Coronavirus updates: Stock markets fall as cases spread

February 28, 2020

European stock markets slumped again on Friday, putting them on track for their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis
Hamburg confirmed its first case of COVID-19 as infections in Germany and France doubled over the last two days
A foreign national in Nigeria became the first known case in sub-Saharan Africa
China reported 327 new cases on Thursday, the lowest daily figure since January
The latest global figures are at 83,700 people infected, with more than 2,800 dead

All updates in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT).

10:00 The number of cases in the UK rose to 19 after Wales reported its first case and two new cases were identified in England.

09:45 Switzerland has banned all large public events in a bid to halt the spread of the virus. All events with more than 1,000 participants have been halted until mid-March, the government said. Switzerland currently has 15 cases with 100 people in quarantine.

09:30 The number of cases in Germany jumped up overnight, health officials said on Friday. Some 27 new cases were registered overnight, raising the total of cases that Germany has seen since the beginning of the year to 53, officials at the Robert Koch Institute told a press conference. The outbreaks are currently centered in three “clusters” in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden Württemberg. One patient is currently seriously ill with the virus.

08:35 The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) thanked the German government for contributing €50 million to combat the coronavirus. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “proactive solidarity is vital” in both efforts to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19.

08:15 European stock markets plunged on Friday, extending losses from the day prior amid concerns about the coronavirus. Germany’s DAX 30 index in Frankfurt dropped by 3.6%, while the Paris CAC 40 dropped 3.1%. London’s FTSE 100 index also slumped 2.8%.

08:05 South Korea reported even more new cases on Friday, raising the total infections in the country to 2,337. The outbreak is currently the largest one outside of China.

08:00 New Zealand also confirmed its first COVID-19 case after a person who recently arrived from Iran tested positive for the virus. Authorities said that the situation is being well managed and that the “chances of community outbreak remain low.”

07:15 Belarus reported its first coronavirus case on Friday. The patient is a student from Iran who arrived in the eastern European country last week, the Health Ministry said. The student is in “satisfactory” condition, officials said, noting that other people who came in contact with them have been placed in quarantine.

A person wears a face mask outside the Minsk Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases in Belarus

Belarus is treated an Iranian student infected with virus and has put others who came into contact with them under quarantine

06:43 Tokyo’s Nikkei share index has tumbled by more than 3.6% at the close of trade, extending losses for a fifth day. Stocks in Sydney, Seoul and Bangkok have all fallen by more than 3%, while Jakarta dropped by more than 4%.

06:00 Hong Kong authorities say they have quarantined the dog of one COVID-19 patient after traces of the virus were found in nasal and oral samples. The result was described as a “weak positive,” with officials saying there was no evidence that pets can become infected.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said it would conduct further tests, and that the result could have been caused by environmental contamination.

05:35 Lithuania has reported its first coronavirus infection. The government in Vilnius said the case was in a woman who returned this week from a visit to the northern Italian city of Verona.

04:40 Tokyo Disneyland will be closed starting Saturday following a government recommendation that all large gatherings be curtailed as a precautionary measure. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea will closed until March 15.

“We plan to reopen on March 16, but we will an announcement after keeping close contact with relevant institutions,” park operator Oriental Land said on its website.

Disney’s Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks have closed for over a month now.

04:00 After the sweeping sell-off in US and European markets on Thursday, here’s a round-up of the Asian stock markets, which continued the free fall on Friday: (all indices are currently trading and liable to change)

Nikkei (Japan) -4%
Hang Seng (Hong Kong) -2.5%
Shanghai Composite (China) -3.37%
Sensex (India) -2.80%

03:29 The first coronavirus case in Nigeria is that of an Italian citizen who arrived in the country from Milan earlier this week.

“The patient is clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, and and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos,” Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a statement.

Read more: Zimbabwe businesses count cost of the impact of coronavirus

03:15 New Zealand places travel restrictions on people coming from Iran. “This means people will not be able to travel from Iran to New Zealand and anyone who has been in Iran in the last 14 days will need to self-isolate,” said David Clark, the country’s health minister.

02:35 US health employees who received repatriated Americans exposed to the coronavirus were sent without wearing protective gear or receiving training, a whistleblower complaint said, according to US media.

02:25 Nigeria on Friday said it has confirmed a coronavirus case, the first in sub-Saharan Africa. The country’s health ministry said the case was confirmed on Thursday in Lagos state.

02:05 A cruise ship with 6,000 passengers on board, turned away by two nations; Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, has been allowed to dock in Mexico. The passengers will be allowed to disembark as long as “health standards” are met, said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

01:56 Schools in Japan could be closed longer than one or two weeks, said Katsunobu Kato, the country’s health minister. “There could be a chance” schools could be shut for longer, he said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday called for the entire school system to close from Monday till spring break in late March.

Read more: Investors flee from controversial pandemic bonds with coronavirus set to trigger payout

01:52 Hong Kong and Shanghai markets fall at the first few minutes of trade on Friday. The Hang Seng (Hong Kong) dropped 1.98%, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 2.23%

01:40 Health workers in South Korea have began checks on more than 210,000 members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive group often accused of being a cult. The Christian group has been linked with around half of the country’s cases.

These checks are expected to further increase the number of known infections in South Korea.

A sign installed at a church located in western Seoul on Feb. 23, 2020, bans the entry of members of the Shincheonji church (picture-alliance/Yonhap)

This sign at a Seoul church is telling members of the Shincheonji Church that they are not permitted entry

01:10 South Korea has confirmed 256 new cases on Friday taking the total number of infections to 2,022. Most of the cases have been reported in Daegu. No new deaths were reported.

00:31 Asian stock markets dropped at the opening bell on Friday, after fierce declines in the US and Europe on Thursday. The sweeping sell-off has investors worried about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Here are the major indices that recorded a slump:

Nikkei (Japan) -3.08% (shortly after opening)
Topix (Japan) -2.98% (shortly after opening)
Dow Jones (US) -4.42% (all other markets currently closed)
SP 500 (US) -4.42%
Nasdaq (US) -4.61%
FTSE 100 (UK) -3.49%
DAX (Germany) -3.19%
CAC 40 (France) -3.32%
Oil -4.90%

Read more: Coronavirus: Are less-developed EU countries more susceptible?

00:26 China confirmed 327 new coronavirus case on Thursday, down from 433 cases a day earlier. This is the lowest daily figure since January 23. The latest figure takes the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 78,824. The number of dead in China also increased by 44 on Thursday, and now stands at 2,788.

00:15 Hamburg confirmed its first coronavirus case on Thursday. The patient, a staffer at the University Medical Center, or UKE, in the city’s Eppendorf district, worked in the pediatric ward. The man came to work on Monday and Tuesday. He called in sick the following day and came in on Thursday as a patient.

A signpost stands in front of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. For the first time, an infection with the novel corona virus has been detected in Hamburg. (picture-alliance/dpa/G. Wendt)

The patient in Hamburg works in the pediatric ward of the University Medical Center

“The patient is currently in a stable condition in isolation at home,” the University Medical Center or UKE said in a statement.

The children and patients he came in contact with will remain in isolation for 14 days, as will his colleagues. “There have been no further admissions at the affected station,” the hospital said.

rs, adi/msh (Reuters, AP, dpa, AFP)

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