(Bloomberg) --
Japan will quarantine all people arriving from
China and South Korea, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, Australia added Korea to its banned list and HSBC Holdings Plc joined companies curbing employee travel.California, the most populous U.S. state, called a state of emergency after its outbreak worsened. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $7.8 billion spending package to fund measures to combat the outbreak, showcasing a strengthening response to the epidemic in the world’s largest economy. Deaths from the coronavirus surpassed 3,000 in China, though the first country to be hit by the disease also announced progress on discharging people after treatment. In South Korea, cases have dropped three days in a row.Key Developments:Global cases reach at least 94,534; death toll reaches at least 3,270U.S. lawmakers agree on $7.8 billion in emergency spendingSouth Korea’s testing blitz seems to keep its death rate lowVirus threatens to unleash lawsuits against global businessA coronavirus expert is racing for answers in a locked-down labClick VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts. For analysis of the impact from Bloomberg Economics, click here.Japan to Quarantine Arrivals From China,
South Korea (2:14 p.m. Hong Kong Time)Japan’s government will quarantine all people arriving from South Korea and China for two weeks at medical facilities as part of its quarantine law, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, without attribution. Visas already issued to people from those countries will be suspended and tourists will be recommended not to visit Japan.Japan will limit flights from the two countries to Narita and Kansai airports only, and arrivals by ship will be halte, the newspaper reported.Scramble for Masks (1:32 p.m. HK)South Korea will ban all exports of masks starting March 6 at midnight, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a speech at the National Assembly. In the U.S., the federal Health and Human Services department said it plans to buy 500 million N95 respirator masks that could protect health care workers during an outbreak like the current novel coronavirus over the next 18 months.U.S. Vice President
Mike Pence on Thursday plans a visit to Minneapolis to meet with 3M Co., a top maker of protective face masks, to discuss supply-chain issues and the coronavirus. The manufacturer’s
India unit climbed in trading in Mumbai, bringing its three-day gain to about 16% as of 11:13 a.m. local time.HSBC Joins Firms Curbing Travel (11:55 a.m. HK)HSBC Holdings Plc told its staff they can only undertake international business travel “if absolutely essential to meet commitments to our clients or regulators, even between countries with no recorded cases of COVID-19,” according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman. Any exceptions require approval, the memo said.The move follows similar decisions at many other multinational firms, including UBS Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and crop trader Cargill Inc. One of the first to take the step was Nestle SA, which employs 291,000 people worldwide.U.K. Airline Collapses After Virus Hit (12:34 p.m. HK)British airline Flybe went into administration after the failure of last-ditch talks on a government bailout and pressure from the coronavirus outbreak left the country’s biggest domestic carrier with no alternative.“As a result of insolvency proceedings, Flybe has ceased to trade and is no longer able to fly or accept bookings,” administrator EY said in a statement Thursday. “Unfortunately it has been necessary to make the majority of the workforce redundant.”First Human-to-Animal Transmission (11:04 a.m. Hong Kong Time)The pet dog of a coronavirus patient in Hong Kong has been confirmed to be infected with a “low level” of the virus, marking what’s likely the first known instance of human-to-animal transmission. Tests confirmed the virus in the pet’s nasal and oral cavities, “which indicates a low-level of infection,” Hong Kong’s agricultural and fisheries department said in statement late Wednesday.Facebook Sees First Infection, in Seattle (10:46 a.m. HK)Facebook Inc. said an employee in Seattle has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the first known infection within the company as the virus continues to spread in the region.The employee, a contractor, was last in Facebook’s Stadium East office in Seattle on Feb. 21. The company alerted employees Wednesday night and said the Seattle office will be closed to all employees until March 9. Employees in Seattle are also being encouraged to work from home until the end of the month.Australia’s Travel Bans Widen (10:34 a.m. HK)Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government will continue travel bans for China and
Iran, and will extend the ban to South Korea, in press conference in Canberra Thursday. Australia also advised its own citizens to reconsider travel to South Korea.Cruise Ship Gets Diverted (9:39 a.m. HK)Carnival Corp.’s Princess Cruises diverted a ship bound for Ensenada, Mexico, after a passenger who had recently traveled on the vessel died of coronavirus, becoming California’s first such fatality.The ship was being held off the coast of
California to give state officials time to test passengers and crew for the virus, Governor Gavin Newsom said at a press conference.South Korea Cases Slow (9:31 a.m. HK)Asia’s fourth-largest
economy reported a total of 5,766 coronavirus cases as of midnight between March 4-5, according to a statement from South Korea’s Health Ministry. That marks an increase of 438 for Wednesday, compared with 516 in the previous 24 hours and 600 the day before that.Incheon airport, a major hub in northeast Asia near Seoul, plans to check temperatures on all departing passengers, according to South Korea’s transport ministry. Starting March 9, at 9 a.m. local time, temperatures will be checked for passengers when they enter the terminals, and again before entering the transit area. Passengers will be checked one last time at the boarding gate if departing to countries that requested this step.Microsoft Work-From-Home Guidance (9:05 a.m. HK)Microsoft Corp. became the largest employer in
Washington state’s Puget Sound region to tell all workers to do their jobs from home if possible, until March 25, after King County made a similar recommendation to limit the spread of Covid-19.Workers whose roles require their presence on site should go to their locations, except those aged 60 or over, pregnant or have underlying health conditions or compromised immune systems, the Redmond, Washington-based software maker said Wednesday in a blog post. Workers in those groups should discuss the appropriate leave options with their managers, the company said.Microsoft, one of the biggest employers in the Seattle area, had previously given workers the option of working from home. Washington state has so far been hardest hit by the virus in the U.S., with nine deaths and 31 cases in King County alone.China Deaths Moderate (8:33 a.m. HK)China on Wednesday reported an additional 31 coronavirus deaths by March 4, bringing the total to 3,012, with all of the newest fatalities coming from Hubei province, the original source of the outbreak. The country also reported an additional 139 confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total to 80,409. Discharged patients climbed by 2,189 to 52045.While doubts remain over whether the Chinese statistics show the full picture, the surging number of recovering patients has spurred optimism. Sixty-two percent of those who’ve been officially diagnosed with the disease are now better and out of hospital, according to the data from the National Health Commission on Wednesday.California Governor Declares Emergency (8:09 a.m HK)California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to make more resources available and loosen regulations. The state had its first death Wednesday from a resident in Placer County, whose case was linked to travel on a cruise ship from San Francisco to
Mexico last month.More than 50% of the roughly 2,500 people on that cruise were Californians, Newsom said. The state is sending people up and down the state to find passengers for monitoring. The ship, the Grand Princess, is now being rerouted from a separate sailing and is being held off the coast of San Francisco as the state prepares to test guests on board, Newsom said. Twenty-one passengers and crew members are showing symptoms.Qantas Accused of Sub-Standard Cleaning Practices (7:25 a.m. HK)Substandard plane-cleaning practices on a Qantas Airways Ltd. plane may have put workers and passengers at risk of catching the new coronavirus, according to a workplace safety watchdog.The airline’s method of cleaning planes that could have carried infected passengers is “inadequate,” SafeWork NSW said in a March 2 notice to Qantas that was released by a trade union Thursday. “Workers and other persons may be exposed to a risk of injury or illness,” the state government body said in its report.A spokesman for the airline said it’s considering appealing the notice. “Qantas is not known for being complacent when it comes to safety or the cleanliness of our aircraft,” it said in a statement.CDC Lifts Most Restrictions on Testing (5:16 p.m.
New York time)The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted most restrictions on coronavirus testing on Wednesday, saying in a new set of guidelines that doctors could use their judgment in deciding what patients to test.“This expands testing to a wider group of symptomatic patients,” the agency said in a document posted on its website. Testing decisions should be based on how the virus is spreading in a given community, as well as whether a patient has symptoms consistent with possible coronavirus infection.The CDC has been criticized by local doctors and health officials over overly restrictive testing criteria that had prevented physicians from testing sick people who hadn’t traveled to affected areas or had contact with known patients. Also, the original test kit the CDC produced had flaws that led to shortages of testing capacity, which are only now being resolved.Drugmakers Promise Affordable Vaccines, Treatments (4:25 p.m. NY)Executives from Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson and other drugmakers committed to affordable access of potential coronavirus vaccines and treatments, at a briefing with reporters Wednesday.“We’re keenly aware of what’s at stake here,” said Stephen Ubl, head of PhRMA, the industry’s lobbying arm.Daniel O’Day, chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc., said there are many factors that need to be considered when pricing a drug, such as what other treatments are available and how to ensure there’s an ability to reinvest into medicines for other potential pandemics.Washington State Targets Price Gouging (3:21 p.m. NY)Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson is investigating price gouging in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the Seattle region, where 10 people have died from the illness. Many stores are out of hand sanitizer and face masks, and panicked shoppers are stocking up on essentials.“My office is investigating price gouging in the wake of the Covid-19 public health emergency,” Ferguson said in a statement, referring to the name of the disease caused by the virus. “We do not identify the targets of our investigations, but we are taking formal investigative actions. If you see price gouging, file a complaint with my office.”Washington, unlike most U.S. states, doesn’t have a specific price-gouging law.United to Reduce Flights, Freeze Hiring (3:10 p.m. NY)United Airlines Holdings Inc. plans to cut back on flights, freeze hiring and halt merit pay raises as it grapples with a rapid decline in travel demand. The domestic schedule will be pared 10% in April and international flying will be chopped 20%, United said in a message to employees. Similar reductions will probably be necessary for May, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby said in the memo.United has also imposed a hiring freeze through June and deferred merit-based salary increases for management until July 1, in an effort to prepare the company financially for a steep downturn in business. The Chicago-based carrier will also offer employees voluntary unpaid leaves of absence.Italy Closes Schools Until March 15 (12:55 p.m. NY)Italy said it would close its schools until March 15 as it redoubles efforts to curb the worst outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in Europe.The decision came after Italian emergency chief Angelo Borrelli reported an additional 28 deaths, bringing the total to 107. The number of coronavirus cases increased to 3,086 from 2,502 on Tuesday in an outbreak that has crippled activity in the rich northern regions.Four More Test Positive in New York, Cuomo Says (10:10 a.m. NY)Relatives and a neighbor of a lawyer who contracted the coronavirus in Westchester County all have tested positive for the infection, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.The lawyer’s wife, 14-year-old daughter, 20-year-old son and a person who drove him to the hospital all came down with the sickness, the governor said during a briefing. Yeshiva University in Manhattan’s Washington Heights and Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy in the Bronx, where the children attended, both have been closed.The attorney is in intensive care, Cuomo said.\--With assistance from Jillian Ward, Jihye Lee, Angus Whitley, Alfred Liu, Jonathan Levin and Sophie Jackman.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Christopher Anstey in Tokyo at canstey@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Emma O'Brien at eobrien6@bloomberg.net, Christopher AnsteyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.