(Reuters) – China ramped up measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic and shore up an economy hit by travel curbs and business shut-downs on Sunday as the first death from the illness was reported outside the country.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force aircraft arrive at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport with medical personnel and supplies to help fight the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 2, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS
Here are the latest developments:
** A 44-year-old Chinese man travelled to the Philippines and died on Saturday in a hospital in Manila, the Philippines Department of Health said.
** His death brought the total death toll to 305. All the other people died in mainland China.
** Across China, 2,590 new infections were confirmed on Saturday, the largest daily increase, bringing the total to 14,380, according to the country’s National Health Commission.
** Infections have also been reported in more than two dozen other countries and territories, including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Spain, Thailand and the United States.
** China’s central bank said it would inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.8 billion) worth of liquidity into markets via reverse repo operations on Monday as the country prepares to reopen its stock markets after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
** The government said it will help firms that produce vital goods resume work as soon as possible.
** Chinese data suggest the virus is less deadly than the 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people of the some 8,000 it infected.
** The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, but said global trade and travel restrictions are not needed.
** However airlines have suspended or scaled back direct flights to China’s major cities.
** The United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam are among countries that have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently been in China.
** The United States has reported its first case of person-to-person transmission inside its territory. Germany, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea have recorded similar infections, suggesting greater potential for spreading.
** China’s central city of Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei – the centre of the epidemic – are under a virtual quarantine.
Compiled by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Andrew Heavens