the small nation. Altogether 5,707 cases of measles were reported to authorities since the epidemic began in October. Experts have also pointed to the responsibility of New Zealand as the most popular gateway to Samoa to ensure that they are alert and implement safety measures from their end. Otago University public health expert Michael Baker told RNZ: “ You can have a requirement that people do not leave on flights from New Zealand to Pacific Islands if they have respiratory illnesses that could be coronavirus, say, or in the past it could have been measles. “ So, I think we have a huge responsibility to not export this disease to the Pacific, ” he said.

general

Stocks close little changed, IBM leads tech shares higher

Stocks ended a volatile session along the flatline on Wednesday despite strong gains from IBM that lifted the overall technology sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 9.77 points, or less than 0.1% to 29,186.27. Earlier in the day, the Dow was up more than 120 points. The S & P 500 eked out a small gain, closing at 3,321.75; it also reached an intraday record. The Nasdaq Composite notched an intraday all-time high as well, advancing 0.1% to 9,383.77. IBM shares climbed 3% on the back of quarterly numbers that beat analyst expectations. The company also issued 2020 earnings guidance that topped estimates. These results put IBM `` on its front foot for 2020, '' Nomura Instinet analyst Jeffrey Kvaal said in a note. `` IBM is quickly pivoting its existing businesses toward the hybrid cloud. '' So far, more than 10% of S & P 500 companies have posted their latest quarterly results. Of those companies, 75% have posted better-than-forecast earnings, FactSet data shows. `` Companies, for the most part, are putting up the numbers they need to for the market to keep moving higher, '' said Dan Russo, chief market strategist at Chaikin Analytics. `` We're now lapping the tough earnings comparisons from last year, so investors are starting to think about earnings growth again. '' Apple, meanwhile, gained 0.4% and hit an all-time high. Tesla shares jumped 4.1% as the electric car maker's market cap broke above $ 100 billion for the first time. Semiconductor stocks also hit an all-time high. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF ( SMH) climbed 0.8% as Intel and Teradyne advanced more than 2.8% each. However, Netflix closed 3.6% lower to offset some of those gains. Boeing also fell more than 1% to amid renewed concerns over the 737 Max. Stocks pulled back slightly on Tuesday as worries over the spreading of the deadly coronavirus dampened investor sentiment. Those fears lingered Wednesday even after China unveiled measures to rein in the virus. President Donald Trump also said he trusts Chinese President Xi Jinping to deal with the crisis, adding the U.S. has everything `` totally under control. '' Trump made his comments after U.S. public health officials confirmed that the first U.S. case has been diagnosed in Washington State. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the patient `` poses little risk '' to the public. Overall, stocks are off to a strong start for the year. Through 14 sessions, the S & P 500 has closed lower just five times and is up 2.8%. Paul Schatz, president at Heritage Capital, said the market's foundation is `` rock solid, '' but noted investors may be getting too greedy at current levels. `` My issue is not how much we 've gone up, because there is plenty of precedent for a market that grinds and creeps higher every day, '' he said. `` The issue today is you have a historic level of bullishness and outright greed. That's my concern. '' —CNBC's Elliot Smith contributed to this report.

business

France to further boost its anti-jihad force in Sahel

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published France will further bolster its anti-jihadist force in the Sahel, on top of 220 reinforcement soldiers already sent recently to try to stem a spiral of violence in the region, the country's top general said Wednesday. Defence chief of staff Francois Lecointre told reporters in Paris he would detail the `` profile and composition '' of the proposed troop buildup to President Emmanuel Macron in the coming days. France has a 4,500-member force in the Sahel region, recently reinforced with a further 220 soldiers, to train and assist local forces fighting an increasingly deadly insurgency in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad. Thousands of civilians have been killed and more than a million displaced, with hundreds of troops killed, including dozens of French soldiers. Further reinforcements will be accompanied by `` additional logistical and intelligence tools, '' said Lecointre, with efforts concentrated on the Liptako-Gourma region where the Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger borders meet. `` Today in this extremely vast zone, the means at Operation Barkhane's disposal are not sufficient for us to have soldiers deployed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, '' he said, using the official name for France's Sahel mission. A locally raised G5 Sahel force is also focusing its efforts in the three-border area recently targeted by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara ( ISGS) group for a number of deadly attacks. France has been working on creating a new European special forces operation dubbed Takuba, which Lecointre said `` will be fully operational by this autumn. '' - 'Not there yet ' - `` From a tactical point of view, this is what gives us hope that we will reach a tipping point, '' Lecointre said, while conceding he foresaw a `` long engagement. '' `` I do not think, despite this boost, we will be able to claim victory by year's end, '' he said. Macron hosted his counterparts from the five Sahel countries in southwest France earlier this month, when he announced the deployment of the 220 extra troops for the Barkhane operation and urged the United States to keep its own soldiers engaged in the anti-terror fight in Africa. Lecointre also said the French and Russian armies have been in talks for several months to try to find common ground on some the world's major crises, in a bid to `` avoid confrontations that would be unfortunate for them as for us ''. Perhaps in the future, `` we could envisage the possibility of joint operational preparations, '' he said, though `` we are not there yet. '' Macron said last November that it was crucial to seek a rapprochement with Russia, in an interview in which he said NATO was suffering from `` brain death, '' drawing criticism from many of France's allies. Lecointre on Wednesday singled out the unrest-plagued Central African Republic, where Moscow is training and arming troops seeking to stem violence by armed groups fighting over mineral resources. He called it a `` laboratory to test the goodwill proclaimed by Russia to be a partner in the resolution of crises, and not someone who wants to use these crises for the purposes of destabilisation. '' France will further bolster its anti-jihadist force in the Sahel, on top of 220 reinforcement soldiers already sent recently to try to stem a spiral of violence in the region, the country’ s top general said Wednesday. Defence chief of staff Francois Lecointre told reporters in Paris he would detail the “ profile and composition ” of the proposed troop buildup to President Emmanuel Macron in the coming days. France has a 4,500-member force in the Sahel region, recently reinforced with a further 220 soldiers, to train and assist local forces fighting an increasingly deadly insurgency in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad. Thousands of civilians have been killed and more than a million displaced, with hundreds of troops killed, including dozens of French soldiers. Further reinforcements will be accompanied by “ additional logistical and intelligence tools, ” said Lecointre, with efforts concentrated on the Liptako-Gourma region where the Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger borders meet. “ Today in this extremely vast zone, the means at Operation Barkhane’ s disposal are not sufficient for us to have soldiers deployed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ” he said, using the official name for France’ s Sahel mission. A locally raised G5 Sahel force is also focusing its efforts in the three-border area recently targeted by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara ( ISGS) group for a number of deadly attacks. France has been working on creating a new European special forces operation dubbed Takuba, which Lecointre said “ will be fully operational by this autumn. ” – ‘ Not there yet’ – “ From a tactical point of view, this is what gives us hope that we will reach a tipping point, ” Lecointre said, while conceding he foresaw a “ long engagement. ” “ I do not think, despite this boost, we will be able to claim victory by year’ s end, ” he said. Macron hosted his counterparts from the five Sahel countries in southwest France earlier this month, when he announced the deployment of the 220 extra troops for the Barkhane operation and urged the United States to keep its own soldiers engaged in the anti-terror fight in Africa. Lecointre also said the French and Russian armies have been in talks for several months to try to find common ground on some the world’ s major crises, in a bid to “ avoid confrontations that would be unfortunate for them as for us ”. Perhaps in the future, “ we could envisage the possibility of joint operational preparations, ” he said, though “ we are not there yet. ” Macron said last November that it was crucial to seek a rapprochement with Russia, in an interview in which he said NATO was suffering from “ brain death, ” drawing criticism from many of France’ s allies. Lecointre on Wednesday singled out the unrest-plagued Central African Republic, where Moscow is training and arming troops seeking to stem violence by armed groups fighting over mineral resources. He called it a “ laboratory to test the goodwill proclaimed by Russia to be a partner in the resolution of crises, and not someone who wants to use these crises for the purposes of destabilisation. ” With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives. The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during the telematic press conference called after the meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 17,... An Irishman who refused to wear a Covid mask during a flight from Dublin to New York faces up to 20 years in prison. Geneva, the neutral turf that was once host to so much Cold War bargaining, is again welcoming Russian and US officials. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are postponing the glittering parades that are the highlight of carnival festivities due to a surge in the... COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

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Taïwan isolé dans la lutte face au coronavirus annonce son premier cas

Avec notre correspondant à Taipei, Adrien Simorre Dans les rues de Taipei, le nombre de visages masqués est en légère augmentation. Mardi, les autorités taïwanaises ont annoncé la découverte du premier cas d’ infection au mystérieux virus d’ origine chinoise, une citoyenne taïwanaise qui rentrait tout juste de la ville de Wuhan, épicentre de l’ épidémie. Pas encore de panique à Taïwan, mais l’ inquiétude monte à l’ approche du Nouvel An chinois et le retour de milliers de Taïwanais installés en Chine. Une inquiétude d'autant plus vive que Taïwan n’ a pas été convié au sommet de crise organisé ce mercredi par l’ OMS. L'Organisation mondiale de la santé considère en effet Taïwan comme une province de la Chine et non comme un pays à part entière. As a member of the international community, we ask that # China share information with us regarding the # Wuhan coronavirus. I firmly believe that our people’ s right to health should come before all political considerations, & # Taiwan deserves to participate in @ WHO proceedings. pic.twitter.com/7CrFHA3rko De quoi susciter la colère de la présidente taïwanaise Tsai Ing-wen, ce mercredi matin, lors d’ une conférence de presse. « Taïwan compte 28 millions d’ habitants qui sont des êtres humains comme les autres et font face aux mêmes risques sanitaires. Je demande à nouveau à l’ Organisation mondiale de la santé de ne pas exclure Taïwan pour des motifs politiques. Les raisons politiques ne devraient jamais primer sur la santé des individus. » À Taïwan, les souvenirs de l’ épidémie meurtrière du Sras de 2003 sont encore vifs. À l’ époque, plusieurs experts taïwanais s’ étaient vus refuser des informations pourtant précieuses de la part de l’ OMS.

general

Chinese coronavirus set to be put on international health emergency list

The World Health Organisation ( WHO) is expected to trigger a Public Health Emergency over the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, meaning it will join the likes of Polio, Ebola and Swine Flu. It would be only the fifth time such an emergency as been declared. So far nine people have been killed due to complications around the illness, with 440 cases being reported across China, Japan, the US and South Korea. The first case of the coronavirus in the US was confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) on Tuesday. The patient is an American man in his 30’ s had returned from a trip to the Wuhan region. The CDC says it expects to see more cases of the coronavirus in the US, after developing a new test which helped it to identify the first case. The UK is to begin monitoring flights arriving from Wuhan. The government has said the risk to the population was “ very low ” while the risk to travellers to Wuhan was “ low ”. There are currently three flights from Wuhan to Heathrow a week. A health team will meet each direct flight from Wuhan to London Heathrow, and passengers will be given a leaflet to encourage them to report if they are ill. Aircraft will land in an isolated area of Heathrow Terminal 4 that better lends itself to health contingencies.

tech

Wuhan coronavirus death toll rises to 17 with 547 infected in China, sparking fears of wider spread

The death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus has risen to 17, as dozens more cases were reported across China and as far afield as the western United States , sparking fears of a possible pandemic. On Wednesday, the Chinese city of Wuhan -- where the virus was first identified -- said it would `` temporarily '' close its airport and railway stations for departing passengers. All public transport services will also be suspended, as authorities attempt to contain the virus. The city lockdown begins at 10 am local time Thursday ( 9 pm ET Wednesday), according to an announcement from the city's coronavirus command center. Chinese health authorities said that at least 547 cases had been confirmed in the mainland, with eight new deaths linked to the virus in Hubei, the central Chinese province of which Wuhan is the capital. Cases were also confirmed in the Chinese territory of Macao and the self-governing island of Taiwan. Beyond China, officials in Washington state on Tuesday confirmed the first case on US soil. The patient is a male in his 30s who is under observation at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, said John Wiesman, Washington's secretary of health, at a press conference Wednesday. Read More Health officials have reviewed the travel history of the patient, said Dr. Chris Spitters, Snohomish Health District acting health officer on the patient's contact investigation. `` As of now, there are at least 16 identified close contacts, '' Spitters said. `` Local health departments started reaching out to them yesterday and continued doing so today. '' Spitters said `` the risk to the general public remains low and the public health system and our health care partners are working swiftly and collaboratively to address this situation. '' Cases have also been reported in South Korea, Thailand and Japan, and suspected cases detected in Australia. Worldwide, a total of 555 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak was detected in mid-December. However, the World Health Organization ( WHO) has not yet declared the virus a `` public health emergency of international concern, '' which might merit a coordinated global response. The organization's emergency committee met Wednesday in Geneva, but decided more information was needed to declare the status of the outbreak and what recommendations should be made regarding it. It is expected to take up the matter again on Thursday. China on Tuesday announced it was adopting Class A prevention and control measures, typically used for major outbreaks such as plague and cholera. This means health officials will get sweeping powers to lock down affected areas and quarantine patients. China previously used such measures in 2009 to tackle an outbreak of H1N1, introducing mandatory quarantine for anyone who had `` close contact '' with an infected person, including foreigners arriving in the country from areas where H1N1 outbreaks had been reported. Li Bin, China's national health commissioner, said that officials are aware of around 2,200 cases of `` close contact '' with known virus carriers. Regarding suspected cases, 715 patients have been discharged while more than 300 patients remain on medical watch. The disease is mainly transmitted `` through the respiratory tract, '' said Li, adding that `` there is possibility of viral mutation and further spread of the disease. '' While there are indications that Chinese authorities are ready to ramp up controls on travel -- including ordering that all trips to Wuhan be canceled and refunded -- it remains to be seen whether the virus, already reported in around a dozen locations, can be reined in before the Lunar New Year travel period truly kicks in. The largest annual human migration on Earth, hundreds of millions of people will travel across China and overseas during the four-week period, which began in mid-January and continues until February. Many will go by train or plane, raising the risk of infection as they are put in close contact with other travelers . JUST WATCHED Gupta: Here's what's keeping health officials up at night Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH Gupta: Here's what's keeping health officials up at night 02:36 What we know about the virus First identified in Wuhan in mid-December, the novel coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV) is in the same family of infections as severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS). Coronaviruses are transmitted by animals and people, and the Wuhan strain has been linked to a market in the city which was selling seafood and live animals, including wild species. SARS was previously linked to similar markets, particularly the sale of civet cats, a delicacy in some parts of China. Speaking Wednesday, Li, the Chinese health official, said that Wuhan and Hubei provincial authorities should tighten the regulation of farm markets and wild animals. He also urged the public to avoid crowds and minimize large gatherings. Chinese health officials said human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed, raising the chance of its spread. In one instance, 14 doctors and nurses operating on a patient unknown to be carrying the virus were all infected with it, suggesting it can be spread relatively easily. People were seen at a train station Wednesday trying to get train tickets to leave Wuhan. People in a ticket line trying to get out of Wuhan in Wuchang train station in China. The true extent of the virus is unclear, and official figures may be an underestimation. A study by British researchers previously estimated -- based on the spread of the virus overseas in a relatively short time -- that the number of people infected in Wuhan alone was likely around 1,700. However, so far the death toll is relatively low, and almost all cases involved elderly people with preexisting conditions: of the more than 400 confirmed cases in China, nine deaths have been reported so far, or 2.25%. By comparison, SARS had a mortality rate of around 10%, and was even more deadly among vulnerable populations. Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital on January 17, 2020 in Wuhan, China. Worldwide effort With cases and suspected cases already reported across Asia and now as far afield as the US and Australia, containment efforts are being put in place in many travel hubs. The deadly new coronavirus has reached the US. Here's how to minimize your risk Wuhan alone has connections with more than 60 overseas destinations through its international airport, while Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, all of which have reported cases, have hundreds more. Airports across Asia have stepped up temperature screening of incoming passengers, as have several hubs in the US, including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Officials at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport put up signs at the international arrivals area instructing travelers from Wuhan to watch for symptoms of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started displaying the sign in English and Chinese on January 14, an airport spokesman said. A sign at the international arrivals area of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instructs travelers coming from Wuhan, China, to watch for symptoms of coronavirus. The International Air Transport Association ( IATA) issued a statement saying it was closely monitoring developments and is actively working with the WHO secretariat, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the CDC. With all indications that the virus has a relatively slow incubation time, however, these efforts may be insufficient to stop its spread. `` You can not absolutely prevent entry into the country of a disease like this. The incubation period is probably a week, '' Australia's chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said Tuesday . `` It's about identifying those with a high risk and making sure people with a high risk know about it and know how to get medical attention. '' Raising concerns about how difficult it is to detect those with the virus, even if they have some symptoms, a patient in South Korea told doctors there she had developed a fever and muscle pains on Saturday and was prescribed cold medicine by a doctor in Wuhan, before being sent on her way. She was later confirmed to have the coronavirus during a check in Seoul. In the US, the National Institutes of Health is working on a vaccine for the new virus, though it will take at least a few months until the first phase of clinical trials get underway and more than a year until a vaccine might be available. Scientists in Texas, New York and China are also at work on a vaccine, according to Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. `` The lesson we 've learned is coronavirus infections are serious and one of the newest and biggest global health threats, '' Hotez told CNN.

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Malaysia's hand-made incense craftwork a declining art

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published Thousands of giant incense sticks, many decorated with dragon heads, line the walls at a Malaysian business where they are made by hand ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. In the rural town of Kubang Semang, workers spend months using a traditional method to craft the sticks -- some as tall as two metres ( 6.5 feet) -- before sending them to stores. Business is brisk ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations towards the end of this month, when people of Chinese descent worldwide burn incense in temples and at traditional ceremonies. Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country but is home to a substantial ethnic Chinese population, and the holiday is marked in many places. Ong Chin Chye, who runs the business in a series of wood and corrugated iron buildings, said his colourful hand-made sticks look a lot better than those churned out by machines. `` With machines, can you make the dragon head like this? '' the 60-year-old asked AFP, pointing to his intricately carved creations. Ong's sticks are primarily made from sawdust, using a mix of locally-grown `` meranti '' timber -- a common hardwood in Southeast Asia -- and aromatic agarwood. These are combined with water to make a sticky paste that forms the sticks. The next 12 months will be the Year of the Rat -- the first creature in the Chinese zodiac's 12-year cycle -- but Ong said his buyers weren't keen on depictions of the whiskered rodent. `` People don't want rats. They steal food, and that's not good, '' he laughed. On the other hand, dragons -- also one of the zodiac animals -- are ever-popular symbols of power, strength and good luck in Asian culture. Ong said his sticks typically sell for between eight and 80 ringgit ( $ 2 to $ 20) apiece, depending on quality and size. As well as Lunar New Year, he makes them for other major Chinese festivities. He estimated there were at most 30 incense-making businesses like his across Malaysia, adding the industry had been declining in recent years. Young people `` don't want to work these jobs, it's hard work... there is no air-conditioning '', he said. Many incense sticks sold nowadays in Southeast Asia come from overseas, particularly China. More than 60 percent of Malaysia's 32 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims while around a quarter are ethnic Chinese, and the country is also home to a sizeable minority of people of Indian descent. Thousands of giant incense sticks, many decorated with dragon heads, line the walls at a Malaysian business where they are made by hand ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. In the rural town of Kubang Semang, workers spend months using a traditional method to craft the sticks — some as tall as two metres ( 6.5 feet) — before sending them to stores. Business is brisk ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations towards the end of this month, when people of Chinese descent worldwide burn incense in temples and at traditional ceremonies. Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country but is home to a substantial ethnic Chinese population, and the holiday is marked in many places. Ong Chin Chye, who runs the business in a series of wood and corrugated iron buildings, said his colourful hand-made sticks look a lot better than those churned out by machines. “ With machines, can you make the dragon head like this? ” the 60-year-old asked AFP, pointing to his intricately carved creations. Ong’ s sticks are primarily made from sawdust, using a mix of locally-grown “ meranti ” timber — a common hardwood in Southeast Asia — and aromatic agarwood. These are combined with water to make a sticky paste that forms the sticks. The next 12 months will be the Year of the Rat — the first creature in the Chinese zodiac’ s 12-year cycle — but Ong said his buyers weren’ t keen on depictions of the whiskered rodent. “ People don’ t want rats. They steal food, and that’ s not good, ” he laughed. On the other hand, dragons — also one of the zodiac animals — are ever-popular symbols of power, strength and good luck in Asian culture. Ong said his sticks typically sell for between eight and 80 ringgit ( $ 2 to $ 20) apiece, depending on quality and size. As well as Lunar New Year, he makes them for other major Chinese festivities. He estimated there were at most 30 incense-making businesses like his across Malaysia, adding the industry had been declining in recent years. Young people “ don’ t want to work these jobs, it’ s hard work… there is no air-conditioning ”, he said. Many incense sticks sold nowadays in Southeast Asia come from overseas, particularly China. More than 60 percent of Malaysia’ s 32 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims while around a quarter are ethnic Chinese, and the country is also home to a sizeable minority of people of Indian descent. With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives. Despite the dangers of standing up to illegal loggers, fellow conservationists continue to work guarding the El Rosario monarch butterfly sanctuary. Drug overdose deaths have doubled over the past six years amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a continued rise in the use of fentanyl. Queen Elizabeth II complained Wednesday about mobility issues, as she carried out her in-person official engagements. Sneakers made from banana or pineapple leaves, dresses from nettles or fish scales -- the search for sustainable materials. COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

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Greece elects first woman president for 'new era '

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published Greece's parliament on Wednesday elected the first woman president in the country's history, a senior judge with no party-political allegiance. A cross-party majority of 261 of the 294 MPs present at the session voted in favour of 63-year-old Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, parliament chief Costas Tassoulas said. `` Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou has been elected president of the republic, '' Tassoulas said. `` This is a very important day for the Greek republic, '' said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who nominated her for the post. `` Parliament has elected a remarkable jurist, a consensus figure who symbolises the transition to a new era. '' The new EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed. Tweeting her congratulations to Sakellaropoulou, she added: `` Greece is moving ahead into a new era of equality. '' Sakellaropoulou herself set out her priorities to assembled journalists shortly after the vote: the economic crisis, climate change and mass migration, all of which required international cooperation. The new president, until now the head of Greece's administrative court, the Council of State, will be sworn in on March 13, taking over from Prokopis Pavlopoulos. The daughter of a Supreme Court judge, Sakellaropoulou completed postgraduate studies at Paris's Sorbonne university. She was the first woman to lead the Council of State, the country's top administrative court. As a jurist, she has particular expertise in environmental and constitutional law. - A consensus candidate - Although the president is nominally the head of the Greek state and commander-in-chief, the post is largely ceremonial. Greek presidents confirm governments and laws and technically have the power to declare war, but only in conjunction with the government. Backed by the main opposition leftist Syriza and socialist KINAL parties, Sakellaropoulou's candidacy secured one of the highest vote counts in parliament history. Mitsotakis had emphasised that the selection broke with tradition not only because Sakellaropoulou is a woman, but because she is not a member of a political party. Past presidents have often been senior party figures, such as former ministers. Some commentators have welcomed Sakellaropoulou's nomination as a consensus candidate during a difficult time for Greek foreign policy, amid tension with Turkey over energy exploration, Aegean territorial rights and migration. `` The time has come for Greece to open up to the future, '' Mitsotakis said earlier this month, as he submitted Sakellaropoulou's name for the parliamentary vote. When Mitsotakis became prime minister in July, he was criticised for appointing just a handful of women to his cabinet. A 2017 Eurobarometer poll found 63 percent of Greeks thought gender equality had been achieved in politics, 69 percent at work and 61 percent in leadership positions. But Eurostat figures from the same year show a pay gap between men and women in Greece of more than 12 percent in average gross hourly earnings. Unemployment is also higher among women, with one in five jobless, according to the latest official figures. Greece’ s parliament on Wednesday elected the first woman president in the country’ s history, a senior judge with no party-political allegiance. A cross-party majority of 261 of the 294 MPs present at the session voted in favour of 63-year-old Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, parliament chief Costas Tassoulas said. “ Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou has been elected president of the republic, ” Tassoulas said. “ This is a very important day for the Greek republic, ” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who nominated her for the post. “ Parliament has elected a remarkable jurist, a consensus figure who symbolises the transition to a new era. ” The new EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed. Tweeting her congratulations to Sakellaropoulou, she added: “ Greece is moving ahead into a new era of equality. ” Sakellaropoulou herself set out her priorities to assembled journalists shortly after the vote: the economic crisis, climate change and mass migration, all of which required international cooperation. The new president, until now the head of Greece’ s administrative court, the Council of State, will be sworn in on March 13, taking over from Prokopis Pavlopoulos. The daughter of a Supreme Court judge, Sakellaropoulou completed postgraduate studies at Paris’ s Sorbonne university. She was the first woman to lead the Council of State, the country’ s top administrative court. As a jurist, she has particular expertise in environmental and constitutional law. – A consensus candidate – Although the president is nominally the head of the Greek state and commander-in-chief, the post is largely ceremonial. Greek presidents confirm governments and laws and technically have the power to declare war, but only in conjunction with the government. Backed by the main opposition leftist Syriza and socialist KINAL parties, Sakellaropoulou’ s candidacy secured one of the highest vote counts in parliament history. Mitsotakis had emphasised that the selection broke with tradition not only because Sakellaropoulou is a woman, but because she is not a member of a political party. Past presidents have often been senior party figures, such as former ministers. Some commentators have welcomed Sakellaropoulou’ s nomination as a consensus candidate during a difficult time for Greek foreign policy, amid tension with Turkey over energy exploration, Aegean territorial rights and migration. “ The time has come for Greece to open up to the future, ” Mitsotakis said earlier this month, as he submitted Sakellaropoulou’ s name for the parliamentary vote. When Mitsotakis became prime minister in July, he was criticised for appointing just a handful of women to his cabinet. A 2017 Eurobarometer poll found 63 percent of Greeks thought gender equality had been achieved in politics, 69 percent at work and 61 percent in leadership positions. But Eurostat figures from the same year show a pay gap between men and women in Greece of more than 12 percent in average gross hourly earnings. Unemployment is also higher among women, with one in five jobless, according to the latest official figures. With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives. A man gets a Covid-19 jab at a vaccination station in Vienna on August 25, 2021; from February 2022, vaccinations against the virus will... Now the other three ex-police officers on the scene are going on trial for their actions that day -- or rather their failure to... The `` Doomsday Clock, '' representing the judgment of leading science and security experts about perils to human existence. Students in a Chicago school. Source - Chicago 2016. CC SA 2.0.A new bill in Florida would ban public schools and private businesses from... COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

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5 things to know before the stock market opens January 22, 2020

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was poised to get back most of Tuesday's losses when trading on Wall Street opens Wednesday. U.S. stock futures were higher despite concerns about the outbreak of a deadly China-based virus as well as Boeing's announcement about further delays in the return of the 737 Max jet. Boeing's losses accounted for about half the Dow's Tuesday drop, which ended a five-session win streak. In a CNBC interview in Davos, J.P. Morgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said that negative interest rates are one of the only things that concern him in a market that's otherwise in a `` Goldilocks place. '' President Donald Trump, in a wide-ranging CNBC interview with `` Squawk Box '' co-host Joe Kernen on Wednesday from Davos, said that U.S. economic growth would be closer to 4% if it weren't for the lingering effect of Federal Reserve rate hikes. Trump also said that the U.S. has China's coronavirus `` totally under control '' here; that Apple must help authorities unlock iPhones in criminal cases; that `` great geniuses '' like Elon Musk should be `` cherished; '' that he's disappointed in Boeing over the 737 Max crisis; and that the EU has `` no choice '' but to agree a new trade deal with the U.S. Here's the transcript of the entire Trump interview. Trump told CNBC on Wednesday that he trusts the information coming out of China on the coronavirus as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the first case of it in the United States. The CDC on Tuesday said a Snohomish County, Washington state, resident who was returning from China on Jan. 15 was diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus, which has killed nine people in China and sickened hundreds more. The president's defense team sparred with Democratic House managers in the Senate for the first time in Trump's impeachment trial. The battle on the Senate floor, presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, largely centered around the rules that will be adopted for the trial proceedings going forward. It is considered highly unlikely that two thirds of the GOP-majority Senate, which was ordered to remain silent throughout the proceedings, will vote to remove a Republican president. Netflix shares were rising about 2% in premarket trading after the video streaming giant beat on the top and bottom lines in the fourth-quarter. However, it gave disappointing guidance for the first quarter. Netflix also said it added 8.76 million paying global subscribers during Q4, more than the 7.6 million that analysts had expected. But it did note increased competition in the U.S., and that it will become more intense globally after the Disney+ service from Walt Disney launches across Europe in March.

business

Parliament to elect Greece's first woman president

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published A trailblazing judge with particular expertise in environmental law and the constitution will become Greece's first female president on Wednesday. The candidacy of Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou has already won cross-party support and been welcomed by some commentators as a consensus candidate during a difficult time for Greek foreign policy. `` The time has come for Greece to open up to the future, '' Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said earlier this month, as he submitted Sakellaropoulou's name for Wednesday's parliamentary vote. A four-decade justice veteran, 63-year-old Sakellaropoulou has since 2018 headed Greece's top administrative court, the Council of State, where she was again the first woman to occupy the post. The daughter of a Supreme Court judge, Sakellaropoulou completed postgraduate studies at Paris's Sorbonne university and is an expert in constitutional and environmental law. She will take over from Prokopis Pavlopoulos, whose five-year term ends in March. Greek presidents are exclusively selected by parliament. Sakellaropoulou is on track to secure over 260 votes on Wednesday, more than enough for the minimum 200 votes required, thanks to support from the main opposition parties. Main opposition leftist leader Alexis Tsipras said Sakellaropoulou was an `` exceptional judge '' and a defender of human rights. The socialist KINAL party has also backed her nomination. Mitsotakis emphasised that the selection breaks with tradition not only because Sakellaropoulou is female, but also because she is not a member of a political party. Past presidents have often been senior party figures, such as former ministers. - ' A spirit of consensus ' - Mitsotakis said the choice `` embodies unity and progress ''. `` Let's not hide from the truth, Greek society is still marked by discrimination against women, '' the PM said. `` This now changes, starting from the top. '' In accepting the nomination, Sakellaropoulou said it was an `` honour for justice and modern Greek women ''. Although the president is nominally the head of the Greek state and commander-in-chief, the post is largely ceremonial. Greek presidents confirm governments and laws and technically have the power to declare war, but only in conjunction with the government. Liberal daily Kathimerini commentator Elias Maglinis welcomed the decision to nominate Sakellaropoulou. It had, he wrote, `` brought about a spirit of consensus, which is absolutely necessary during such a crucial time in foreign policy '' referring to ongoing tension with Turkey over energy exploration, Aegean territorial rights and migration. When Mitsotakis became prime minister in July, he was criticised for appointing just a handful of women in his cabinet. A 2017 Eurobarometer poll found 63 percent of Greeks thought gender equality had been achieved in politics, 69 percent at work and 61 percent in leadership positions. But Eurostat figures from the same year show a pay gap between men and women in Greece of more than 12 percent in average gross hourly earnings. Unemployment is also higher among women, with one in five jobless according to the latest official figures. The first women won the right to vote in Greece in 1934, even if it was initially limited to educated women aged 30 and over. The first female MP, Eleni Skoura, was elected in 1953. Lina Tsaldari in 1956 became the first female minister, and Anna Psarouda Benaki the first female head of parliament in 2004. A trailblazing judge with particular expertise in environmental law and the constitution will become Greece’ s first female president on Wednesday. The candidacy of Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou has already won cross-party support and been welcomed by some commentators as a consensus candidate during a difficult time for Greek foreign policy. “ The time has come for Greece to open up to the future, ” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said earlier this month, as he submitted Sakellaropoulou’ s name for Wednesday’ s parliamentary vote. A four-decade justice veteran, 63-year-old Sakellaropoulou has since 2018 headed Greece’ s top administrative court, the Council of State, where she was again the first woman to occupy the post. The daughter of a Supreme Court judge, Sakellaropoulou completed postgraduate studies at Paris’ s Sorbonne university and is an expert in constitutional and environmental law. She will take over from Prokopis Pavlopoulos, whose five-year term ends in March. Greek presidents are exclusively selected by parliament. Sakellaropoulou is on track to secure over 260 votes on Wednesday, more than enough for the minimum 200 votes required, thanks to support from the main opposition parties. Main opposition leftist leader Alexis Tsipras said Sakellaropoulou was an “ exceptional judge ” and a defender of human rights. The socialist KINAL party has also backed her nomination. Mitsotakis emphasised that the selection breaks with tradition not only because Sakellaropoulou is female, but also because she is not a member of a political party. Past presidents have often been senior party figures, such as former ministers. – ‘ A spirit of consensus’ – Mitsotakis said the choice “ embodies unity and progress ”. “ Let’ s not hide from the truth, Greek society is still marked by discrimination against women, ” the PM said. “ This now changes, starting from the top. ” In accepting the nomination, Sakellaropoulou said it was an “ honour for justice and modern Greek women ”. Although the president is nominally the head of the Greek state and commander-in-chief, the post is largely ceremonial. Greek presidents confirm governments and laws and technically have the power to declare war, but only in conjunction with the government. Liberal daily Kathimerini commentator Elias Maglinis welcomed the decision to nominate Sakellaropoulou. It had, he wrote, “ brought about a spirit of consensus, which is absolutely necessary during such a crucial time in foreign policy ” referring to ongoing tension with Turkey over energy exploration, Aegean territorial rights and migration. When Mitsotakis became prime minister in July, he was criticised for appointing just a handful of women in his cabinet. A 2017 Eurobarometer poll found 63 percent of Greeks thought gender equality had been achieved in politics, 69 percent at work and 61 percent in leadership positions. But Eurostat figures from the same year show a pay gap between men and women in Greece of more than 12 percent in average gross hourly earnings. Unemployment is also higher among women, with one in five jobless according to the latest official figures. The first women won the right to vote in Greece in 1934, even if it was initially limited to educated women aged 30 and over. The first female MP, Eleni Skoura, was elected in 1953. Lina Tsaldari in 1956 became the first female minister, and Anna Psarouda Benaki the first female head of parliament in 2004. With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives. A man gets a Covid-19 jab at a vaccination station in Vienna on August 25, 2021; from February 2022, vaccinations against the virus will... Now the other three ex-police officers on the scene are going on trial for their actions that day -- or rather their failure to... The `` Doomsday Clock, '' representing the judgment of leading science and security experts about perils to human existence. Students in a Chicago school. Source - Chicago 2016. CC SA 2.0.A new bill in Florida would ban public schools and private businesses from... COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

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Sector ETFs & Stocks to Gain/Lose on Coronavirus Outbreak

Global markets turned wobbly at the outbreak of the deadly SARS-like coronavirus in China. Authorities in China reported on Monday that 139 new cases of coronavirus had been found over the weekend, according to Reuters. The disease has taken 9 lives in China to date. With the Lunar New Year on Jan 25, fears of the spread of the disease have grown as millions of people will be traveling to and from China during this weened. To make matters worse, the United States has already confirmed its first case of coronavirus. Asian stocks were hit hard as travel and commerce would get disrupted owing to the threat. Global markets took the cues and slumped in recent trading. Below we highlight a few ETF areas and stocks that could gain/lose from this outbreak. Losers Airlines No wonder, the event is likely to disrupt global air travel. U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS fell about 3% on Jan 21 with United Airlines Holdings, Inc. UAL shedding about 4.4%. American Airlines Group Inc. AAL and Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL were off 4.2% and 2.7% on the day, respectively. Chinese airlines stocks like Air China and China Eastern were also hit hard. Hotels Hotel and casino operators Las Vegas Sands Corp LVS and Wynn Resorts Ltd WYNN, both of which have considerable exposure to China, lost 5.4% and 6.1% on Jan 21. China Lodging Group Limited HTHT lost 10.6% on Jan 21. Apart from these China-centric hotel stocks, bid hoteliers like Marriott International, Inc. MAR ( down 3.9% on Jan 21), Hyatt Hotels Corporation H ( down 2.7%) and Civeo Corporation CVEO) ( down 2.3%) also shed gains. VanEck Vectors Gaming ETF BJK, which has 44.9% exposure to the United States and 13.4% focus on China, lost about 3.8% on Jan 21. Invesco Dynamic Leisure And Entertainment ETF PEJ) lost about 2.2% on Jan 21. Materials Per analysts, steel stocks have a sizable exposure to China. So, VanEck Vectors Steel ETF SLX lost 2.7% on Jan 21 with United States Steel Corporation UTX shedding 5.2%. Meanwhile, copper miners bore the brunt too as China is a huge consumer of copper. Global X Copper Miners ETF COPX lost 3.24% on Jan 21 ( read: NAFTA Gone, USMCA In: ETFs in Focus). Gainer Healthcare Dow Jones U.S. Medical Equipment Index gained more than 0.5% on Jan 21. Such an outbreak has every reason to boost pharmaceutical stocks and shares of medical equipment like facemasks. Shares of Chinse face mask firms like Tianjin Teda and Shanghai Dragon rose heavily in recent trading ( see all Health Care ETFs here). Investors can thus have a look at SPDR S & P Health Care Equipment ETF XHE, VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF PPH and Global X MSCI China Health Care ETF CHIH. ResMed Inc. RMD holds a major position as designer, manufacturer and distributor in the worldwide market for generators, masks and related accessories for the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing ( SDB) and other respiratory disorders. The stock has a Zacks Rank # 3 and belongs to a favorable Zacks industry ( placed at the top 41% of 250+ industries). Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free > > Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report United Airlines Holdings Inc ( UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report American Airlines Group Inc. ( AAL): Free Stock Analysis Report Delta Air Lines, Inc. ( DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report Las Vegas Sands Corp. ( LVS): Free Stock Analysis Report Wynn Resorts, Limited ( WYNN): Free Stock Analysis Report United Technologies Corporation ( UTX): Free Stock Analysis Report Global X Copper Miners ETF ( COPX): ETF Research Reports U.S. Global Jets ETF ( JETS): ETF Research Reports SPDR S & P Health Care Equipment ETF ( XHE): ETF Research Reports VanEck Vectors Gaming ETF ( BJK): ETF Research Reports VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF ( PPH): ETF Research Reports VanEck Vectors Steel ETF ( SLX): ETF Research Reports China Lodging Group, Limited ( HTHT): Free Stock Analysis Report Marriott International, Inc. ( MAR): Free Stock Analysis Report Hyatt Hotels Corporation ( H): Free Stock Analysis Report Regional Management Corp. ( RM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

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Stock market news live: Stocks close little changed, Boeing falls on 737 Max woes

U.S. stocks rebounded in Wednesday, reversing some of the prior day’ s losses spurred by fears over a potentially deadly disease that had sickened hundreds in China. — More than a dozen Nasdaq-100 companies posted record closing highs Wednesday, amid broad leadership among tech stocks during Wednesday’ s session. Shares of Tesla ( TSLA), Texas Instruments ( TXN), Google-parent Alphabet ( GOOGL), Adobe ( ADBE), Citrix Systems ( CTXS), Applied Materials ( AMAT) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD) were among those closing at record highs Wednesday. — Here’ s where the major indices had settled as of 4:05 p.m. ET: — Following an outbreak of the deadly coronavirus spreading around the world, China will close transportation from the virus’ s epicenter, Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, The New York Times reports. — Don’ t look now, but France’ s sovereign paper has joined the ranks of Europe’ s negative-yielding debt. According to Tradeweb data, bonds in the European Union’ s 2nd largest country are down sharply in the last few weeks: Tradeweb points out that French 30-year bonds are also trending lower, with long yields having dropped nearly 12 basis points in just over a week, to 0.813% currently. That yield is now at its lowest closing point since the middle of December 2019. Newly installed Boeing CEO David Calhoun said the Boeing 737 Max’ s delayed expected return to service is based on the company’ s recommendation for pilots to undergo further training before flying the planes, and not due to any additional technical problems. Boeing earlier this month recommended that pilots undergo simulator training before flying the aircraft, which has been grounded globally since last month. Calhoun also said he wants Boeing to resume production of the 737 Max before receiving official sign-off from regulators to return to service, he said to reporters in a phone call briefing, according to multiple media reports. An expedited resumption of the 737 Max production program would provide some respite for Boeing’ s suppliers, which have been shaken by the abrupt halt to production at the start of the year. Boeing on Tuesday said it did not expect the 737 Max to be cleared to fly again until mid-2020, or about six months later than previously expected. The Dow has slipped into negative territory, likely undermined by component Boeing’ s ( BA) ongoing 737 MAX mess. United Airlines ( UAL) said earlier that it didn’ t expect the troubled flagship plane to take to the skies at all this summer, which helped send Boeing’ s stock down over 3%. Here’ s where major benchmarks stood at midday: The Nasdaq and S & P are both marginally higher, within view of new intraday records set in early trading, but fears about the virus that originated in China is also a drag on sentiment. Analysts on Wall Street have mostly been constructive about Netflix following the streaming giant’ s estimates-topping fourth-quarter results. While fourth-quarter U.S. and Canada net additions and first-quarter subscriber growth guidance both came in light, most analysts pointed to the company’ s still-strong performance despite encroaching competition from new services like Disney+. Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’ s oil giant, pulled off a massive public offering — but has been largely shunned by international investors amid questions about its valuation and the security of its oil supplies in the wake of a drone attack late last year. But in an exclusive sit-down with Yahoo Finance, the chairman insists that Aramco is confident in its investment story: The S & P 500 and Nasdaq each climbed to fresh record highs Wednesday morning. Netflix and IBM shares each jumped after stronger-than-expected earnings results delivered after market close Tuesday, and Tesla shares jumped to a record as the stock rode a weeks-long wave of optimism over the company’ s future growth prospects. Via Reuters: U.S. home sales jumped to their highest level in nearly two years in December, the latest indication that lower mortgage rates are helping the housing market to regain its footing after hitting a soft patch in 2018. The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday that existing home sales increased 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million units last month, the highest level since February 2018. November's sales pace was unrevised at 5.35 million units. Speaking to CNBC at Davos, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that negative interest rates are among a small list of things that worry him — but that the market’ s otherwise in a “ Goldilocks place: ” Dimon’ s not the only one concerned by negative yields, a symptom of a market that’ s simultaneously chasing risk assets but seeking shelter from various global storms. In a research note Wednesday, market veteran Peter Boockvar called it a exponent of a “ bond bubble ” that is risker than some investors think. So who’ s holding all those bonds? Why we all are — in the form of retirement, insurance and other domestic investments. As Boockvar points out: Yahoo Finance has previously reported on the subject, which can be found here. Is there no stopping the bullish wave Tesla’ s ( TSLA) been riding over the last several weeks? The stock jumped over 4% at the opening bell, setting a new intraday record at $ 571. There’ s no real driver but there’ s no question that short-sellers are on the run with the stock up around 20% year-to-date, and a number of dominos falling the company’ s way. In Davos, President Donald Trump gave CEO Elon Musk an endorsement of sorts: — Stocks held onto gains from Wednesday’ s pre-market session, opening higher after China signaled it was taking measures to try and contain the coronavirus that had sickened hundreds and killed at least nine. Here were the main moves in markets, as of 9:31 a.m. ET: — U.S. stock futures rose Wednesday morning, regaining some losses a day after fears over a potentially deadly virus knocked global markets. During a briefing from China’ s National Health Commission, officials told listeners that the government was moving quickly to address concerns over a coronavirus that had so far killed nine people, according to multiple media reports. The officials said transportation-link monitoring in China would increase, in the wake of 440 confirmed cases of the disease as of Tuesday. The U.S. CDC has so far confirmed one case in Washington State. Meanwhile, contracts on the Nasdaq posted the largest gains of the three indices, with shares of Netflix ( NFLX) rising in early trading after beating expectations for fourth-quarter results and adding more subscribers than expected. Shares of Dow-component IBM ( IBM) rose after posting year-over-year revenue growth for the first time in six quarters. Both companies posted quarterly results after market close Tuesday. Here were the main moves during the pre-market session, as of 7:49 a.m. ET: — Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and reddit. Find live stock market quotes and the latest business and finance news

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Hong Kong's Lam says city vigilant over coronavirus

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Wednesday that the government had been very vigilant over the coronavirus, adding that the rapid flow of people across the border made the city highly vulnerable to the outbreak. Lam also confirmed the first “ highly suspected ” case of the coronavirus during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The leader of Hong Kong said violence seen during seven months of demonstrations against the government showed total disrespect for people with different opinions, adding that she would not give in to demands that would undermine the city. Additional reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Alexander Smith

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US coronavirus: Here's how to protect yourself as the deadly virus spreads

What started as a mystery virus last month in Wuhan, China, has now killed more than 250 people and infected thousands more around the world . In the United States, seven people have been infected -- including patients in Washington state , Chicago, California and Arizona. Most of the patients had recently traveled to Wuhan . But on Thursday, officials announced the first person-to-person transmission of the virus within the US . So what are officials doing to avert a massive outbreak in the US? And how can you minimize your risk of getting infected? What airports are doing Read More At several US airports, passengers are being screened for symptoms such as fever, cough and trouble breathing, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport wear masks as part of heightened safety measures. Those airports include John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago O'Hare International Airport. But these airport screenings might not catch everyone infected. That's because the incubation period can last a week -- meaning it can take a week after getting infected before showing any symptoms. At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, officials put up signs at the international arrivals area instructing travelers from Wuhan to watch for symptoms of the virus. The CDC started displaying the signs in English and Chinese at the SeaTac airport January 14, one day before the first American patient of the Wuhan coronavirus passed through the airport . What scientists are doing Across the US, scientists are trying to create a vaccine for the new virus. But don't expect it anytime soon. Coronavirus explained: What you need to know The National Institutes of Health is working on one, but it will take at least a few months before clinical trials start and more than a year until a vaccine might actually become available. Separately, scientists in Texas, New York and China are also trying to create on a vaccine, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. But the challenge is daunting. `` The lesson we 've learned is coronavirus infections are serious and one of the newest and biggest global health threats, '' Hotez said. What you can do yourself Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness, such as coughing and sneezing, the World Health Organization says. Other symptoms of this coronavirus include fever and shortness of breath. Severe cases can lead to pneumonia, kidney failure and even death. WHO declares coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern Scientists believe this coronavirus started in another animal and then spread to humans . So health officials recommend cooking meat and eggs thoroughly. Anyone with underlying medical conditions should avoid live animal markets and raw meats altogether, since those people are `` considered at higher risk of severe disease, '' the World Health Organization says. But in general, the public should do `` what you do every cold and flu season, '' said Dr. John Wiesman, the health secretary in Washington state -- where the first US case of Wuhan coronavirus was confirmed. That includes washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you're the one feeling sick, cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and disinfect the objects and surfaces you touch. If you or your doctor suspect you might have the Wuhan coronavirus, the CDC advises wearing a surgical mask . What the US is doing The novel coronavirus is a public health emergency in the United States, said Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Once the health emergency declaration goes into effect at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, US citizens returning to the United States who have been in China's Hubei province in the two weeks before their return will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine, officials said Friday. The development came a day after the State Department announced a highest-level warning urging citizens not to travel to China due to the outbreak. Also Thursday, the CDC said the husband of an Illinois woman with Wuhan coronavirus is infected with the illness -- the first confirmed case of person-to-person transmission in the United States. A visual guide to the Wuhan coronavirus Chinese officials have scheduled a public transportation lockdown for the city's buses, ferries and subways. Airport and rail stations have been temporarily closed for departing passengers, Wuhan authorities said. For those who traveled to China in the past two weeks and have symptoms such as fever, cough or trouble breathing, the agency recommends seeking immediate care, avoiding contact with others, not traveling and practicing good hygiene. `` At this time, it's unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people, '' the CDC said. What to do if you're planning to go to China This virus is spreading at the worst possible time of the year -- when millions of people are traveling to or within China for Lunar New Year celebrations. Lunar New Year means everything in China. Canceling celebrations is a massive deal Chinese New Year started last Saturday, but festivities can last for two weeks and often include family rituals that are supposed to ensure a successful year. While the CDC's travel warning for Wuhan is a Level 3, the travel alert level for the rest of China is at Level 1 -- which means `` practice usual precautions. '' But Americans visiting friends and family in China might be at greater risk than tourists. `` Their risk is higher because they generally stay longer than tourists, eat local food in people's homes, and may not take the same precautions that tourists do, '' t he CDC said . Before traveling, the CDC recommends visiting a health care provider to make sure you have all necessary vaccinations and travel medication . Americans should also register trips with the US Embassy or consulate . CNN's Michael Nedelman, John Bonifield and Jen Christensen contributed to this report.

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Coronavirus: China bars 11m residents from leaving city at centre of outbreak

Chinese authorities have suspended all outbound public transport from Wuhan, the city at the centre of an outbreak of the mysterious Sars-like coronavirus, which has so far killed 17 people. Bus, subway, ferry and long-distance passenger transportation networks from the city were suspended from 10am local time on Thursday, state media reported. The city’ s airport and train stations were also closed to outgoing passengers. The government asked citizens not to leave the city of 11 million unless there were special circumstances, state media said. No people in # Wuhan, C China's Hubei will be allowed to leave the city starting 10 a.m. of Jan. 23. Train stations and airport will shut down; the city bus, subway, ferry and long-distance shuttle bus will also be temporarily closed: local authority # WuhanPneumonia # coronavirus pic.twitter.com/8pohJ4Uixo The latest death toll, announced by the provincial government of the central province of Hubei, where the virus is believed to have originated, almost doubles the previously estimated total. More than 540 people who have contracted the virus have been taken to hospital with breathing difficulties. Many more are thought to have developed a milder form of the illness, which is mainly passed through the respiratory tract. On Thursday, authorities said 571 people had been infected. The first case of the virus was also confirmed in Hong Kong. China is in the midst of a public health crisis as a new strain of coronavirus, from the family of viruses that gave rise to Sars, has swept the country. Officials said the nation was now at the most critical stage of prevention and control, especially as China prepares to celebrate the lunar new year on 25 January and hundreds of millions will crisscross the country. “ Spring festival is just around the corner … which objectively increases the risk of the disease spreading and the difficulty of prevention and control. We must not be careless, and we must be highly vigilant, ” said Li Bin, deputy director of the commission. “ The virus may mutate, and there is a risk of further spread of the virus, ” he said. The public have been advised to avoid densely populated areas. The World Health Organization put off a decision over whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency and asked its expert committee on the issue to continue their meeting for a second day on Thursday. The Who’ s director general said that the emergency measures taken by authorities in Wuhan showed commitment to minimising risks locally and abroad. “ What they are doing is a very, very strong measure and with full commitment, ” said Dr Tedros Ahanom Ghebreyesus. “ We stressed to them that by having a strong action not only they will control the outbreak in their country but they will also minimise the chances of this outbreak spreading internationally. ” In the last week, the number of confirmed infections has more than tripled and cases have been found in 13 provinces, as well as the municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Tianjin. The deaths have all taken place in Hubei province. The commission said more than 2,000 close contacts have been identified and more than 1,000 were under current medical watch. Li said the increase in cases was the result of deeper understanding of the disease and improvements in screening for it. Wuhan, the central Chinese city in Hubei province where the outbreak is believed to have originated in a market, has been put under tighter supervision, Li said, with the sale of live poultry banned. Wild animals and poultry are no longer allowed in the city, he said. It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization ( WHO) has declared it a pandemic. According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment. About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19. In the UK, the National health Service ( NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either: As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system. Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities. In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home. China’ s national health commission confirmed human-to-human transmission in January. As of 4 April, more than 1.1m people have been infected in more than 170 countries, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. There have been over 58,000 deaths globally. Just over 3,200 of those deaths have occurred in mainland China. Italy has been worst affected, with over 14,600 fatalities, and there have been over 11,000 deaths in Spain. The US now has more confirmed cases than any other country - more than 278,000. Many of those who have died had underlying health conditions, which the coronavirus complicated. More than 226,000 people are recorded as having recovered from the coronavirus. The local government has cancelled public activities during the holiday, including the annual prayer-giving at the city’ s Guiyan Temple, which attracted 700,000 tourists last year. Wuhan’ s mayor, Zhou Xianwang, urged residents to not leave the city and visitors to avoid it so that the possibility of transmission can be reduced. “ If it’ s not necessary we suggest that people don’ t come to Wuhan, ” Zhou told state broadcaster CCTV. Fever scanners have been set up at the city’ s train station and airport and officials check the temperatures of drivers at highway checkpoints, while outbound tour groups have been banned from leaving the city. Taiwan’ s China Airlines and Singapore’ s Scoot cancelled flights into Wuhan on Thursday. The commission noted the virus is being treated as a class A disease, which means authorities can quarantine patients and put affected areas on lockdown. Li said the government had implemented measures to prevent further spread, including adding temperature checks, minimising large crowds, more screening of potentially infected patients and more protections for health workers. The virus has also been confirmed outside of China, in the US, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. On Wednesday, Thailand confirmed four new cases of the virus while Macau reported its first cases, and officials have introduced health screenings at all airports that have daily flights from Wuhan, including Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueng, Chiang Mai and Phuket. As many as 1,400 tourists from Wuhan visit Thailand every day, according to local media, with many more expected to travel to celebrate the lunar new year. Hong Kong, which was hit particularly hard by Sars, confirmed its first case on Wednesday, according to local media. Taiwan’ s president, Tsai Ing-wen, has appealed to citizens not to visit central China. “ I want to call on our nationals please not to visit this region if not necessary, ” Tsai Ing-wen wrote on her Facebook page late on Tuesday, referring to Wuhan. North Korea has also banned foreign tourists to guard against the spread of a new virus from China, one tour operator said. The temporary closing of the North Korean border would begin on Wednesday, according to Young Pioneer Tours. Meanwhile, Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said that it will allow cabin crew to wear surgical masks on mainland flights, after a flight attendant union said it had been flooded with messages of concern from members. Investor nerves over the spread of a deadly new virus from China rattled Asian equities and oil benchmarks on Thursday. Hong Kong and Shanghai both dropped 0.9% in morning trade while Tokyo was 0.6% lower. Sydney and Seoul both fell 0.6% but Taipei was up 0.2%. Additional reporting by Rebecca Ratcliffe

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What you need to know about the coronavirus and how to protect yourself against Covid-19

A new virus that was first reported in the central city of Wuhan is spreading from person to person and has infected health workers.

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Coronavirus: WHO steps back from declaring public health emergency

The World Health Organization has stepped back from declaring the growing viral pneumonia outbreak in China to be a public health emergency of international concern, saying its expert committee would meet again on Thursday to discuss more evidence from its teams on the ground. “ This is an evolving and complex situation, ” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO. “ Today there was an excellent discussion but it was also clear that to proceed we need more information. “ The decision is one I take extremely seriously and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence. ” More than 540 people have been taken to hospital with breathing difficulties and 17 have died, all in Hubei province, the Chinese authorities said on Wednesday. Many more are thought to have developed a milder form of the illness. UK infectious disease experts have doubled their estimate of the likely number of cases during the coronavirus outbreak to 4,000. The WHO’ s emergency committee met as the international spread of the virus became clear, following the diagnosis of cases in people who have travelled not only to other regions of China but also abroad. There have been cases in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and most recently, the United States. The coronavirus is from the same family that caused 800 deaths globally from Sars ( severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2002-03 and Mers ( Middle East respiratory virus), identified in 2012. The UK government said on Wednesday morning it was implementing checks on travellers arriving from the city of Wuhan, but within hours, it became clear that the three direct flights a week to Heathrow would not be arriving. Chinese state media announced that Wuhan was shutting down outbound flights and trains. The official Xinhua News Agency said people had been asked not to leave Wuhan without specific reasons. The People’ s Daily newspaper tweeted that no one would be allowed to leave the city from 10am on Thursday and that train stations, the airport, city buses, subways, ferries and long-distance shuttle buses would be temporarily closed. Members of WHO’ s emergency committee, who praised China for its openness in sharing data and information, said that in circumstances where a new and infectious virus was circulating, they would recommend that mass gatherings should be avoided. Responding to the public transport ban, Dr Didier Houssin, chair of the committee, said: “ We need some time to understand the specific measures that have been taken. ” The WHO team in China would be reporting overnight on developments. The committee said that the virus is mostly affecting older people, with 73% of patients over the age of 40. Nearly two-thirds ( 64%) are male and 40% of those who have died had underlying conditions that made them vulnerable to a new virus, such as heart disease or high blood pressure. This was typical of the coronaviruses, they said. The fatality rate so far appears to be lower than either Mers, which kills a third of those who get it, or Sars which has a death rate of around 10%. The new coronavirus has been linked to a market selling seafood and live animals in Wuhan, which has now been closed. The type of coronavirus has never been identified before and it has been confirmed that human-to-human transmission is taking place. Experts believe it is quite possible the disease, which causes coughing, fever and breathing problems, will arrive in the UK. It can take at least five days for symptoms to show. If flights resume, the airport checks may not pick it up, but will serve to alert people to the need to get medical attention if they fall sick. Prof Neil Ferguson’ s team at Imperial College London, who carry out disease modelling for the WHO, said they had increased their estimate from 1,700 cases at the end of last week to 4,000. However, they say there is considerable uncertainty and the true number could be between 1,000 and 9,700. “ You should not interpret that as the epidemic doubling in size in five days, ” Ferguson said. The increase was due to more information coming out of China, where doctors were struggling to deal with a rapidly evolving situation. “ All the reports I have read from within China [ suggest ] that hospitals are now overwhelmed with suspect cases. ” The confirmed cases tend to be the more severe ones, in people who end up in hospital. It is possible there are many more mild cases, which do not get reported but maybe more easily transmitted from one person to another. “ It is vital we understand the rate of human-to-human transmission, ” he said. “ That will determine the feasibility of control and what measures will need to be taken. ” Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at the University of Oxford, said there was “ quite a long latency ” after infection before serious symptoms show, starting with a mild fever and a dry cough. “ After about a week or so, they develop shortness of breath and then severe respiratory distress. About 15 to 20% of hospitalised cases are severe, requiring oxygen or ventilation. ” Experts say the spread of the coronavirus fulfils the criteria for the WHO to declare it of international concern. “ Personally, I think this is a big event, ” said Horby. “ Is it extraordinary? Yes, it pretty much is. We haven’ t seen this large-scale spread since Sars. ” The Chinese authorities were criticised for failing to share information about the Sars epidemic which began in China in 2002 but spread globally. There have been around 2,500 cases of Mers, which is far less transmissible, mostly in Saudi Arabia. “ This is a new and rapidly evolving situation where information on cases and the virus is being gathered and assessed daily. Based on the available evidence, the current risk to the UK is considered low. We are working with the WHO and other international partners, have issued advice to the NHS and are keeping the situation under constant review, ” said Dr Nick Phin, the deputy director of the National Infection Service at Public Health England. “ Individuals should seek medical attention if they develop respiratory symptoms within 14 days of visiting Wuhan, either in China or on their return to the UK. They should phone ahead before attending any health services and mention their recent travel to the city. ” Public Health England has shifted its risk assessment slightly from “ very low ” to “ low ”, but, said the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, “ obviously we want to stay ahead of the issue so we are keeping a very close eye on it ”. The UK Foreign Office has updated its advice for Britons travelling to China, warning the virus had spread to other areas outside Hubei province.

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A visual guide to the Wuhan virus outbreak

An outbreak of new coronavirus has sickened about 1,400 people worldwide and killed at least 41 in mainland China, while spreading to countries around the world. Its emergence has fueled fears of a deadly epidemic as hundreds of millions of people travel in China, or around the Asian region, during the Lunar New Year holiday. What is the virus? Coronavirus is a large family of viruses, which include severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS). Read More Common symptoms include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, and possibly a headache. Those who have a weakened immune system, particularly the young and the elderly, are at risk of the virus turning into a more serious respiratory tract illness. Authorities said the Wuhan coronavirus was passed from animals to humans; can be spread from person to person; and appears to cause pneumonia in people who have weakened immune systems. It is thought to be milder that SARS and MERS and take longer to develop symptoms. Patients to date have typically experienced a mild cough for a week followed by shortness of breath, causing them to visit a hospital. Experts are now trying to understand how it is being transmitted, who is at most risk and whether transmission is occurring mostly in hospitals or in the community. In one instance, 14 doctors and nurses operating on a patient -- who was not known to be carrying the virus -- were all infected with it, suggesting it can be spread relatively easily. Where is this happening? Where it started: Ground zero The outbreak emerged last month in the largest city in central China, Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in Hubei province. Officials linked it to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, saying wild animals sold there are the likely source of the virus. The market has been closed since January 1 for disinfection and officials are scrambling to discover its animal source. Snakes -- the Chinese krait and the Chinese cobra -- may be responsible for transmitting coronavirus to humans. Scientists in China say that the virus might have jumped from bats to snakes, which were sold in the local seafood market in Wuhan, and then to humans. However, how the virus could adapt to both the cold-blooded and warm-blooded hosts remains a mystery, and further tests are necessary to determine the source animal. At least 30 people died in the province, many of them elderly and suffering from pre-existing conditions. As deaths mount in the city, officials imposed a number of new measures including the postponement of New Year celebrations in Wuhan, a ban on tour agencies from bringing groups of people out of the city and thermal monitors and screening in public spaces. Regional spread From the first reported case in December, in Hubei province, the virus has spread to almost all of China's administrative regions this week. The country has adopted prevention and control measures that are typically used for major outbreaks such as plague and cholera. This means health officials will get sweeping powers to lock down affected areas and quarantine patients. Wuhan `` temporarily '' closed its airport and railway stations on Thursday for departing passengers, and all public transport services are suspended until further notice. The city's coronavirus task force also announced the closure of highways out of the city. Meanwhile, the city made it mandatory for everyone to wear face masks in public places after confirmed coronavirus cases passed the 500 mark. Unprecedented lockdown Authorities in China have imposed indefinite travel restrictions in 15 cities in Hubei province, the most affected area in the country, impacting an estimated 32 million people. Wuhan, a city of 11 million, is under effective lockdown, with all public transport in and out of the city closed. Other cities across the province are under less severe travel restrictions. A global threat: Confirmed cases around the world The virus has spread well beyond mainland China, so far to 13 places including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Australia and the United States. Airports around the world have increased health screenings and implemented new quarantine procedures as officials race to slow the spread of the virus. Various countries, including the US and the UK, have also issued travel advisories for Wuhan. International flights from Wuhan Wuhan is a major transportation hub. Not only is the city a center for China's high-speed rail network, it has flights going to more than 60 international destinations from Tianhe International Airport. On Thursday, as confirmed cases ramped up across the country, government officials announced the temporary closure of Wuhan's airport and railway stations. All train tickets in and out of Wuhan have also been suspended, while multiple international airlines have canceled flights to the city. China has encouraged passengers traveling to and from Wuhan to change their travel plans during the busy Lunar New Year holiday period, by exempting them from service charges for refunds for all modes of transport. How does this compare to the SARS virus? Scientists say the infectiousness of the virus is not as strong as SARS, but have added that the number of people infected is climbing. A study by researchers in the UK estimated that the number of infections in Wuhan is still grossly underestimated, with the real number closer to 4,000 as of January 18, based on the spread of the virus to other cities and countries in a relatively short period of time. SARS infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774 in a pandemic that ripped through Asia in 2002 and 2003. On Thursday, David Heymann, the chairman of a World Health Organization committee gathering data on the outbreak, said the virus spreads more easily from person to person than previously thought. But there is still much that is not known about the virus and, as the above graphic shows, its death rate is far smaller than that seen during the SARS outbreak. CNN's Jen Christensen and Meera Senthilingam contributed to this report.

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Putin to meet mother of US-Israeli woman jailed in Russia

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet with the mother of a US-Israeli woman jailed in Moscow on drug charges, a Kremlin aide said Wednesday, as the case has led to protests in Israel. The Russian leader will meet Yaffa Issachar, the mother of Naama Issachar, while visiting Israel on Thursday, Putin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, said. The meeting will also include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, who have both petitioned for the 26-year-old woman's freedom. `` The humanitarian aspect of this case will be discussed at the meeting, '' Ushakov told journalists. Issachar was caught with nine grams of cannabis in her checked luggage while transiting from India to Israel at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport last April. She was convicted in October and jailed for seven-and-a-half years after a court outside Moscow found her guilty of smuggling a `` significant amount '' of drugs. The case has sparked outrage in Israel, where the foreign ministry has called the verdict `` harsh and disproportionate '' while Israeli President Reuven Rivlin appealed to Putin's `` mercy and compassion, '' seeking his intervention in the case. Issachar's appeal was rejected in December. Initial reports speculated she could be swapped for a Russian hacker in Israeli custody, but Israel's top court ruled to extradite him to the United States instead. Israeli media this week reported that Israel is willing to relinquish Alexander's Courtyard, a piece of property in Jerusalem that is highly symbolic to the Orthodox Church, in exchange for releasing Issachar. Ushakov on Wednesday appeared to confirm some decision on the Courtyard, calling it `` a decision in line with the good relations between our countries. '' He declined to tie it to any negotiations over Issachar's fate. The Alexander Courtyard in Jerusalem's Old City is a piece of land purchased around 1860 by the Palestine Orthodox Society, an organisation created by Russian tsar Alexander III. In 1917 the Russian prince heading the society emigrated to Germany in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. Russia does not recognise the organisation's current legitimacy and has sought to reclaim the property to a Moscow-administered Imperial Palestine Orthodox Society. The Alexander Courtyard is listed by the Russian Orthodox Church as a plot of 1,433 square metres and is a major draw for Orthodox pilgrims in Jerusalem. Netanyahu, who is facing an election on March 2, last week said he was optimistic that Issachar would be released after speaking to the Russian leader by phone. Putin will participate in Israeli commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, taking part in an event at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in Jerusalem along with other world dignitaries. Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet with the mother of a US-Israeli woman jailed in Moscow on drug charges, a Kremlin aide said Wednesday, as the case has led to protests in Israel. The Russian leader will meet Yaffa Issachar, the mother of Naama Issachar, while visiting Israel on Thursday, Putin’ s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, said. The meeting will also include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, who have both petitioned for the 26-year-old woman’ s freedom. “ The humanitarian aspect of this case will be discussed at the meeting, ” Ushakov told journalists. Issachar was caught with nine grams of cannabis in her checked luggage while transiting from India to Israel at Moscow’ s Sheremetyevo airport last April. She was convicted in October and jailed for seven-and-a-half years after a court outside Moscow found her guilty of smuggling a “ significant amount ” of drugs. The case has sparked outrage in Israel, where the foreign ministry has called the verdict “ harsh and disproportionate ” while Israeli President Reuven Rivlin appealed to Putin’ s “ mercy and compassion, ” seeking his intervention in the case. Issachar’ s appeal was rejected in December. Initial reports speculated she could be swapped for a Russian hacker in Israeli custody, but Israel’ s top court ruled to extradite him to the United States instead. Israeli media this week reported that Israel is willing to relinquish Alexander’ s Courtyard, a piece of property in Jerusalem that is highly symbolic to the Orthodox Church, in exchange for releasing Issachar. Ushakov on Wednesday appeared to confirm some decision on the Courtyard, calling it “ a decision in line with the good relations between our countries. ” He declined to tie it to any negotiations over Issachar’ s fate. The Alexander Courtyard in Jerusalem’ s Old City is a piece of land purchased around 1860 by the Palestine Orthodox Society, an organisation created by Russian tsar Alexander III. In 1917 the Russian prince heading the society emigrated to Germany in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. Russia does not recognise the organisation’ s current legitimacy and has sought to reclaim the property to a Moscow-administered Imperial Palestine Orthodox Society. The Alexander Courtyard is listed by the Russian Orthodox Church as a plot of 1,433 square metres and is a major draw for Orthodox pilgrims in Jerusalem. Netanyahu, who is facing an election on March 2, last week said he was optimistic that Issachar would be released after speaking to the Russian leader by phone. Putin will participate in Israeli commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, taking part in an event at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in Jerusalem along with other world dignitaries. With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives. Germany used a military plane to transfer intensive care patients to less afflicted regions - Copyright AFP CHRISTOF STACHEJoris FIORITI with Danny KEMP in... Ghislaine Maxwell faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted of conspiring to run a sex crimes ring. Coffee consumption may inhibit beta amyloid and tau clumping, thereby helping to prevent neurodegenerative diseases. Belgium said Friday it has detected the first announced case in Europe of the new COVID-19 variant. COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

general

TAKE A LOOK-New coronavirus outbreak spreads in China

The Chinese city of Wuhan is at the centre of an outbreak of a new flu-like virus, suspected to have come from animals, and which has heightened global fears of contagion. The virus has spread around China to major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong, with 473 cases confirmed in the country. Abroad, Thailand has confirmed four cases, while the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have each reported one As of Wednesday there have been nine deaths. LATEST STORIES > China virus deaths rise to nine, alarm heightens > Man quarantined in Hong Kong after positive test > China says new virus adapting and mutating > Singapore starts screening all China flights > China companies issue staff with masks > Russia is developing vaccince against coronavirus > Russia strenghtens sanitary controls at borders > How to cope with China virus? Watch `` The Flu '' > The shadow of SARS: China learned the hard way > Cathay says crew can wear masks on all flights > Turkey takes steps against new coronavirus > Macau confirms virus case, screens in casinos > N.Korea suspends foreign tourists on virus fears FACTBOXES > New coronavirus outbreak spreads in China > What we know about the new coronavirus > WHO panel to decide if new virus an emergency > Key facts about Wuhan, centre of virus outbreak > How a virus impacts the economy and markets ( Compiled by Alexandra Hudson)

business

Southeast Asia stocks: Most subdued ahead of holidays, Philippines gains 1%

Philippine stocks saw their best day in almost three weeks after falling over 2% so far this week. `` I would look into the performance over the last few days, which is mostly weak, so today's bounce back mostly looks like bargain hunting from investors, '' said Charles William Ang, associate analyst at COL Financial Group. Gains in financial and consumer sectors helped prop up Philippines. Real estate developer Ayala Land advanced 2.3%, while packaged food producer Universal Robina Corp rose 1.2%. The Philippine central bank said gross domestic product ( GDP) growth of 7% was attainable for 2020, while data showed December quarter GDP up 6.4% year-on-year. Other markets in southeast Asia were subdued as the death toll from the coronavirus rose to 17, while the World Health Organization ( WHO) said it will decide on Thursday whether to declare a global emergency over the outbreak. Malaysian shares were lower, hurt by losses in the healthcare and consumer sectors. Latex glove manufacturer Hartalega Holdings fell 1.7%, while plantation co Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 1.2%. Indonesian stocks edged slightly higher, helped by gains in consumer stocks and ahead of a central bank policy meeting later in the day. A Reuters poll showed Bank Indonesia was likely to hold rates, while the central bank governor has promised to continue on a `` accommodative monetary policy ''. A surprise rate cut by Malaysia's central bank yesterday might `` give Bank Indonesia additional confidence to lower its policy rate, '' Mizuho Bank said in a note to clients. The Vietnam bourse was closed for a public holiday. By Soumyajit Saha

business

Oil Falls Further On Rising Crude, Product Inventories

The American Petroleum Institute API estimated on Wednesday a surprise crude oil inventory build of 1.57 million barrels for the week ending January 17, compared to analyst expectations of a 1.009-million-barrel draw in inventory. Last week saw a build in crude oil inventories of 1.1 million barrels, according to API data. The EIA & rsquo; s estimates, however, were of a draw of 2.5 million barrels for that week. Oil prices were down earlier in the day prior to the afternoon data release, despite continued unrest in oil-rich Iraq and a near-complete oil production disruption in Libya, as fears of economic slowdown once again surface & mdash; this time not from the trade dispute between the United States and China, but due to a deadly SARS-like virus known as coronavirus in China that now shows a confirmed case in the United States. At 224 pm EST on Wednesday, the WTI benchmark was trading down $ 1.34 -2.30% at $ 57.04, roughly $ 1.30 per barrel under last week & rsquo; s levels. The price of a Brent barrel was also trading down on Wednesday, by $ 1.11 -1.72%, at $ 63.48 & mdash; roughly $ 1.10 under last week & rsquo; s prices. The API this week also reported another large build of 4.5 million barrels of gasoline for week ending January 17, after last week & rsquo; s large 3.2-million-barrel build. This week & rsquo; s large gasoline build compares to analyst expectations of a 3.090-million barrel-build for the week. Distillate, too, saw inventories increase, by 3.5 million barrels for the week, adding onto last week & rsquo; s large 6.8-million-barrel build, while Cushing inventories fell by 429,000 barrels. US crude oil production as estimated by the Energy Information Administration showed that production for the week ending January 10 increased to 13.0 million bpd, a record high for the United States. At 443 pm EDT, WTI was trading at $ 56.60, while Brent was trading at $ 63.07. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

business

Coronavirus Has Hit the Stock Market. Here’ s What History Says Comes Next.

The growing number of coronavirus-related cases has travel-company stocks down. Photograph by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images The outbreak of pneumonia in China’ s Wuhan province is caused by a coronavirus that usually infects animals but can jump to humans. The first case of the Wuhan virus in the U.S. was confirmed on Tuesday . The growing number of cases has travel-related stocks down . China Eastern Airlines ( ticker: CEA), for instance, is down about 13% over the past five days. On the other hand, Lakeland Industries ( LAKE), a small-capitalization company that makes personal protective equipment used by health-care professions, is up more than 25%. Investors don’ t like volatility, but they have had to deal with disease-related shocks in the past. History says the impact will be temporary. Read Next: The Dow Could Hit 30,000 Five Years Ahead of Schedule. It Won’ t Stop There. “ Past experience of market performance around such events suggests that markets tend to bottom with the peak in new cases and news flow. ” J.P. Morgan Asia equity and quantitative strategist Mixo Das wrote in a Wednesday research report. That’ s good news. A small, short-term impact is what market participants hope happens this time. “ Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing respiratory illness in people, ” reads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention news release reviewing the confirmed U.S. infection. “ Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people, such as has been seen with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ( MERS). ” SARS infected more than 8,000 people in 2003, killing more than 770. The outbreak occurred between November 2002 and July 2003. Stocks of U.S. airlines—a proxy for travel-related shares—dropped more than 30% from pre-SARS highs during that outbreak, about twice the decline of the broader S & P 500 index . All stocks, it appears, were impacted by the outbreak. It took about three months for shares to bottom and another three month to achieve previous highs. Travel is often the sector investors focus on when disease fears rise. China, for instance, is recommending that people not travel ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations. The “ Ebola virus outbreak helps frame potential [ airline pricing ] impact from coronavirus, ” wrote Stifel airline analyst Joseph DeNardi in a Wednesday research report. Reported cases of Ebola—another deadly virus—spiked in 2014 , creating volatility for investors again. It wasn’ t just uncertainty that moved stock prices back then. The outbreak impacted airline fundamentals. There were fewer travelers and prices declined. Looking ahead, DeNardi estimates that, if airline pricing from the U.S. to Asia behaves as it did in 2014, 10% to 45% of full year U.S. airline earnings could vanish. That is a big impact. United Airlines Holdings ( UAL) and Hawaiian Holdings ( HA) have the most Asian exposure. Delta Air Lines ( DAL) and American Airlines Group ( AAL) have less exposure, according to the analyst. This isn’ t a prediction by DeNardi, only a scenario analysis. And not every stock is negatively affected by disease fears. Traders historically have bid up shares of some health-care companies when disease outbreaks occur. Lakeland, for instance, jumped by almost six times after the 2014 Ebola problems came to light. Shares, however, fell back to earth relatively quickly. Looking far back into the past, the Spanish flu was the “ most severe pandemic in recent history, ” according to the CDC . About 500 million people were infected and 50 million people died. The numbers are staggering. It is difficult to assess the impact of Spanish flu on markets. World War I was raging. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 30% from its highs while all the problems unfolded. Health-care technology, of course, has advanced significantly over the past 100 years. And world health officials are working to mitigate disease transmission and impact., including in the U.S. where travelers entering the country are widely being screened. Write to Al Root at allen.root @ dowjones.com

business

Coronavirus explained: What do we know so far?

As the new year kicked off, a never-before-seen virus began to spread across China. Raised on a steady diet of viral apocalyptic fiction, many in the West quickly jumped on social media to declare the end of the world. So what do we know so far about this mystery virus? And how dangerous is the looming epidemic? The name `` coronavirus '' refers to a general family of viruses. Two of the earliest human transmissible coronaviruses to be discovered in the mid-20th century are thought to be responsible for a large number of cases of the common cold. This new virus is the seventh coronavirus to be identified in humans, and so far has been simply named 2019-nCoV ( 2019 novel coronavirus). Despite some coronaviruses presenting as relatively harmless to most humans, two of the most dangerous global viral outbreaks in recent years have been attributed to newly appearing coronaviruses: SARS and MERS. The 2003 SARS outbreak began in China, with the virus first crossing over from palm civets to humans. Over 8,000 cases were confirmed in totality, with 774 deaths confirmed – a fatality rate of 9.7 percent. The MERS coronavirus was first identified in late 2012 and its most acute spread occurred between 2012 and 2015 in Saudi Arabia. To date there have been over 1,200 confirmed cases, and nearly 400 deaths, marking the virus with a striking fatality rate of nearly 40 percent. The virus is currently informally referred to as the Wuhan coronavirus, in reference to its point of origin, the city of Wuhan in China. The first appearance came in a wave of cases in December, 2019. The cases were clustered around people associated with the Huanan Seafood market, and were initially labeled as a pneumonia-like illness of unknown origin. The World Health Organization notes the initial symptoms are as simple as a fever and mild respiratory distress. The onset of the virus is still relatively unknown so it may have an asymptomatic period of anywhere from two to 14 days. The virus’ s symptomatic similarity to the flu presents a significant problem for containing its spread, arriving in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere winter flu season. As of January 21, 2020, there have been over 400 confirmed cases and nine deaths. Some researchers are suggesting the number of confirmed cases is a dramatic underestimation of how broadly the virus has already spread. There could be nearly 2,000 cases of infection at least so far. Early signs seem to suggest the virus is not as fatal as MERS, or even SARS, but it is too early to tell exactly how the virus will behave as it spreads across the globe. There are officially confirmed cases of the virus in China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. One case in Australia is yet to be officially confirmed. How the virus is transmitted from human to human is unclear, but prior understandings of coronaviruses suggest it has a virality similar to flu viruses. This means basic protections such as regular hand washing, and covering one's mouth when sneezing should offer decent protections. Any potential vaccine would be unlikely to arise for quite some time, years most likely, so the best approach in the short term is containment. The outbreak of SARS in the early 2000s offers the only roadmap for how to manage the acute global spread of a coronavirus in our modern times. In that instance the virus mysteriously abated by 2004, with many experts pointing to effective quarantine and screening methods as helping limit transmission. Unless you are traveling to Wuhan in the immediate future health authorities are suggesting there is no direct imminent danger. The virus is still too new to entirely predict how dangerous it will become, however, basic hygiene is the best recommendation for most healthy adults.

science

Australians warned the wet weather brings out funnel-web spiders

Hi, what are you looking for? By Published The Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, in New South Wales state, has warned the public through its Facebook page that recent wet weather, followed by hot days, has created “ perfect conditions for funnel-web spiders to thrive. ” Native to the moist regions of Eastern Australia, there are more than 30 species of funnel-web spider but the Sydney funnel-web spider, atrax robustus, has the distinction of holding the Guinness World Record for the most venomous spider in the world. “ Because of the recent rain and now the hot days we are now experiencing, funnel-web spiders will start to move around, ” park spokesman Daniel Rumsey said in a video posted on Facebook, per CTV News Canada. “ Funnel-web spiders are potentially one of the most dangerous spiders on the planet, in terms of a bite towards humans, and we have to treat it very seriously. ” At least 28 people have died in the worst bushfires Australia has seen in decades. The fires were followed by torrential rains, hail and flooding, which created new risks. Last week, parts of southeastern Australia were pelted by hailstones the size of golf balls, big enough to smash car windows and injure birds, less than 24 hours after the region was hit by massive dust storms. The Australian Reptile Park welcomes the arrival of the deadly spiders, though. They are the only maker of funnel-web antivenom. They need the live spiders’ venom. Since the anti-venom program began in the early 1980s, there has not been a single funnel-web related death since, reports The Guardian. The funnel-webs have arrived later than usual, according to Warren Bailey, owner of ABC Pest Control Sydney. They usually come out in the summer, but Bailey says the hot, drought-like conditions over the past few months delayed the spider season late. “ Their venom is pretty toxic and can kill someone, ” he said. “ The funnel-webs are now out with the recent rains, ( and) they can go into people’ s houses on the ground or from the roof. ” Karen Graham is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for environmental news. Karen's view of what is happening in our world is colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in man's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, `` Journalism is merely history's first draft. '' Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history. America’ s Covid-19 infections are climbing again, and could soon hit a weekly average of 100,000 cases a day. Sri Lanka abandoned its quest to become the world’ s first completely organic farming nation. There is something decidedly odd, and potentially dangerous, about Europe's COVID stats. Violence broke out at a protest against anti-Covid measures in Brussels in which police said tens of thousands of people took part. COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2021 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking.

general

Treasury yields rise as investors monitor earnings and virus development

Treasury yields fell slightly on Wednesday as investors flocked back into risk assets, after China unveiled measures to rein in the spread of a deadly virus. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 1.7778%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 2.2351%. The outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus in China's Wuhan region sent Treasury yields to a two-week low on Tuesday, with experts calling back the economic fallout from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) crisis in 2003. Fears of a global pandemic sent investors running for safety and saw stock markets tumble. However, China on Wednesday announced sweeping measures to contain the virus, which has killed nine people and infected more than 400. A first U.S. case was confirmed Tuesday in Washington State, but health officials have said the affected individual `` poses little risk '' to the public. Investors continued to monitor corporate earnings. IBM forecast full-year profit above market expectations on Tuesday, sending its shares higher, while United Airlines beat Wall Street quarterly profit expectations despite ongoing delays to the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. Yields gained slightly after data showed U.S. home sales easily beat expectations, jumping to a nearly 2-year high. U.S. home sales increased 3.6% in December to a seasonally adjusted 5.54 million. Economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 1.3% to 5.43 million units sold. There are no Treasury auctions scheduled for Wednesday.

business