China to allow in U.S. health experts as virus shows no sign of slowing

[webfact]

China to allow in U.S. health experts as virus shows no sign of slowing

By Kevin Yao and Winni Zhou

 

Security personnel wearing masks walk along the Financial Street in central Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Jason Lee

 

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has agreed to allow U.S. health experts into the country as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) effort to help fight the fast-spreading coronavirus, as the number of cases and deaths continued to mount.

 

In central China's Hubei province, epicenter of the epidemic, China state TV reported there were 2,345 new cases of the virus and another 64 deaths, bringing the total of virus-related fatalities in Hubei to 414 by Monday.

 

The Chinese stock market plunged about 8% on Monday, wiping $393 billion off the value of the Shanghai bourse, on the first day of trading following an extended Lunar New Year holiday in a bid to help keep people at home and contain the virus' spread.

 

The White House said on Monday China had accepted its offer to have U.S. experts as part of a WHO mission to study and help combat the virus that emerged in Hubei's provincial capital of Wuhan.

 

A 1,000-bed hospital built in eight days to treat people with the virus in Wuhan was due to receive its first patients on Monday, state media said. A second hospital with 1,600 beds is due to be operational later this week.

 

With Wuhan and some other Chinese cities in virtual lockdown, travel severely restricted and China facing increasing international isolation, fears of wider economic disruption are growing. Sources at the OPEC oil cartel told Reuters producers were considering cutting output by almost a third to support prices.

 

The WHO last week declared the flu-like virus a global emergency. It has spread to 23 other countries and regions. The Philippines reported the first coronavirus death outside of China.

 

Airlines around the world have stopped flights to parts of China. A suspension by the United Arab Emirates on Monday will affect the Gulf airlines Etihad and Emirates.

 

Earlier on Monday, China accused the United States of spreading fear by pulling its citizens out and severely restricting travel.

 

Washington has "unceasingly manufactured and spread panic," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, noting that the WHO had advised against trade and travel curbs.

 

"It is precisely developed countries like the United States with strong epidemic prevention capabilities and facilities that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions contrary to WHO recommendations," she said.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defended the measures taken by the United States, including suspending the entry of foreign nationals who had visited China within the past 14 days.

 

"We made an aggressive decision in front of an unprecedented threat that action now had the biggest potential to slow this thing down. That's what the theory is here," said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, as she noted that there are already some 17,000 cases of a virus for which the population does not have immunity.

 

'NO REASON' FOR TRAVEL CURBS

The WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, again said travel bans were unnecessary.

 

"There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade," he told the WHO's executive board in Geneva.

 

"The chance of getting this (virus) going to anywhere outside China is very low, and even in China when you go to other provinces, it's very low," he added.

 

The outbreak is reminiscent of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a virus from the same family that emerged in China in 2002 and killed almost 800 people around the world out of the roughly 8,000 who were infected.

 

Chinese data suggests the new virus, while much more contagious than SARS, is significantly less lethal, although such numbers can evolve rapidly. Prior to the latest figures from Hubei, the number of confirmed infections in China stood at 17,205.

 

The WHO said at least 151 cases had been confirmed in 23 other countries and regions, including Japan, Thailand, Germany, Britain and the United States, which on Monday reported its second case of person-to-person transmission within its borders.

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping said controlling the virus was his country's most important task, Xinhua state news agency said.

 

In addition to Monday's Chinese stock selloff, the yuan currency had its worst day since August, and Shanghai-traded commodities from oil to copper hit their lower limits - all despite the central bank's injection of 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) into money markets.

 

The selloff did not extend to U.S. markets, which closed higher on Monday with the S&P 500 up 0.7%.

 

Fears over the effect of China's lockdown on global growth have slashed more than 22% off the price of the Brent global crude oil benchmark since its recent peak on Jan. 8..

 

Economists are predicting world economic output will be cut by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage point.

 

'YOU HAVE BEEN SPOTTED'

Taiwan's Foxconn, which makes smartphones for Apple and other brands, has halted "almost all" of its production in China after companies were told to shut until at least Feb. 10, a source said. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Countries continued to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan.

 

The United States, which flew nearly 200 people out last week, is planning "a handful more flights." Russia was due to start evacuating its citizens on Monday, and Canada said 304 of its citizens were seeking to be flown out.

 

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, rocked by months of anti-China protests, announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China, leaving just three open.

 

China's efforts to contain the virus have taken some unexpected, and some might say unnerving, forms.

 

A video clip posted on the microblogging website Weibo showed people playing mahjong in a village near the city of Chengdu being spotted by a camera mounted on a patrolling drone.

 

"Playing mahjong outside is banned during the epidemic!" an official tells the villagers through a loudspeaker. "You have been spotted."

For a graphic comparing coronavirus outbreaks, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2GK6YVK.

 

For more coronavirus news click here. https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH/0100B59Y39P/index.html

 

(Graphic: Tracking the novel coronavirus - https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html) 

 

(Reporting by Kevin Yao, Lusha Zhang and Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Yilei Sun, Leng Cheng, Brenda Goh, Winni Zhou in Shanghai, Martin Pollard in Jiujiang, Roxanne Liu, Pei Li, Gabriel Crossley and Muyu Xu, Min Zhang in Beijing, Clare Jim and Noah Sin in Hong Kong, Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru, Maria Kiselyova in Moscow, Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Gayatri Suroyo in Jakarta, Tom Westbrook in Singapore, Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago, Jeff Mason in Washington and Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by; Robert Birsel, Nick Macfie and Bill Berkrot; editing by Kevin Liffey and Leslie Adler)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-04

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[kamahele]

Good move. The CDC is a great resource.

[nobodysfriend]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

NO REASON' FOR TRAVEL CURBS

The WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, again said travel bans were unnecessary.

He will probably regret soon having said this ...

[Fred white]

2 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

He will probably regret soon having said this ...

Maybe he will invite some Chinese from Wuhan to spend a couple of weeks with him and his family

[IAMHERE]

Come on USA; sometimes you should just stay the heck out of it. China is all grown up and can take care of itself. Policemen of the world isn't enough, got to be DOCTORS of the world too. 

[ExpatOK]

"The White House said on Monday China had accepted its offer to have U.S. experts as part of a WHO mission to study and help combat the virus that emerged in Hubei's provincial capital of Wuhan."

 

Now even the Chinese are saying "Thank you, President Trump!" ????

 

The Chicoms know they are in over their heads. They have botched this from the beginning. Now it's time for Uncle Sam to once again come in and save the day. Bring in that American know how and get the job done. Happy to do it.

 

 

[JHolmesJr]

Positive move...hope it's not too late.

The virus is out of the bottle now.

[emptypockets]

Not sure what is more worrying for the Chinese people, the virus or the fact that drones ( complete with loudspeakers apparently ) are used for spying on them.

[metisdead]

A conspiracy troll post and a reply has been removed. 

[Tony125]

As I have mentioned before these outbreaks usually start in China so they need to educate  farmers/selllers at the wet markets on standard sanitary and hygeine methods.

[sirineou]

3 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Come on USA; sometimes you should just stay the heck out of it. China is all grown up and can take care of itself. Policemen of the world isn't enough, got to be DOCTORS of the world too. 

The US would be happy to stay out of it. unfortunately we are in it from no fault of our own.

[DaRoadrunner]

3 hours ago, ExpatOK said:

Bring in that American know how and get the job done. Happy to do it.

Do I hear the egotistical US national anthem playing as we salute the flag? Yawn.

 

3 hours ago, ExpatOK said:

The Chicoms know they are in over their heads. They have botched this from the beginning.

Actually, I think the Chinese reacted well by locking down cities. Pity it happened at New Year when people were traveling, potentially exacerbating viral spread. Should have cancelled Chinese New Year.

[bristolboy]

5 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

Positive move...hope it's not too late.

The virus is out of the bottle now.

Not in the USA.

"Following orders from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS,) airline officials are now asking all U.S.-bound passengers if they have recently visited mainland China amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The new directive coincides with President Donald Trump’s comments that American authorities had “pretty much shut it down,” regarding the potential spread of the viral disease, in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity."

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/airlines-us-coronavirus-outbreak-travelers-china

 

on the other hand...

Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response

 "In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion. If the United States still has a clear chain of command for pandemic response, the White House urgently needs to clarify what it is—not just for the public but for the government itself, which largely finds itself in the dark."

"https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/

 

[JHolmesJr]

37 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Not in the USA.

"Following orders from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS,) airline officials are now asking all U.S.-bound passengers if they have recently visited mainland China amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The new directive coincides with President Donald Trump’s comments that American authorities had “pretty much shut it down,” regarding the potential spread of the viral disease, in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity."

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/airlines-us-coronavirus-outbreak-travelers-china

 

on the other hand...

Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response

 "In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion. If the United States still has a clear chain of command for pandemic response, the White House urgently needs to clarify what it is—not just for the public but for the government itself, which largely finds itself in the dark."

"https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/

 

 

Gee....an anti trump post from bristolboy....how unusual! ????

This thread is not about the wuhan virus' status in the US.

It's about the US sending assistance to ground zero...Wuhan Province, China.

The impeachment threads are still open for your patronage, however.

[Crazy Alex]

9 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Come on USA; sometimes you should just stay the heck out of it. China is all grown up and can take care of itself. Policemen of the world isn't enough, got to be DOCTORS of the world too. 

The fact is, the United States has superior technology and infrastructure to handle a plethora of situations in a superior fashion. So of course, being the benevolent country we are, we will assist other countries.

 

China could have easily said no. Obviously, they think they will benefit from our expertise. Good for them for asking for it.

 

Wise move on their part.

[spidermike007]

This is not about policing the world. This is about lending a level of expertise to this crisis, that the Chinese very obviously do not possess. The US is ranked near the top, when it comes to preparedness for this crisis. And they have alot of scientists and viral experts. 

 

Though, I sure would not want to end up in a US hospital without health insurance!

[yogavnture]

8 % stock market drop..........caused the chinese to give in...........money over anything else.