The number of coronavirus cases globally approached 100,000 as the outbreak in the US gathered pace, and China and South Korea continued to report new infections and deaths.
China, where the pathogen originated, reported 143 more cases for Thursday and 30 additional deaths, down from highs reported in February. The total number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 80,552.
South Korea confirmed 518 new infections, for a total of 6,284, and said the death toll rose to 42. Most of the infections still are in the southern city of Daegu.
Globally, infections have risen to 97,869 cases, with Maryland reporting its first three cases and New Jersey recording two, one in a healthcare worker. Infections in the Seattle area surged by 20% — with a 10th death — and 11 more New York state residents were confirmed to have the virus.
Two private schools in Manhattan — Collegiate School and The Spence School — cancelled Friday classes after a parent was exposed to the coronavirus while travelling abroad.
The UK and Switzerland reported their first fatalities Thursday.
The Trump administration won’t be able to meet its goal to have 1 million coronavirus tests available by the end of the week, senators said.
The head of the World Health Organization threatened to name countries that aren’t doing enough to fight the outbreak.
In other developments:
First local case in Philippines
A 62-year-old Filipino male who hasn’t travelled outside the country has tested positive for novel coronavirus, the Philippines’ first local case, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.
A 48-year-old Filipino male who visited Tokyo also tested positive of the virus, bringing the Philippines’ total confirmed cases to five, Mr Duque said in a televised briefing in Manila.
Authorities are tracking down people who came in contact with the patients, as well as those who interacted with three individuals from Taiwan, Japan and Australia who tested positive after visiting the Philippines, Mr Duque said.
In February, a 44-year-old Chinese male from Wuhan died in the Philippines from the novel coronavirus, the first death recorded outside of China. Two other patients, both Chinese nationals, have recovered.
Bhutan confirms first case
Bhutan has reported its first case of the coronavirus after a US tourist tested positive, the prime minister said.
The government immediately shut borders to foreign visitors for two weeks in an effort to limit the impact.
The 76-year-old man arrived in Bhutan from India on March 2, and was admitted to hospital on March 5 with a fever, where he tested positive, the office of Prime Minister Lotay Tshering said in a Facebook post.
The post added that there would be "two weeks' restriction on all incoming tourists with immediate effect".
Schools in three areas -- including the capital Thimphu -- will be closed for two weeks from Friday.
The patient, who has not been named, left Washington on Feb 10, touring India from Feb 21 to March 1.
Health officials say they have traced roughly 90 people he came into contact with in Bhutan, with his 59-year-old partner, driver and guide all being placed in quarantine. None is currently showing symptoms.
Eight Indian nationals who were on the flight to Bhutan have also been quarantined.
Korea blasts Japan
South Korea said it will consider countermeasures to Japan's "unjust, unacceptable" travel restrictions barring visitors from areas which have been hard hit.
The presidential National Security Council met after Japan said it would bar arrivals from highly affected areas in South Korea and Iran and order a two-week quarantine for those from other regions.
"It is unacceptable that the Japanese government took such an unjust action without prior consultations with us, and we will explore necessary countermeasures based on principles of reciprocity," the council said in a statement.
$211bn cost to Asia-Pacific
A fast-spreading outbreak could knock $211 billion off the combined economies of the Asia-Pacific, with Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia among the most exposed, S&P Global Ratings said.
S&P cut its 2020 growth forecast for China to 4.8% from a previous estimate of 5.7%. It forecast Australian growth to slow sharply to 1.2% from an already below-trend 2.2% in 2019. Japan would take 0.5-percentage-point hit and Korea a 1-point knock.
"The balance of risks remains to the downside due to local transmission, including in economies with low reported cases, secondary transmissions in China as people return to work and tighter financial conditions," S&P said in a report.
In other forecasts, Hong Kong's economy would likely contract by 0.8% in 2020, Singapore's would flat line, and Thailand's expansion likely slow to 1.6%.
S&P did not cut growth forecasts for emerging markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and India, citing the fact that reported infections in those countries were still low.
However, it noted the outlook could quickly deteriorate if the low level of cases was due to minimal testing and if those countries were swept up in financial contagion.
US spread continues
Maryland reported three virus cases in Montgomery County, a suburban area of Washington, DC. The patients were infected after travel abroad and are in good condition, officials said. They are in their homes with symptoms abating. Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency due to the virus.
Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, recommended that large gatherings be postponed or cancelled after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 20. Six more people were confirmed to have the virus since Thursday. Sara Cody, health officer for the county, said the area is no longer in containment mode as it’s getting harder to trace the contacts of each confirmed case.
Meanwhile, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said all New Yorkers should voluntarily quarantine themselves for 14 days if they have returned from China, Iran, Italy, South Korea or Japan within the past two weeks.
In Seatlle, 20 new cases of the virus were reported and one more person who had been previously diagnosed with the coronavirus there died, local officials announced. That brings the total cases in King County to 51, according to local officials. The person who died was a women in her 90s who had been hospitalised at EvergreenHealth, which has treated many of the sickest cases.
San Francisco has two confirmed cases, mayor London Breed said. The patients are a man in his 90s and a women in her 40s who are being treated in isolation at separate hospitals. Both infections appear to have been from community transmission.
Testing kits have been flown in for passengers on a Princess cruise ship that has been linked to the virus and is being held off the California coast. Thirty-five people have shown flu-like symptoms during the ship’s voyage to Hawaii and are being tested, though some of those people are no longer showing symptoms, San Francisco officials said.
The ship had originally been planned to dock in the city, but state officials are now working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine where it will eventually land. The ship has 2,383 passengers on board, as well as 1,100 crew members.
eBay bans new mask listings
eBay Inc is banning new listings for face masks, hand sanitiser and disinfecting wipes “due to regulatory restrictions across the United States,” the San Jose-based company said.
The news comes as demand surges have prompted sellouts in stores, skyrocketing prices online and pressure from regulators to enforce price-gouging laws. Packs of hand sanitizer that usually sell for $10 were listed on online marketplaces for as much as $400.
Before Thursday’s announcement, eBay said it had been “taking action to mitigate the inflated price of masks listed on the site.” The online marketplace was pulling listings for face masks that exceeded $7.50 per mask — about 10 times the usual 75 cents.
First UK death, cases rise to 115
An elderly patient has become the first person in the UK to die from the coronavirus as health officials across the country brace for a potential period of mounting infections.
The patient, who had underlying medical conditions and was in treatment at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, is believed to have contracted the virus in the UK, the government said in an email Thursday.
The fatality was reported on a day that the number of confirmed cases in the UK hit 115. As many as half of the UK’s total cases may emerge in a potential three-week episode that would put the National Health Service under “huge pressure”, chief medical adviser Chris Whitty told a parliamentary committee earlier Thursday. Overall, 95% of cases would likely occur over a nine-week period, he said.
WHO may name names
The head of the World Health Organization said the spread could become a pandemic if countries don’t fight it aggressively, and he threatened to name names.
“It’s a long list,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a daily press briefing in Geneva Thursday. “It’s a significant number of countries who are not mobilizing the whole government, and I can give you the list next time.”
