International stock markets fell again on Friday as fears about the coronavirus outbreak dominated trading.
In Asia sharp drops were registered in Japan, where the Nikkei was down 2.7% at the close. There were similar falls in South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and elsewhere.
It followed a disappointing closure in the United States. On Wall Street, major indexes lost roughly 3.5%, nearly wiping out the rally from a day before.
This came after a day when the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning to some countries it accused of taking too lax an approach to the coronavirus outbreak.
“We are concerned that some countries have either not taken this seriously enough, or have decided there is nothing they can do,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.
“This is not a drill, this is not a time to give up, this is not a time for excuses, this is a time for pulling out all the stops.”
He urged people not to give up fighting the virus, which has now killed 3,281 people globally and infected more than 95,000.
Meanwhile, Italy — the country worst affected in Europea — reported 41 new COVID-19 deaths in just 24 hours.
The country’s civil protection agency said on Thursday evening that 3,858 people had been infected and 148 had died.
It came as the UK and Switzerland announced their first deaths from the disease.
Summary of the key developments
- UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has warned that the worst off in society may “all too easily be pushed over the edge” by efforts to combat the virus. Lockdowns, quarantines and other measures could threaten livelihoods and lives and should always respect human rights, she added.
- The Netherlands has announced its first known fatality from COVID-19. An 86-year-old man is said to have died from the disease in hospital in Rotterdam.
- The Vatican has confirmed its first case of coronavirus: a patient in a medical centre in the city state, AFP reported on Friday.
- A French lawmaker and a parliamentary worker have both been infected with the virus, and another case is “suspect”, the National Assembly announced. Jean-Luc Reitzer, a conservative member for the Alsace region, is in hospital while the employee has been quarantined at home.
- The European Parliament cancelled the plenary session in Strasbourg due to COVID-19 fears. President David Sassoli said it would be held in Brussels instead, saying medical advice stated the health risks were estimated to be “significantly higher” if the session took place in Strasbourg.
- EU27 health ministers and officials from health agencies are meeting on Friday, looking at ways to ensure supplies of medicines and equipment.
- A cruise ship with about 3,500 people aboard will stay back from the California coast after a traveller from a previous trip died. The authorities have barred it from docking until some passengers thought to be at risk are given the all-clear.
- The US Senate has approved an $8.3 billion (€7.36 billion) package to tackle coronavirus, after a sudden burst of bipartisan cooperation in Congress. President Trump is expected to sign the measure, worth more than triple the amount the White House proposed 10 days earlier. It will release federal money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments, and help state and local governments.
- Japan on Friday cancelled this year’s memorial for victims of March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
- The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has been closed indefinitely, weeks ahead of the Easter holiday.
- Bollywood has postponed its annual prize-giving ceremony, India’s equivalent of the Oscars, the country’s cinema industry announced.
- China reported 143 new cases in 24 hours on Friday and 30 new deaths. But most new cases are outside China.
- The number of newly reported cases in South Korea appears to be declining, WHO said.
- North Korea said it had released about 220 foreigners from a quarantine imposed as part of its containment efforts. State radio had previously reported that around 380 foreigners had been placed under medical surveillance.
- WHO said on Thursday there were more than 95,000 COVID-19 cases globally and 3,281 people had died. Italy is Europe’s worst-affected country with 148 deaths.
The #COVID19 epidemic is a threat for every country, rich & poor. We are calling on every country to act with speed, scale & clear-minded determination. We call on countries to activate their emergency plans through the whole-government approach. https://t.co/5fhFB7ITNo
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 5, 2020
italy: Europe’s worst-hit country
A day after announcing it would shut all schools and universities for two weeks, Italy reported a sharp hike in COVID-19 deaths.
The death toll jumped from 107 people on Wednesday to 148 on Thursday.
The northern regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy — which surround Milan — remain the worst-hit with nearly three-quarters of all the country’s infections.
Lombardy has had 98 deaths and 2,251 cases; Emilia-Romagna 30 fatalities and 698 infections.
Angelo Borrelli, who heads up Italy’s civil protection agency, said the outbreak had not hit the number of hospital beds available.
“For the moment, there are no major difficulties regarding the number of beds available in hospital structures,” said Borrelli.
“When the intensive care beds are all occupied in one region (…) our coordination centre finds them in the neighbouring regions.”
Of the 3,858 coronavirus cases, 1,790 people are in hospital and 351 in intensive care.
A government decree that took effect Thursday urged the country’s famously demonstrative citizens to stay at least 1 metre apart from each other, placed restrictions on visiting nursing homes and urged the elderly not to go outside unless absolutely necessary.
That directive appeared to be widely ignored, as school closures nationwide left many Italian children in the care of their grandparents. Parks in Rome overflowed with both young and old, undercutting government efforts to shield older Italians from the virus that hits the elderly harder than others. Italy has the world’s oldest population after Japan.
Lorenzo Romano, making lunch for his grandchildren, saw a positive side to having kids stay home from school.
“Altogether, it makes me happy, because then I have them around me more,” he said.
France: epidemic now ‘inevitable’
France’s health ministry announced three new deaths from COVID-19 and said there were 138 fresh infections.
The death toll in France is now at seven.
One 73-year-old in l’Oise, where there are more than 100 cases of the virus, died and another person, who is 64 years old died, in the department of l’Aisne.
French President Emmanuel Macron said an epidemic in France was “inevitable”.
Jérôme Salomon, the general director of health in France, said there were studies underway to better understand the virus, especially as it evolves in France.
“There are two different families, we don’t know if the two viruses coexist or if they evolve towards each other or if we can have infections with both,” Salomon said as he explained that the virus had evolved.
He said some people were sick with few symptoms for a couple of days whereas others developed a stronger cough and could be sick for over two weeks.
He emphasised that the people most at risk for the virus were elderly adults.
Meanwhile, French news agencies reported that a French parliamentarian was hospitalised as a suspect case of coronavirus on Thursday.
WHO on transmission and containment
Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, had strong words during its Thursday update on the spread of COVID-19.
He said it wasn’t a drill and not a time to give up.
“We are preoccupied with the fact that in certain countries the level of political engagement and actions does not correspond with the level of the threat with which we are confronted,” said Ghebreyesus.
“Countries have been preparing themselves for such a scenario for decades,” he added. “It is time to react.
“This epidemic is a threat to all countries, rich and poor.
“Even high-income countries should expect surprises, the solution is to prepare in an aggressive manner.
“We don’t think that containment should be abandoned. Don’t give up, don’t surrender, use a comprehensive approach,” he added.
Meanwhile, WHO said it was aware a dog in Hong Kong had tested positive for the virus but said that they do not believe that this is a huge driver of transmission.
Coronavirus’ economic impact
The struggling British airline Flybe collapsed on Thursday amid drops in demand caused by the new coronavirus, leaving passengers stranded and threatening the viability of regional airports across the country.
Flybe’s fall highlights the damage that the virus outbreak has had on the airline industry, which has cut back on flights around the world as people avoid flying out of precaution.
The British regional airline narrowly avoided bankruptcy in January but had continued to lose money. Unions and opposition politicians attacked both the airline’s owners and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government for failing to act to save it.
“We’re all a bit gutted – Flybe is a household name, we’ve been flying with them for 40 years and we really tried to do everything we could back at the turn of the year,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.
Shapps said that for “an already weak company,” the virus made survival impossible.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority urged customers to make their own alternative travel arrangements.
