Ireland and the Netherlands have reported their first cases of the virus.
In the US Californian health officials are monitoring 8,400 people for symptoms after their arrival on domestic flights, but they have only an “inadequate” 200 test kits.
The New York Times reported a US government whistleblower claiming health workers interacted with Americans quarantined for possible exposure to coronavirus without proper medical training or protective gear, then mingled with the general population.
There are 38 confirmed cases of coronavirus in France, more than doubling the tally in 24 hours.
50 Brits were among 130 guests told they can leave a coronavirus-hit Tenerife hotel.
The death toll in Italy has reached 17.
Facebook Inc said it would cancel its annual developer conference, F8 2020, amid rising concerns of the coronavirus outbreak.
A man in protective suit disinfects a school facility where a child was diagnosed with coronavirus, in Thessaloniki A man in a protective suit disinfects a school facility where a child was diagnosed with coronavirus, in Thessaloniki, Greece, February 27, 2020. Photograph: EUROKINISSI/Reuters
Coronavirus fears have driven the Australian market down for the fifth day running, with the benchmark ASX200 index dropping almost 3.2% shortly after the opening bell.
Retailer Harvey Norman, which had experienced only very small falls this week, finally succumbed to selling pressure after releasing its half year results this morning.
Within half an hour of the opening bell its shares tumbled 7.9%, the third biggest fall among ASX200 stocks.
The company blamed “widespread bushfires and associated severe reductions in air quality that affected many communities” that hit franchisees during the peak Christmas shopping season for a 4.1% fall in its profits for the six months to the end of December compared to the same time the previous year.
Buy-now-pay-later company Afterpay, which has been something of a market darling, was the biggest loser in early trade, diving 9.4%.
Also plunging were stocks with exposure to the Chinese market or international travel, both of which have been disrupted by the virus crisis.
Online flight booking site Webjet and travel agency Flight Centre both fell more than 4%, national carrier Qantas dropped 3% and Air New Zealand, which is listed on the Australian exchange but is not part of the ASX200 index, was also down 3%.
Also punished was Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Fortescue Metals, which exports iron ore to China. Its stock fell almost 5.8%.
Australian stocks have now dropped 10% from peak; ASX 200 flirts with a technical correction pic.twitter.com/vopjTyXDzE
MSF has accused Italian authorities of discriminatory action after one of their search and rescue vessels in the Mediterranean was put under quarantine following the disembarkation of 276 passengers who had been rescued at sea.
The Ocean Viking has 32 crew and one journalist aboard, and is among the search and rescue vessels which patrol for boats carrying migrants fleeing to Europe.
MSF said the vessel had complied with all measures and had been anchored off Sicily for nearly five days, and accused authorities of “discriminatorily applying” quarantine restrictions to search and rescue vessels.
Michael Fark, Head of Mission for Libya and Search and Rescue Operations said:
“Quarantining the Ocean Viking is equivalent to stopping an ambulance in the middle of an emergency. This is a discriminatory action – the only vessels that have been put into quarantine are those conducting rescues.
In the past 48 hours we have had reports of boats in distress in the central Mediterranean. We are deeply worried about the fate of people travelling in them.
Although we have fully complied with the preventive measures, we currently have no reason to suspect any of the crew onboard as having contracted, or having been exposed to, the virus. In compliance with a request from Italian authorities, the temperature and health status of all is being checked and reported by MSF medical team onboard twice daily.
As the conflict in Libya escalates, migrants and refugees trapped in the country say they have no other choice but to risk their lives to escape across the Mediterranean. It is urgent for the Ocean Viking to go back to sea to rescue men, women and children from drowning.
The legitimate public health concerns posed by Covid-19 should not be used to justify the prevention of saving lives as sea.”
Australia’s ASX200 has taken an immediate cut on opening. But it is just an initial 1.5% and not all stocks have started trading yet.
It is wait and see at the moment.
Just picking one stock - Flight Centre. It was trading at $40.04 a share on close on Friday. This morning it’s trading at $32.21 - that’s a drop of nearly 20%
Hello, this is Helen Davidson in Sydney picking up our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. Many thanks to Sam Gelder and our London team for their work.
I’ll update you with a summary of the latest news shortly, but we are just waiting for the Australian stock market to open any minute, after big falls in New York.
The Dow Jones index of leading US shares suffered its biggest points fall in history amid the coronavirus crisis, closing down 1,190.95 in New York.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Switzerland rose to nine on Thursday, as the canton of Basel-City put a number of children into a two-week quarantine after one of their caregivers tested positive for the virus.
A young woman who returned to work at a daycare centre after travelling to Milan has tested positive for Covid-19, authorities said.
“The young woman who resides in the canton of Basel-City is doing well given the circumstances,” the region’s health department said in a statement.
“As a carer for children and young children working at a daycare in Riehen, she came into contact with many children.
“The health department is now making extensive checks in the patient’s professional and personal environment accordingly.”
Officials in California are scrambling to retrace the movements of a woman in the state who is believed to be the first person in the US to contract the coronavirus with no known connection to travel abroad or other known causes.
Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said on Thursday that the woman, who has not been identified, lives in Solano County in northern California.
The county is home to Travis Air Force Base, where dozens of people infected in China or on cruise ships have been treated. But there was no evidence the woman had connections to the base.
Over in sport, the final two stages of the United Arab Emirates Tour have been cancelled amid fears of a further outbreak of coronavirus, according to teams at the cycle race.
Chris Froome, who is making his comeback from a career-threatening crash last year, Mark Cavendish and Adam Yates are among the riders who will now be tested for the virus.
It’s a shame that the #UAETour has been cancelled but public health must come first. We are all awaiting testing and will remain at the hotel until further notice. I hope those affected make a speedy recovery and there aren’t any further cases #coronavirus
The New York Times is reporting that a US government whistleblower has claimed health workers interacted with Americans quarantined for possible exposure to coronavirus without proper medical training or protective gear, then mingled with the general population.
As well as being the Dow’s worst points fall ever, the index’s 4.4% drop was its worst percentage fall in two years.
Meanwhile the tech-focused Nasdaq index tumbled by 4.6%, its worst daily loss since 2011.
Scott Minerd of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners told Bloomberg TV that the coronavirus outbreak “is possibly the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my career”, a time-span which includes the 1987 crash and the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
“This has the potential to reel into something extremely serious,” Minerd warned. “It’s very hard to imagine a scenario where you can actually contain this, and so that’s the thing that to me is very frightening.”
CNBC also reports that the Dow – which measures 30 large US companies – and the more broadly-based S&P 500 were also on pace for their worst weekly performance since 2008.
Through Thursday’s close, the Dow was down more than 11% week to date while the S&P 500 had lost 10.8%.
