(Reuters) – The death toll from the coronavirus in mainland China passed 2,000 on Wednesday, although new cases fell for a second straight day, as authorities tightened containment measures in the worst-hit city of Wuhan.
-China’s National Health Commission reported 1,749 new cases, the lowest daily rise since Jan. 29, bringing the total number of those infected to over 74,000, with 2,004 deaths.
-Hubei reported 1,693 new cases as of Tuesday, down from 1,807 the previous day and the number of deaths rose by 132 to 1,921.
-Outside China, five deaths and 827 cases have been reported so far. More than half of those infected were on a cruise ship quarantined off Japan.
-Hundreds of people began disembarking the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan on Wednesday as criticism mounted of Japan’s handling of an onboard coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 540 people – most of whom have been transferred to hospitals – the biggest concentration of infections outside China.
-The Canadian government aims to evacuate nationals aboard the cruise ship on either Thursday or Friday.
-A senior Chinese health official said 1,716 health workers have been infected and six of them have died.
-The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Chinese data “appears to show a decline in new cases”, but any apparent trend “must be interpreted very cautiously”.
-Tedros said there had been 92 cases of human-to-human spread of the coronavirus in 12 countries outside China.
-Hong Kong recorded its second death caused by the virus on Wednesday.
-South Korea reported 20 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, including 14 people involved in an outbreak traced to several church services in the central city of Daegu.
-There are no indications that there are cases of the new coronavirus in North Korea, a WHO official said, despite South Korean media reports suggesting the outbreak had spread to the isolated country.
-Malaysia expects to meet its target of a record 30 million tourists this year by redirecting its marketing efforts as arrivals from coronavirus-hit China fall, a tourism official told Reuters on Wednesday.
-Japan, set to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in July, saw its foreign visitor numbers fall for the fourth month in January, with further, sharper falls expected as the coronavirus outbreak keeps away Chinese travellers.
-Japan’s machinery orders tumbled at their fastest pace since 2018 and exports posted a 14th straight month of decline as the world’s third-largest economy grappled with the widening impact of the outbreak and a recent sales tax hike.
-Big manufacturing hubs on the Chinese coast are starting to loosen curbs on the movement of people and traffic while local governments prod factories to restart production, following weeks of stoppages.
-A decline in the number of new coronavirus cases in China and mounting expectations for more policy stimulus boosted global stock markets on Wednesday, helping ease some of the alarm caused by an Apple revenue warning. [MKTS/GLOB]
-China will not send any officials to a G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Riyadh due to the virus outbreak, officials said.
-China’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it would tackle any local governments’ misuse of special funds meant to pay for the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.
-Foreign pilots at some Chinese airlines have returned to their home countries and are considering other jobs after being placed on unpaid leave as demand falls because of the coronavirus, affected flight crew told Reuters.
-Casinos in Macau, the world’s biggest gambling hub, are set to reopen on Thursday after being closed for two weeks, but all punters and croupiers will have to wear masks at the tables.
-Mongolia will keep all its schools shut until March 30 to prevent the coronavirus from spreading in the country, the government said on Wednesday.
-Thailand is preparing new measures to help the economy cope with the aftermath of the coronavirus, the finance minister said on Wednesday.
-Italy’s 2020 growth forecast may be cut if there is a significant impact from the coronavirus outbreak, Italy’s Economy Minister said on Wednesday.
-Trading sources said a growing list of hosts have pulled out of London’s International Petroleum Week, one of the world’s biggest oil industry gatherings. SOCAR, Exxon (XOM.N) and Shell (RDSa.L) are the latest to cancel events.
Compiled by Amy Caren Daniel and Sarah Morland; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Tomasz Janowski