Cruise Ship Quarantined: Coronavirus Updates

Japan Confirms 10 nCoV Cases Aboard Quarantined Cruise Ship; Hong Kong Warns Virus Could "Spread Widely" As Deaths Near 500: Virus Updates

Summary:

• Global confirmed deaths: 492
• Confirmed cases on mainland: 24,324; additional 172 in ROW
• 185,555 cases under medical observation
• Chinese authorities have enforced full community lockdown in Nanjing Province
• American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Jetstar close routes to China
• Taiwan tightens travel restrictions
• WHO infectious hazard chief says outbreak 'not a pandemic'
• Japan confirms at least 10 cases of coronavirus aboard "Diamond Princess"
• Kudlow says impact on US economy from outbreak will be 'limited'

Update (1845ET): At least 10 cases of coronavirus have been discovered aboard the Carnival Japan cruise ship "the Diamond Princess", which has been quarantined at Japan's Yokohama port since yesterday after officials learned that a passenger who recently disembarked tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong.

JUST IN: More than 10 people aboard a Japanese cruise liner have tested positive for #coronavirus, Japan's @tbs_news reported, after all 3,000+ passengers were quarantined earlier Tuesday pic.twitter.com/I6Z4iqIMEB

— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) February 4, 2020

As we reported earlier, 3,000+ passengers aboard the cruise ship are under quarantine. It's unclear when they'll be allowed to leave the ship. All individuals who were found to be infected with the virus were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, after unveiling the city's first virus-related death, Hong Kong health officials warned Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak could "spread widely through Hong Kong." Three newly diagnosed cases raised the total number diagnosed in the city to 18, with at least four of those cases being confirmed human-to-human transmissions, according to SCMP.

"It is highly probable the four were infected locally, so there could be invisible chains of infection happening within communities," Chuang said. "We are not ruling out a large spread [of the virus] in the future."

In other news, South Korea just confirmed 2 more cases, raising the country's total to 18 (the same as Hong Kong).

And for the second time in as many hours, health officials on the mainland updated the tally of confirmed cases.

• NEWLY CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS CASES ON MAINLAND AT 3,887 ON FEB 4
• MAINLAND CHINA REPORTS 65 NEW CORONAVIRUS DEATHS ON FEB 4
• CHINA'S TOTAL NUMBER OF CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS CASES ON MAINLAND HITS 24,324 AS OF END-FEB 4
• CHINA'S TOTAL NUMBER OF CORONAVIRUS DEATHS ON MAINLAND REACHES 490 AS OF END-FEB 4

Additionally, according to China's NHC, 185,555 cases under medical observation, up from 171,329 yesterday. Meanwhile, 892 cases have been cured. After Tuesday's rally in US stocks, will this number be all that bulls need to drive this massive short-squeeze even further?

More than 5,000 health care workers walked off the job on Tuesday, worsening what's becoming a serious public health crisis, as they pressure the city government to close all borders with the mainland. Health officials warned that newborns and the elderly are still at risk.

Back in Wuhan, the entire city remains on lockdown, with streets eerily empty aside from a handful of pedestrians. The New York Times just published a video of sweeping drone footage of the city, which is the epicenter of the virus and by far the hardest hit.

As for the cruise ship, it's just the latest example of public officials underestimating the sheer infectious capacity of the coronavirus.

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Update (1715ET): The latest data release from China's Hubei Province shows yet another huge surge in cases and deaths.

• 3156 new pneumonia cases of new coronavirus infection were added in Hubei Province (making a total of 16,678 in Hubei).
• There were 65 new deaths in the province, making a total of 479.
• At present, 12627 cases are still being treated in the hospital , of which 1809 cases are critically ill.
• 66,764 people are still undergoing medical observation.

The full China data will be available shortly.

Update (1145ET): In a stunning announcement by officials in Nanjing Province, authorities have unveiled what amounts to full martial law and furthermore, taking enforcement of reporting the sick extremely seriously:

"Nanjing issued a notice to further strengthen community management during epidemic prevention and control: fully implemented community closed management, all people entering and leaving the community must wear masks. Strict inspection and registration of vehicle personnel in the community.

Strengthen community environmental governance and management of rental housing. If an outbreak occurs in a rented house without a timely report, the leasing unit or individual of the house will be held accountable according to law."

Nanjing is home to 8.35 million people - this has to be the largest enforcement of martial law in history.

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Update (0900ET): After saying the viral outbreak would have 'no impact' on the US economy last week, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow has now revised that view.

The coronavirus outbreak will likely have some impact on the supply chains of American companies, but the impact probably won't be catastrophic, Kudlow told Maria Bartiromo during an interview with Fox Business Network.

"It’s not a catastrophe. It’s not a disaster," Kudlow said, adding later: "We’ve been through this before and I just think the impact is minimal."

However, Kudlow added that it might take longer for China to fulfill some of its promises from the 'Phase One' trade deal (specifically, their promise to buy an additional $200 billion in American-made goods).

Yesterday, President Xi convened a second meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest governing body. The public meeting marked Xi's second appearance before the Chinese people since the coronavirus outbreak. According to reports in Chinee state media, Xi declared the outbreak "a major test of China's system and capacity for governance and we must sum up the experience and draw a lesson from it," while declaring the outbreak a threat to societal stability. As we reported yesterday, Xi also warned local officials that they would be punished if they failed to suppress the virus, or if they slowed down the government's efforts to fight the virus for the sake of "formalities" and "bureaucratism," according to the New York Times.