China lockdowns, rate hike fears batter stock markets

HONG KONG - Stock markets sank Monday on growing concerns that lockdowns in China aimed at fighting a worsening Covid outbreak could threaten the country's economy and global supply chains.

The losses extended a sell-off across the world last week fuelled by comments from Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell indicating officials will hike interest rates by half a point next month and possibly several times more by year's end.

China's struggle to get a grip on a Covid outbreak that has forced Shanghai -- the country's biggest city -- into lockdown and dealing a blow to demand.

Officials in the finance hub reported 51 deaths Monday, its highest daily toll despite weeks of strict containment measures, while Beijing warned of a "grim" situation as infections rise.

The lockdowns will "cause a logistical problem that's going to affect not just China but also the rest of the world", OANDA's Jeffrey Halley told Bloomberg TV.

Officials' determination to continue with a zero-Covid policy as well as a lack of government stimulus, "that all points to lower China stocks and we are going to see a weaker yuan going forward".

Investors were already fleeing risk assets as they become worried that the Fed tightening -- to fight inflation at more than 40-year highs -- will knock the pandemic economic recovery off course and dent companies' bottom line.

With earnings season under way, a close eye is being kept on what firms say about the impact on and the outlook for business in light of inflation, forecast rate hikes, supply chain snarls and the Ukraine war.

"Having spent most of the last few weeks trying to put to one side concerns about events in eastern Europe, a slowdown in China, and the increasing risks of what inflation might do to company earnings, as well as consumer incomes, the final straw appears to be a concern about the prospect of a policy mistake by central banks, and a possible recession by the end of the year," said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

And Geir Lode, at Federated Hermes, added: "There has been little to avert the investor pessimism as inflation and interest rate expectations start to bite.

"In particular due to the uncertainty of the macro environment, expectations are low with regard to forward estimates and guidance, building on lowered expectations from the previous quarter."

All three main indexes on Wall Street ended more than two percent down Friday, and Asia followed suit with hefty losses.

Hong Kong and Shanghai led the selling, with both markets suffering hefty losses, while Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta were also deep in the red.

London, Paris and Frankfurt were sharply lower in the morning.

Sydney and Wellington were closed for holidays.

The hit to demand for energy in China also dragged on crude. WTI fell below $100 a barrel, even as the war in Ukraine hits supplies of the black gold owing to embargoes on Russian exports.

"Oil is rerating lower due to the China consumption hit while the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to slow down the US economy," said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

"Those are two gusty headwinds suggesting some oil bulls will give way to recession fears and demand devastation."

On currency markets, the euro was unable to hold a brief rally that came on the back of Emmanuel Macron's victory in France's presidential election, seeing off far-right challenger Marine Le Pen.

Agence France-Presse

Shanghai lockdown snarls world's busiest port and China supply chains

BEIJING — Shanghai's grinding coronavirus lockdown is slowly clogging China's supply chains, as delays hit the world's busiest container port where staff are tangled in a morass of COVID controls.

Beijing has refused to tack away from its strict zero-COVID strategy that has protected its public health system through the pandemic but at a mounting economic cost.

China's financial hub Shanghai -- home to multinational firms and its busiest port -- has been sealed off almost entirely for a week following an outbreak fueled by the Omicron virus variant.

That has many forced companies to halt production and slow new projects, factories told AFP, while those still operating are struggling with a shortage of truck drivers on top of onerous permit and COVID testing requirements.

At Shanghai's port, the lack of drivers and other workers means getting goods in and out is increasingly hard.

The docks are working normally with a "single-digit" number of vessels waiting to berth, Shanghai International Port Group said this week.

"But the fact is... due to restrictions caused for truck drivers, it is not really operating," Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, vice president of the EU Chamber of Commerce's Shanghai Chapter, told AFP.

"The figure I heard is that... week-on-week volumes at the Shanghai port are down by 40 percent. So that's really enormous."

Shortages are starting to bite across China's vast consumer economy, where online shopping platforms such as Taobao face delivery delays, especially of imported goods.

COVID curbs in a number of cities have forced factories to find new suppliers.

But the impact may soon also be felt outside China if lockdowns persist.

Shanghai is the world's number 1 container port, a spinal point in the global supply chain and a key gateway for foreign trade.

It handles around 17 percent of China's total port volume and shipped 47 million TEU -- the standard measurement for cargo, meaning Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit -- in 2021.

FACTORIES CAN'T WORK FROM HOME

Chinese manufacturers say lockdowns, no matter how flexible or targeted, pile pressure on their business.

"Not many roles allow working from home," said Jason Lee, founder of wheelchair producer Megalicht Tech, whose factory in Shanghai's Puxi area has suspended production.

"People can't enter the factory... and because our raw materials come from other provinces or cities, these can't enter Shanghai either," he said.

A Shanghai-based clothing exporter surnamed Zheng said his biggest problem was that he could not send samples to clients.

"Deliveries can neither leave nor enter," he said

Experts say the outbreak is currently nibbling at growth, but could soon take a big bite.

Nomura economists estimate that 23 cities accounting for 22 percent of China's GDP have rolled out full or partial lockdowns.

"The costs of the zero-COVID strategy will rise significantly as its benefits decline, especially as exports are hit by the ongoing lockdowns," Nomura chief China economist Lu Ting told AFP.

That will challenge Beijing's 2022 GDP growth target of around 5.5 percent, he added.

ADAPTING TO SURVIVE

For now, companies are adapting to try and handle the restrictions.

"Our main business activity is down by over 50 percent," said Gao Yongkang, general manager of Qifeng Technology in eastern China's Quanzhou city.

The company has been unable to transport textile materials to regular clients because of the COVID curbs, and has instead pivoted to supplying the booming market for protective gear.

Meanwhile, those who cannot reach their original suppliers are scouring for new ones.

"The costs are a little higher and it's slightly less efficient but we can fulfill our regular needs," said Shen Shengyuan, deputy general manager of diaper-producer New Yifa Group.

In a nod to struggling industries, Premier Li Keqiang this week announced a temporary deferment of old-age insurance premiums for sectors such as catering, retail and civil aviation.

But industry groups say hard lockdowns on major cities such as Shanghai are unsustainable, especially with many Omicron cases presenting light or no symptoms.

"Does the zero-COVID strategy still work in the current environment," said Eric Zheng, American Chamber of Commerce president in Shanghai. 

"That's a big question, particularly when you try to balance the economic cost."

Agence France-Presse

'Shanghai won't lock down despite COVID spike'

Shanghai on Saturday recorded a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, but a member of the city's pandemic task force said officials were determined to avoid a full lockdown over the damage it would do to the economy.

Millions of Chinese in affected areas have been subjected to city-wide lockdowns by an Omicron-led outbreak that has sent daily case counts creeping ever-higher, though they remain insignificant compared to other countries.

Shanghai, however, has aimed to ease disruption with a more targeted approach marked by rolling 48-hour lockdowns of individual neighbourhoods and large-scale testing while largely keeping the metropolis of 25 million people running.

At a daily Shanghai press conference Saturday, officials alluded to the importance of avoiding a full lockdown of the huge port city.

"If Shanghai, this city of ours, came to a complete halt, there would be many international cargo ships floating in the East China Sea," said Wu Fan, a medical expert with the city's pandemic task force.

"This would impact the entire national economy and the global economy."

Wu made the comments as city officials also announced that they would begin handing out self-testing kits to Shanghai residents, in the latest sign that the government was expanding its pandemic response.

The northeastern province of Jilin also said Saturday that it had begun distributing 500,000 of the rapid-antigen kits.

Shanghai and Jilin have been the areas hardest hit by the outbreak, which took off in early March. 

China had largely kept the coronavirus -- which first emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019 -- under control through its strict zero-tolerance measures.

But that top-down approach is increasingly being questioned amid concerns over the economic impact and public "pandemic fatigue", especially considering Omicron's less severe symptoms.

The National Health Commission announced two weeks ago that it would introduce the sale in China of rapid antigen self-test kits for the first time, and they have begun to appear on pharmacy shelves.

But Saturday's announcements appeared to mark their first wide-scale use as part of official pandemic control measures.

China on Saturday reported 5,600 new confirmed domestic transmissions, most of them asymptomatic.

Chinese authorities had watched nervously as a deadly Hong Kong Omicron surge sparked panic buying and claimed a high toll of unvaccinated elderly in the southern Chinese city.

Its subsequent spread in mainland China has posed a dilemma for authorities wrestling with how forcefully they should respond.

On Wednesday, Shanghai infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong, a top doctor in the city's pandemic fight, called for balancing anti-virus measures with maintenance of "normal life".

The comments in his widely followed blog indicated growing official tolerance for voices who question the lockdown approach.

Shanghai's softer strategy has so far failed to stop cases from rising, and the localised lockdowns have provoked grumbling online and a run on groceries in some districts.

Shanghai on Saturday reported another steep rise in new local transmissions to 2,269 -- around 40 percent of the national total. 

Agence France-Presse

Boeing CEO offers 'full support' for China aviation crash probe

WASHINGTON - Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told employees on Monday that the planemaker has offered the full support of its technical experts in the investigation of the crash of a China Eastern Airlines 737-800 airplane.

Calhoun said in an email to employees he was limited by what Boeing could say about the investigation being led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. 

"Trust that we will be doing everything we can to support our customer and the accident investigation during this difficult time, guided by our commitment to safety, transparency, and integrity at every step," Calhoun said.

-reuters

Shanghai pushes ahead with mass COVID tests as new cases spike

SHANGHAI - The Chinese commercial hub of Shanghai is pushing ahead with a mass testing initiative as it tries to curb a new spike in COVID-19 infections, but some districts were easing lockdown rules in an effort to minimize disruptions.

The city, home to about 25 million people, saw symptomatic local community infections hit 57 on March 17, with another 203 domestically transmitted asymptomatic cases, up from eight and 150 respectively a day earlier.

Shanghai, which has up to now remained relatively unscathed by the coronavirus, has shut schools and launched a city-wide testing program that has seen dozens of residential compounds sealed off for at least 48 hours.

China has been battling its worst COVID outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in 2020. It reported 2,388 new local cases with confirmed symptoms on March 17, almost double the count a day earlier.

The outbreak is small by international standards and analysts have been debating how much China's uncompromising "zero-COVID" response will hurt the economy at home and in the world at large. 

President Xi Jinping signaled late on Thursday that the "dynamic clearance" policy to contain the outbreak would not be ditched. 

"Victory comes from perseverance," Xi told a Politburo standing committee meeting while calling for more effective measures and efforts to minimize the economic impact, state media reported.

MIXED SIGNALS

The Shanghai government, while stressing there would be no city-wide lockdown as in other cities, said it would test residents on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis, and order 48-hour lockdowns while they waited for their results.

On Friday, there were some signs it was easing up on its restrictions, with some compounds no longer required to go into a 48-hour lockdown while residents were tested.

The head of one residential committee in Changning district said her compound would not be sealed off this weekend as originally planned. At least two other compounds also said testing would be postponed.

While officials said on Thursday that Shanghai has ramped up its testing capacity to 3 million per day and planned to increase it to 5.5 million in the near future, some districts also reported shortages of qualified testing personnel.

Some residents complained about the lack of clarity when it came to the rules. One family quarantined in the district of Hongqiao said they were still locked in despite two negative tests.

Users of China's Weibo microblogging platform also slammed a decision to seal rented accommodation used by outpatients at the Shanghai Cancer Hospital, making it impossible for them to receive treatment.

"Shanghai used to brag the whole day long about its precise epidemic prevention and control... even mocking others for excess prevention and for having inadequate officials," said one user posting under the name BayMax XX. "It's not so great now?"

As of March 17, mainland China had reported 126,234 cases with confirmed symptoms, including both local ones and those arriving from outside the mainland. There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll unchanged at 4,636.

(Reporting by David Stanway, Brenda Goh, Engen Tham and the Shanghai newsroom; Additional reporting by Roxanne Liu and Albee Zhang; Editing by Sam Holmes and Lincoln Feast)

-reuters-

China cuts rates on policy loans, analysts point to more easing ahead

SHANGHAI, China - China's central bank on Monday unexpectedly cut the borrowing costs of its medium-term loans for the first time since April 2020, while some market analysts expect more policy easing this year to cushion an economic slowdown.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it was lowering the interest rate on 700 billion yuan ($110.19 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions by 10 basis points to 2.85 percent from 2.95 percent in previous operations.

Thirty-four out of the 48 traders and analysts, or 70 percent of all participants, polled by Reuters last week predicted no change to the MLF rates in January, with the rest betting on a rate cut.

The world's second-largest economy has shown signs of slowing after a rapid rebound from the COVID-19 slump, with concerns about the financial health of property developers and the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant clouding the outlook.

"The PBOC's decision to ease early in January suggested that economic downward pressure intensified at end-2021 and room for improvements in the first quarter of this year is not huge," said Ken Cheung, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank.

Cheung expects that the PBOC could deliver more easing measures this year than previously expected by market analysts.

Such expectations were also reflected in the bond market, with China's 10-year treasury futures rising to their highest level since June 2020 and the yield on China's benchmark 10-year government bonds falling more than 2 basis points in early trade.

Market analysts said the size of the rate cut and the timing were a big surprise, and they believe further monetary stimulus could follow.

"The 1Y LPR signaled that another rate cut was coming," said Carlos Casanova, senior Asia economist at Union Bancaire Privee in Hong Kong.

"However, the 10 bps cut was larger than expected, suggesting that the authorities have become more preoccupied about weakness in the economy," he said, adding he also expects an additional 100 bps reduction to banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) this year.

With 500 billion yuan worth of MLF loans maturing on Monday, the operation resulted in a net injection of 200 billion yuans into the banking system.

The central bank also lowered the borrowing costs of seven-day reverse repurchase agreements, or repos, by the same margin to 2.10 percent from 2.20 percent, when it offered another 100 billion yuan worth of reverse repos into the banking system.

-reuters

China steps up measures to protect capital Beijing, reports 107 new cases

BEIJING - China stepped up measures to protect this capital city, as an uptick in coronavirus cases driven by the more infectious Delta variant spread across multiple cities in the country.

The National Health Commission reported on Saturday 107 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the mainland for Aug. 6, compared with 124 a day earlier.

Of the new infections, 75 were locally transmitted, the health authority said. That compares with 80 local cases a day earlier. Most of the local cases were in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

Those currently outside Beijing in higher risk areas should temporarily postpone their return, and others should provide a negative COVID-19 test, according to details of a Saturday meeting by local officials reported by the Beijing Daily. Epidemic prevention measures at railways, highways and airports should be strengthened, they said.

Some local governments have been called out by Beijing for lowering their guard, leading to the spread of the Delta variant from multiple sources.

To deal with the infections, some cities have initiated multiple rounds of mass testing to identify carriers. Inter-city travel restrictions have been imposed, and public places of gathering including entertainment venues have been either shut or restricted.

But a health official said last week he expected China's latest outbreak to be largely under control within weeks.

China reported 32 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, which it does not classify as confirmed infections, compared with 58 a day earlier.

No new deaths were reported.

As of Aug. 6, mainland China had recorded 93,605 confirmed cases, with the cumulative death toll unchanged at 4,636. (Reporting by Gabriel Crossley; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

-reuters

China tests residents with resurgence of COVID-19 cases

Residents queue to undergo swab testing for COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. China tested millions of residents in different provinces as the country reported 71 domestic cases, its highest daily number of coronavirus cases since January.

Agence France Presse

Tencent pledges $7.7 billion to support China poverty, environment initiatives

Chinese tech giant Tencent on Monday pledged to invest 50 billion yuan ($7.68 billion) in environmental and social initiatives, a move that comes as China's internet heavyweights come under intense scrutiny from antitrust regulators.

Tencent, China's biggest social media and video games company, said its investment would fund initiatives in areas including basic science, education innovation, rural revitalisation, carbon neutrality, food, energy, and water provision, assistance with public emergencies, technology for senior citizens and public welfare.

It also said it is forming a corporate development group to spearhead such initiatives. It did not provide a time frame for its investment.

"Tencent should continue to respond to the ever-changing needs of the public and of the era, so as to develop and prosper together with society as a whole," Pony Ma, founder and chairman of Tencent, said in a statement.

Last week, China's market regulator warned the country's biggest internet companies to eradicate any banned practices, two days after slapping Alibaba with a record $2.75 billion fine after an investigation found it had abused its dominant market position for several years.

President Xi Jinping has made poverty alleviation one of his key priorities.

-reuters

China's Xiaomi soars as US judge lifts it from backlist

HONG KONG - Shares in Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi surged more than 10 percent in Hong Kong on Monday after a US judge removed it from a blacklist that barred American companies from investing in it.

The firm's stock price has been hammered since mid-January when Donald Trump, in his last days in office, included it in a group the White House considered a threat to US national security.

The move classified Xiaomi, which is among the biggest smartphone makers in the world, as one of nine "Communist Chinese military companies" that also included state oil giant CNOOC, and popular social media app TikTok.

But US District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled Friday that the Department of Defense and the Treasury "have not made the case that the national security interests at stake here are compelling".

He removed Xiaomi from the blacklist and suspended the investment ban after the firm appealed against the blacklisting.

The news sent shares in the firm surging 12 percent in Hong Kong morning trade Monday, having lost more than 40 percent since Trump's order. 

However, while Xiaomi was removed, US regulators listed Huawei and ZTE among Chinese telecom equipment makers considered a threat to national security, signalling that a hoped-for softening of relations is not on the cards.

Washington claims Huawei has close ties to China's military and that Beijing could use its equipment for espionage -- accusations the company denies.

Agence France-Presse

China injects more than 22 million doses of coronavirus vaccines

BEIJING - China has administered about 22.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, a health official said on Wednesday, as the country steps up its campaign ahead of next month's Lunar New Year holidays and the accompanying flurry of travel.

The world's most populous nation has widened its targeted inoculation scheme since mid-December to include more priority groups facing higher risk of virus exposure, in a bid to prevent any outbreaks in winter and spring.

"Overall, the work is progressing in a smooth and orderly manner," Zeng Yixin, vice director of the National Health Commission, told a news conference, referring to the vaccination effort.

China aims to vaccinate 50 million people before the Lunar New Year in February, state media Global Times said this month.

The nationwide vaccine scheme now prioritizes essential groups such as workers in medical, transport and food services, employees and students going abroad. The elderly and others will have to wait.

However, the Chaoyang district in the capital, Beijing, has already started giving vaccines to citizens outside essential groups.

Some communities in the district of Dongcheng said residents aged between 18 and 59 can sign up for inoculation as long as they have no medical conditions that might make vaccination unsuitable. But they did not say when doses would be available. (Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

-reuters-

China reports more than 100 new COVID cases as New Year holiday exodus looms

BEIJING - China reported more than 100 new COVID-19 cases for the sixth consecutive day, with rising infections in the northeast fuelling concerns of another national wave when hundreds of millions travel for the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

Tough new controls in the city of Gongzhuling in Jilin province, which has a population of around 1 million people, brings the total number of people under lockdown to more than 29 million.

According to the Global Times newspaper, at least 11 regions in the provinces of Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin have imposed lockdowns and rolled out extensive testing programmes.

The National Health Commission reported 109 new COVID-19 cases for Jan. 17, unchanged from a day earlier. Of the 93 local infections, 54 were in Hebei, which surrounds Beijing.

Hebei authorities vowed on Monday to punish lockdown violations, including the illegal staging of weddings or funerals, Xinhua news agency said.

Northeastern Jilin province also reported a record 30 new cases, underscoring the risk of new clusters emerging.

Daily increases still remain a fraction of what the country saw at the height of the outbreak in early 2020, but officials are concerned infections could spread rapidly nationwide during China's Lunar New Year holiday in less than a month.

Despite travel restrictions, the China Railway Corporation expects around 296 million railway passenger trips during the Lunar New Year break, compared with 410 million in 2019.

Shanghai is one of many cities providing financial incentives for migrant workers not to travel home.

The manufacturing hub of Yiwu on China's eastern coast is also introducing subsidies, including rent reductions, to encourage workers to stay put during the holiday.

China's statistics bureau chief Ning Jizhe said on Monday that the overall impact of the current COVID-19 resurgence on the country's economy remained controllable.

But though Xinhua warned local governments not to "cry wolf", many have been introducing fresh curbs.

Beijing, which reported two new local infections, now requires travellers from abroad to undergo health monitoring for seven additional days following 21 days of medical observation, Xinhua reported on Saturday.

The city of Gongzhuling said on Monday that it is "strictly forbidden" for anyone to go out unless they are scheduled to get a COVID-19 test at a designated site.

The outbreak in Jilin is believed to have been caused by an infected salesman travelling to and from the neighbouring province of Heilongjiang, the site of a previous cluster of cases.

Xinhua said in a commentary piece on Monday that the new clusters of infection were caused by social activities in rural areas and a lack of awareness at the grassroots level, creating "hotbeds" for the virus's rapid spread.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China is 89,336, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,635. The data excludes cases from Macau and Hong Kong, which are Chinese cities but report new cases independently, and self-ruled Taiwan which China claims as its own.

World Health Organization (WHO) representatives said on Friday that its investigation team in China has begun discussions with their Chinese counterparts via video conference as they remain in quarantine. 

(Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms; additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Se Young Lee and David Stanway; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Michael Perry and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

- Reuters

China aims to phase out sale of live poultry at food markets

BEIJING, China — China on Friday vowed to gradually phase out the slaughter and sale of live poultry at food markets, in a move welcomed by animal rights activists amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement came as China stepped up inspections of wholesale food markets and outlawed the sale and consumption of wildlife, after a recent COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing was traced to a major agricultural wholesale market.

The virus is believed to have emerged at a market that sold live animals in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

"China will restrict the trading and slaughter of live poultry, encourage the mass slaughter of live poultry in places with certain conditions, and gradually close live poultry markets," said Chen Xu, an official at the State Administration of Market Regulation, at a press briefing.

Live poultry kept in cages is a common sight in agricultural wholesale food markets and "wet markets" -- smaller-scale fresh food markets -- across China.

The poultry is traditionally butchered on the spot by stallholders, or buyers can opt to slaughter the live animal at home.

Some Chinese people traditionally believe that this allows for maximum freshness. Live seafood, amphibians and other creatures are also commonly sold at wet markets.   

Scientists believe the pathogen originated in bats before jumping to humans through a yet-unknown animal intermediary.

Chen urged local governments across China to "strengthen supervision of food safety at agricultural wholesale markets" and "investigate hidden safety risks", taking the Beijing Xinfadi market virus hotspot as an example.

"It is understood that more than 70 percent of meat, poultry, seafood, fruit and vegetables enter the market through wholesale agricultural markets," he said.

There are more than 4,100 wholesale markets nationwide, a commerce ministry official told the briefing.

The announcement was welcomed by animal rights groups.

"We are happy to see that live-poultry markets are on their way out in China," said Jason Baker, senior vice president of PETA Asia.

"PETA hopes the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration continues to stretch their wings and ban all live-animal markets nationwide."

Agence France-Presse

Robots may become heroes in war on coronavirus

SAN FRANCISCO — Long maligned as job-stealers and aspiring overlords, robots are being increasingly relied on as fast, efficient, contagion-proof champions in the war against the deadly coronavirus.

One team of robots temporarily cared for patients in a makeshift hospital in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the COVID-19 outbreak began.

Meals were served, temperatures taken and communications handled by machines, one of them named "Cloud Ginger" by its maker CloudMinds, which has operations in Beijing and California.


"It provided useful information, conversational engagement, entertainment with dancing, and even led patients through stretching exercises," CloudMinds president Karl Zhao said of the humanoid robot.

"The smart field hospital was completely run by robots."

A small medical team remotely controlled the field hospital robots. Patients wore wristbands that gathered blood pressure and other vital data.

The smart clinic only handled patients for a few days, but it foreshadowed a future in which robots tend to patients with contagious diseases while health care workers manage from safe distances.

Checkup and check out

Patients in hospitals in Thailand, Israel and elsewhere meet with robots for consultations done by doctors via videoconference. Some consultation robots even tend to the classic checkup task of listening to patients' lungs as they breathe.

Alexandra Hospital in Singapore will use a robot called BeamPro to deliver medicine and meals to patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or those suspected to be infected with the virus in its isolation wards.

Doctors and nurses can control the robot by using a computer from outside the room, and can hold conversations with the patient via the screen and camera.

The robot reduces the number of  "touch points" with patients who are isolated, thereby reducing risk for healthcare workers, the hospital's health innovation director Alexander Yip told local news channel CNA.

Robotic machines can also be sent to scan for the presence of the virus, such as when the Diamond Princess cruise ship cabins were checked for safety weeks after infected passengers were evacuated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.

Additionally, hospitals are turning to robots to tirelessly rid room, halls and door handles of viruses and bacteria.

US firm Xenex has seen a surge in demand for its robots that disinfect rooms, according to director of media relations Melinda Hart.

Xenex's LightStrike robots have been used in more than 500 healthcare facilities, with the number of deployed bots rising due to the pandemic, Hart said.

"We are getting requests from around the world," Hart said.

"In addition to hospitals, we're being contacted by urgent care centers, hotels, government agencies and pharmaceutical companies" to disinfect rooms.

Shark Robotics in France began testing a decontamination unit about a month ago and has already started getting orders, according to co-founder Cyril Kabbara.

Worth the price?

The coronavirus pandemic has caused robotics innovation to accelerate, according to Lesley Rohrbaugh, the director of research for the US Consumer Technology Association.

"We are in a time of need for some of this technology, so it seems like benefits outweigh costs," Rohrbaugh said.

Artificial intelligence, sensors and other capabilities built into robots can push up prices, as can the need to bolster high-speed internet connections on which machines often rely, according to Rohrbaugh.

Innovations on the horizon include using drones equipped with sensors and cameras to scan crowds for signs of people showing symptoms of coronavirus infection.

A team at the University of South Australia is working on just that, in collaboration with Canadian drone maker Draganfly.

"The use will be to identify the possible presence of the virus by observing humans," said university professor Javaan Singh Chahl.

"It might form part of an early warning system or to establish statistically how many people are afflicted in a population."

His team is working on computer algorithms that can spot sneezing or coughing, say in an airport terminal, and remotely measure people's pulses and temperatures.

Agence France-Presse

Wuhan recovery gives rest of world hope: WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization said Friday that the original epicenter in China of the coronavirus outbreak at last reporting no new cases gave hope to the rest of the world battling the pandemic.

The city of Wuhan registered no new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours—for the first time since reporting its first case in December in an outbreak that has gone on to infect more than 250,000 people around the world and kill more than 11,000 people.

"Yesterday, Wuhan reported no new cases for the first time since the outbreak started," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference in Geneva.

"Wuhan provides hope for the rest of the world that even the most severe situation can be turned around.

"Of course, we must exercise caution; the situation can reverse. But the experience of cities and countries that have pushed back this coronavirus gives hope and courage to the rest of the world."


China as a whole is now reporting only a handful of new infections each day—all of them apparently from overseas visitors—as the crisis has shifted from Asia to Europe, which has now reported more deaths than China.

Tedros said the WHO's greatest worry was the impact that the virus could have if it took hold in countries with weaker health systems or more vulnerable populations.

"That concern has now become very real and urgent," he said, but added that significant sickness and loss of life in such countries was not inevitable.


"Unlike any pandemic in history, we have the power to change the way this goes," he said.

Young 'not invincible' 

Tedros said that although older people had been the hardest hit by the disease, younger people were not spared, saying they made up many of the sufferers needing hospital treatment.

He said solidarity between the generations was one of the keys to defeating the spread of the pandemic.

"Today I have a message for young people: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks—or even kill you," Tedros warned.

"Even if you don't get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.

"I'm grateful that so many young people are spreading the word and not the virus."

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said that two out of three people in intensive care in badly-hit Italy were aged under 70.

Physical distancing 

The WHO also said it was now using the term "physical distancing" rather than "social distancing" to describe the need to maintain space between people to avoid the virus passing.

Although people may need to go into physical isolation, they did not need to become socially isolated, he said, adding it was important to maintain good mental health during the crisis.

"We can keep connected in many ways without physically being in the same space," said Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the WHO's emerging diseases unit.

"We want people to still remain connected."

Tedros added: "It's normal to feel stressed, confused and scared during a crisis. Talking to people you know and trust can help."

Whilst advising people to maintain their mental and physical health during the crisis, including exercising and eating a healthy diet to help the immune system, Tedros also had a message for the world's smokers.

"Don't smoke. Smoking can increase your risk of developing severe disease if you become infected with COVID-19," he said.

The WHO also said it was launching a new health alert messaging service on WhatsApp, containing news, information, details on symptoms and how to prevent against catching the virus.

To access it, WhatsApp users need to send the word "hi" to the number 0041 798 931 892.

The service is initially available in English, with other languages to be rolled out next week.

Agence France-Presse

Nike's valuation slashed by $17B due to coronavirus

MANILA, Philippines — Athletic wear giant Nike is feeling the effects of the coronavirus on its sales, Forbes reported.

Nike's valuation was slashed by $17 billion after temporarily closing approximately half of its company-owned stores in Greater China.

Additionally, there is also reportedly a significant drop in retail store traffic in the country because of the outbreak.

China, which currently has around 35,000 active cases of coronoavirus in the country, is one of the most important geographic regions for Nike.

According to Forbes, China makes more than 15% of Nike's total revenues and nearly 40% of the company's profits in the last fiscal year.


In addition, the Asian powerhouse has also been the company's fastest-growing region — accounting for more than one-third of the company's growth over the last three years.

With the coronavirus outbreak still in full swing, it is likely that Nike will continue to feel its effects.

source: philstar.com

Fewer virus cases in China, but deaths abroad increase

BEIJING, China — China on Thursday touted a big drop in new virus infections as proof its epidemic control efforts are working, but the toll grew abroad with deaths in Japan and South Korea.

Fatalities in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases in nearly a month, including in hardest-hit Hubei province.

More than 74,000 people have been infected by the new coronavirus in China, and hundreds more in over 25 countries.

The number of deaths outside mainland China climbed to 11.

Japan's toll rose to three as a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard a quarantined cruise ship died, while fears there mounted over other passengers who disembarked the Diamond Princess after testing negative.

South Korea reported its first death, and the number of infections in the country nearly doubled Thursday to 104.

Iran reported two deaths on Wednesday and three new cases Thursday. Deaths have previously been confirmed in France, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Chinese officials say their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone about the virus with leaders in South Korea and Pakistan, state news agency Xinhua said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in "chose to call to express sympathies and support" regarding the outbreak, Xinhua said. Xi told him the epidemic's impact on bilateral ties will only be temporary.

Xi told Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that their two countries "are true friends and good brothers," and that combating the virus is his government's top priority.

At a special meeting on the virus with Southeast Asian countries in Laos, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said results "show that our control efforts are working."

Although more than 600 new infections were reported Thursday in Hubei's capital Wuhan, it was the lowest daily tally since late January and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has  fallen for three straight days.

Chinese authorities placed the city of 11 million under quarantine on January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of the province in the days that followed.

Wuhan authorities this week carried out  door-to-door checks on residents, with the local Communist Party chief warning that officials would be "held accountable" if any infections were missed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can leave their homes for groceries, while rural villages have sealed off access to outsiders.

'Chaotic' cruise quarantine

In Japan, critics slammed the government's quarantine measures imposed on the Diamond Princess.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 634 cases confirmed among passengers and crew.

Another 13 people on board the ship were diagnosed with the virus Thursday, Japan's health ministry said.

Still, passengers were disembarking after negative tests and having completed a 14-day quarantine period -- packing into yellow buses and leaving for stations and airports.

An infectious diseases specialist at Kobe University slammed the quarantine procedures on board as "completely chaotic" in rare criticism from a Japanese academic.

"The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control," said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

South Korea, meanwhile, announced 51 new cases, with more than 40 in a cluster centred on the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an entity often seen as a cult.

The infections apparently came from a 61-year-old woman who first developed a fever on February 10 and attended at least four services before being diagnosed.

Authorities were investigating whether she visited a hospital where a long-term patient contracted the virus and later died.

Growing concern abroad

Beyond Asia, citizen backlash was growing over fears of contagion.

Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from neighboring Iran, with Iraq's health ministry announcing people in Iran were barred from entering the country "until further notice."

The move came after Iran confirmed three new coronavirus cases following the deaths of two elderly men.

And in Ukraine, a crowd clashed with police outside a hospital over government plans to quarantine evacuees from coronavirus-hit China at the site.

Six buses with the evacuees arrived at the medical center in Novi Sanzhary, in the central Poltava region, escorted by police.

Angry  demonstrators lit fires and pelted the buses with rocks, breaking at least three windows.

Because of the virus outbreak, airlines operating in the Asia-Pacific region stand to lose a combined $27.8 billion of revenue, the International Air Transport Association said.

This is the first time since 2003 that demand for air travel has declined, IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. — with Miwa Suzuki in Tokyo

Agence France-Presse

China sees drop in new virus cases, two Japan cruise passengers die

BEIJING, China — China reported a big drop in new coronavirus cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak, but Japan faced a growing crisis as two passengers from a quarantined cruise ship died.

The death toll rose in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases there in nearly a month, including in the hardest-hit province, Hubei.

More than 74,000 people have been infected in China and hundreds more in some 25 countries, with Iran reporting two deaths, the first fatalities in the Middle East.

In Japan, a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard the Diamond Princess have died, local media reported, citing a government source.

A World Health Organization official noted the progress in China but warned it had not reached a turning point just yet.

Chinese officials said this week that their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in other cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

"After arduous efforts, the situation is changing for the better," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts in Laos late Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan -- where the virus is believed to have emerged in December -- are still "severely affected" by the epidemic, Wang said.

"But the situation is under effective control, while other regions are embracing comforting news," he said.

'Not turning point'

More than 600 new infections were reported in Wuhan -- the lowest daily tally since late January, and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has now fallen for three days in a row.

Chinese authorities placed Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, under quarantine on January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of Hubei in the days that followed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can leave their houses for groceries, while villages have sealed themselves off from outsiders.

Richard Brennan, regional emergency director at the World Health Organization, said China was making "tremendous progress in a short period of time" but cautioned that it was not over just yet.

"Trends are very encouraging but we are not at a turning point yet," Brennan told a press conference in Cairo.

'Chaotic' cruise quarantine

While China touts progress in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, Japan's government faces criticism over quarantine measures on the Diamond Prince cruise ship.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is easily the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 621 positive cases confirmed among the passengers and crew -- one sixth of the total.

On Wednesday, 443 passengers disembarked from the ship after testing negative for the COVID-19 virus and not showing symptoms during a 14-day quarantine period. The complete removal of the passengers was expected to last at least three days.

More passengers left the ship on Thursday, packing into yellow buses and leaving for stations and airports.

But questions are increasingly being asked as to the wisdom of allowing former Diamond Princess passengers to roam freely around Japan's crowded cities, even if they have tested negative.

The death of the two elderly passengers is likely to add to the criticism.

A specialist in infectious diseases at Kobe University slammed "completely chaotic" quarantine procedures onboard, in rare criticism from a Japanese official.

"The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control," said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

Japan's health ministry insisted it had conducted "consultations on appropriate infection control in the ship" with experts and taken a range of measures.

Agence France-Presse

Australia virus evacuees head for island quarantine

SYDNEY, Australia —  A flight carrying evacuees from the epicenter of the deadly China virus outbreak landed in Australia late Monday ahead of a 14-day quarantine at a notorious offshore immigration detention center.

The Qantas charter flight carrying 243 passengers—including 89 children—touched down at an Air Force base near the remote Western Australian town of Exmouth.

The Australian citizens and permanent residents on board were due to be flown in smaller planes to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the flight was late leaving Wuhan due to a "very intensive process to manage the immigration and boarding arrangements" that also included medical checks.

Passengers will be quarantined for at least 14 days in an immigration detention center which gained notoriety as the venue where asylum seekers who attempted to reach Australia by boat were detained.

Officials say the evacuees will be held separately from a Sri Lankan family of four fighting their deportation—the only other residents of the facility.

"The plan is to cohort people in small family groups so that there won't be a full mingling, so that the whole group doesn't have to stay if someone does get unwell," chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said.

Australia is just the latest country to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan. Japan, the United States and France are among those that have already sent extraction flights.

Payne said the government was considering sending a second plane to Wuhan to evacuate more than around 300 other Australians.

Australia is also in talks with Pacific nations to help evacuate their citizens, but Payne said any foreign nationals that traveled on an Australian charter flight would also need to be quarantined on Christmas Island.

The virus has infected more than 14,000 people in China and killed more than 360. It has spread to more than 24 countries including Australia, where health officials have so far confirmed 12 cases.

Australia on Saturday barred non-citizens travelling from mainland China from entering the country for at least two weeks, while Qantas said it would suspend flights to Shanghai and Beijing starting February 9.

philstar.com

China sees deadliest day yet as global virus fears mount

WUHAN, China — China reported its biggest single-day jump in novel coronavirus deaths on Thursday, as confirmation that three Japanese evacuated from the outbreak's epicentre were infected deepened fears about a global contagion.

The World Health Organization, which initially downplayed the severity of a disease that has now killed 170 nationwide, warned all governments to be "on alert" as it weighed whether to declare a global health emergency.


As foreign countries evacuated their citizens from Wuhan, the locked-down city where the virus was first detected, concern over the economic impact has steadily intensified.

Airlines have suspended services to China and companies from Starbucks to Tesla have shuttered stores and production lines.

Chinese authorities have taken extraordinary steps to arrest the virus's spread, including effectively locking down more than 50 million people in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province.



But that was yet to pay dividends, with the government reporting 38 new deaths in the 24 hours to Thursday, the highest one-day total. All but one were in Hubei.

The number of confirmed new cases also grew steadily to 7,711, the National Health Commission said. Another 81,000 people were under observation for possible infection.

The pathogen is believed to have been spawned in a market that sold wild game, spreading far and wide by a Lunar New Year holiday season in which hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically or abroad.

'Totally new situation'

Japan's infection rate grew to 11 after three Japanese citizens among more than 200 on an evacuation flight Wednesday tested positive.

Officials had already confirmed two cases in which patients tested positive without having travelled to China, adding to anxiety over human-to-human transmission of the respiratory disease.

"We are in a truly new situation," Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told parliament.

The fact that two of the three new confirmed Japanese cases showed no symptoms underscored the scale of the challenge for health workers.

The WHO has come under fire after it last week declined to declare a global health emergency.

The global health body's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed regret for what he called a "human error" in the WHO's assessment.

WHO's Emergency Committee will meet Thursday to decide whether to declare an emergency -- which could lead to travel or trade barriers.

"The whole world needs to take action," Michael Ryan, head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told reporters in Geneva.

A US charter flight from Wuhan arrived Wednesday at a California military base with nearly 200 consular staff and other Americans, who "cheered loudly" when the jet touched down, said an official with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All passengers were declared symptom-free but will remain isolated for days while they are monitored.

Some 250 French citizens and 100 other Europeans will be flown out of Wuhan on board two French planes this week.

Australia plans to house any citizens it evacuates from the city on an island normally used to detain asylum seekers.

A growing number of governments -- including the United States, Britain and Germany -- have advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to China.

China also has urged its own citizens to delay trips abroad, after more than 15 countries confirmed infections.

Flights scrapped, stores closed

Major airlines that have suspended or pared back service to China include British Airways, German flag carrier Lufthansa, American Airlines, KLM, and United.

China efforts to halt the virus have seen the suspension of classes nationwide and an extension of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Most street traffic in and around Wuhan has been banned.

"This is the first day since the lockdown that I've had to go out," a man in his 50s told AFP on the mostly deserted streets of the industrial city.

"I have no choice because I need to buy food."

China's football body meanwhile said it was postponing "all levels and all types of football matches across the country", including the country's top-tier Chinese Super League, in response to the outbreak.

Economic worries

Japanese automaker Toyota, Swedish furniture giant IKEA, tech giant Foxconn, Starbucks, Tesla and McDonald's were among major corporate giants to temporarily freeze production or close large numbers of outlets in China.

As the "world's factory", the disruptions in China are expected to send ripples through supply chains globally, denting profits.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the new coronavirus posed a fresh risk to a fragile world economy, adding that the US central bank was on alert.

"There will clearly be implications at least in the near term for Chinese output and I would guess for some of their close neighbours," Powell said.

The contagion has spread to nearly every corner of China, with remote Tibet reporting its first case on Thursday.

It has triggered fears in part due to its striking similarity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03, which also began in China and eventually killed nearly 800 people worldwide.

source: philstar.com