Rolls-Royce cuts 9,000 jobs as airlines turn off engines

Rolls-Royce, the British maker of plane engines, said Wednesday it will cut at least 9,000 jobs and slash costs elsewhere, as the coronavirus hammers the aviation sector.

"This is not a crisis of our making. But it is the crisis that we face and we must deal with it," chief executive Warren East said in a statement announcing that Rolls would cut nearly one-fifth of its global workforce.

"Our airline customers and airframe partners are having to adapt and so must we."

Unions said they expected most of the cuts to occur in the UK, while analysts said the knock-on effect for supply chains meant many more people working across the aerospace industry were set to lose their jobs.

- 17% of staff -

Rolls said it expected "the loss of at least 9,000 roles" from a global workforce of 52,000 and would also cut "expenditure across plant and property, capital and other indirect cost areas".

The measures is expected to hand the company annual savings of more than £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion, 1.4 billion euros).

The restructuring will cost Rolls about £800 million.

Rolls said the restructuring would predominantly affect its civil aerospace business.

"Our defence business, based in the UK and US, has been robust during the pandemic, with an unchanged outlook, and does not need to reduce headcount," it added.

Rolls has already spent the past two years cutting thousands of management roles following weak demand for its power systems used by the marine industry.

"The restructuring announced... (in) June 2018 will transition into this wider proposed reorganisation," Rolls said Wednesday.

"Focused predominantly on reducing the complexity of our support and management functions, the programme has substantially delivered on its objectives."

- 'Terrible prospect' -

The new cull comes as global air travel remains virtually non-existent, even though governments have begun to ease their lockdowns.

With planes grounded worldwide, airlines are slashing thousands of jobs and Rolls has followed suit.

"Being told that there is no longer a job for you is a terrible prospect," East added on Wednesday.

"But we must take difficult decisions to see our business through these unprecedented times."

Steve Turner, a senior official at British union Unite, accused Rolls of "shameful opportunism".

"The news that Rolls Royce is preparing to throw thousands of skilled, loyal, world-class workers, their families and communities under the bus during the worst public health crisis since 1918 is shameful opportunism," he said in a statement.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of UK aerospace trade body ADS, meanwhile said that Britain's government needed to take "urgent action" to "minimise the impact on jobs and manufacturing capability in the long-term".

Following its announcement, Rolls-Royce saw its share price slide by 2.5 percent to 261 pence in morning deals.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.1 percent overall.

"In a positive economy job layoffs will often send shares higher since it lowers wage costs," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.

"In such a hard economy for air travel to which Rolls Royce is closely tied, the job losses just spell out the difficulties."

Agence France-Presse

Seoul closes bars and clubs over fears of second virus wave

SEOUL — South Korea's capital has ordered the closure of all clubs and bars after a burst of new cases sparked fears of a second coronavirus wave.

The nation has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus, but the order from the Seoul mayor on Saturday followed the new infection cluster in Itaewon, one of the city's busiest nightlife districts.

More than two dozen cases were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon last weekend.

Health authorities have warned of a further spike in infections, with around 7,200 people estimated to have visited the five establishments identified.

"Carelessness can lead to an explosion in infections," Seoul mayor Park Won-soon said, adding the order will remain in effect indefinitely.

Park asked those who visited those clubs and bars to come forward voluntarily.

Of the 18 new South Korean cases reported on Saturday, 17 were tied to the Itaewon cluster, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The jump in new infections comes as everyday life in South Korea has slowly started returning to normal, with the government relaxing social distancing rules last Wednesday.

The nation endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside mainland China, and while it never imposed a compulsory lockdown, strick social distancing had been widely observed since March.

But it appears to have brought its outbreak under control thanks to an extensive "trace, test and treat" programme that has drawn widespread praise.

Facilities like museums and art galleries have returned to business and some professional sports, including baseball and soccer, have started new seasons, while schools are set to reopen starting next week.

South Korea reported 34 new cases on Sunday, taking the total to 10,874, its largest daily increase in a month.

Agence France-Presse

Canada sends army to combat pandemic in Ontario, Quebec

OTTAWA, Canada — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday the army would be sent in to help Ontario and Quebec provinces combat coronavirus outbreaks at long-term care facilities hardest-hit by the pandemic.

"There have been requests for military assistance by both Ontario and Quebec which, of course, we will be answering," Trudeau told a daily briefing.


"Our women and men in uniform will step up with the valour and courage they've always shown."

Quebec asked for 1,000 troops in addition to 130 military doctors and medics previously requested, to help overwhelmed staff at elderly care homes.

Ontario has asked for an unspecified number of soldiers to be deployed at five of its most affected care homes.

Seventy to 80 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the two provinces were at long-term care homes, with the number of fatalities at the homes surpassing 1,000 in Quebec and 500 in Ontario.

Trudeau said the Canadian military "will be there with support so that provinces can get control of the situation."

"But this is not a long-term solution," he added. "In Canada, we shouldn't have soldiers taking care of seniors."

"Going forward in the weeks and months to come, we will all have to ask tough questions about how it came to this," he commented.

"I think the system needs to be changed, and we are (going to be) changing the system," Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters.

"But right now, our main focus is to make sure we protect the people inside these long-term care homes," he said

Quebec had tried to recruit 2,000 new staff for its long-term care facilities in recent weeks to ease the workload for existing staff, but few applied.

Even with a salary top-up from the government, the jobs are relatively low-paying.

One of the worst cases in Montreal, where 31 elderly residents died after their caregivers fled the Herron nursing home, leaving them to fend for themselves, provoked a public outcry.

Another in Laval, north of Montreal, has recorded 69 COVID-19 deaths.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault lamented on Thursday that 9,500 healthcare and senior care workers in the province had not shown up for work this week; 4,000 are under quarantine or are being treated for the virus, while 5,500 feared exposure.

"This isn't a normal situation," he said. "This is a crisis and we need more hands."

As of 1800 GMT Thursday, there were 41,752 coronavirus cases in Canada, including 2,199 deaths.

Agence France-Presse

Abra health worker wounded in shooting

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A barangay health worker was wounded in a gun attack in Dolores, Abra on Tuesday.

Ana Maria Macapagat, 45, a resident of Barangay Cabaroan, Dolores, was in a tricycle on her way home after her duty at the task force on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the village when she was shot at past 5 p.m.

The tricycle driver, an unidentified barangay councilman, was unhurt.

Brig. Gen. Rwin Pagkalinawan, Cordillera police director, said they are investigating the incident, the first attack against a health worker in the region.

The Department of Health had condemned attacks, discrimination and harassment against health workers, noting that they help the country survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the city council of Lipa in Batangas has passed an anti-COVID-19 discrimination ordinance.

The measure prohibits any person from committing any action ”which causes stigma, disgrace, shame, humiliation, harassment or discrimination” against frontliners, COVID-19 patients  and persons suspected to be infected with the flu virus.

Frontliners are defined as medical and non-medical personnel, such as doctors, nurses, health volunteers, hsopital staff, janitors and security personnel. – With Arnell Ozaeta

philstar.com

S&R workers now also under quarantine because of Pimentel

MANILA, Philippines  — Corroborating social media reports, S&R Membership Shopping confirmed Sen. Koko Pimentel was at its Taguig branch days after he started experiencing symptoms linked to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The senator has been on the receiving end of much criticism after he repeatedly breached his self-quarantine despite knowing he could be a carrier of the virus.

This comes as the latest in a row between the senator and Makati Medical Center after Pimentel accompanied his wife to the hospital on Tuesday night despite the results of a COVID-19 test still pending.

According to a statement issued on S&R Membership Shopping's Facebook page Thursday afternoon, CCTV footage placed the senator at the membership shopping center's Bonifacio Global City branch on Monday, March 16, at exactly 1:59 p.m.

This was exactly two days after, in his own recounting, Pimentel began experiencing "flu-like symptoms," at which point he supposedly isolated himself from his family.

"As a result, S&R employees who were in contact with the senator were already placed in quarantine [while] S&R BGC also took extra disinfection steps," the statement read.

It is not clear how many workers of the shopping center were affected.

Supermarket staff and other workers in industries related to food are exempted from quarantine restrictions are allowed to report to work.

Unlike the many that they serve, essential workers—which includes medical frontliners and staff—have to also contend with the suspension of mass transportation because of the quarantine.

Makati Medical Center: Pimentel exposed health care workers to possible infection
In a separate statement issued earlier, Makati Medical Center slammed what it said was Pimentel’s “irresponsible and reckless action.”

“By being in MMC, Sen. Pimentel violated his home quarantine protocol, entered the premises of the MMC-DR, thus, unduly exposed health care workers to possible infection,” they said.

Meanwhile, the shopping center, in their statement, assured customers that their stores and equipment were disinfected daily while employees were "constantly reminded" of the precautions and safety measures to take amid the outbreak.

As of this writing, the national count of COVID-19 patients has eclipsed 600 after the Department of Health recorded 84 more patients on Wednesday.

This, as the country is still under a nationwide state of calamity after President Rodrigo Duterte said that the number of cases is still steadily rising despite government intervention.

The rising number of cases is expected is more patients get tested for COVID-19 — Franco Luna

philstar.com

Asia steps up virus efforts as second wave of infections strikes

HONG KONG, China — From Australia's Bondi Beach to the streets of New Delhi, authorities across Asia have ramped up efforts to stem the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus amid fears of a second wave of infections in places where outbreaks had appeared under control.

Tighter travel restrictions were imposed in several countries as the number of cases in the region soared past 95,000 — a third of the world's infections, an AFP tally shows.

Outside China — where the virus was first detected in December and infected more than 80,000 people — South Korea is the hardest-hit country in Asia with more than 8,500 cases.

While the number of infections in China has been falling for weeks, other countries are seeing the toll gather pace from spread of the highly contagious virus.

Cases rose by roughly a third in Thailand overnight to nearly 600, fueling scepticism about claims in neighbouring Myanmar and Laos of zero infections.

Three doctors treating virus patients in Indonesia died, taking the country's death toll to 48 with 514 confirmed infections.

Most cases are in Jakarta, where businesses have been ordered closed for two weeks.

After shutting its borders to foreigners and non-residents, Australia told citizens to also cancel domestic travel plans, with the number of cases topping 1,300.

Bondi Beach and several other popular swimming spots were closed after crowds of sunbathers defied a ban on large outdoor gatherings.

Pubs, casinos, cinemas and places of worship will be shuttered for up to six months starting Monday.

India curfew

Pakistan suspended international flights in a bid to prevent the virus spreading.

Officials in Sindh — the country's second-most populous province — ordered a  lockdown effective midnight.

Pakistan has reported 5,650 suspected cases, 646 confirmed infections, and three deaths from the virus.

In nearby Bangladesh, however, only 27 cases have been reported, with two deaths.

Millions of people in India were in lockdown Sunday as the government tested the country's ability to fight the pandemic.

Officials said every private sector worker in New Delhi must work from home this week unless they are providing an essential service. Most public transport will also be halted.

Billionaire Anand Mahindra, whose vast Mahindra Group business empire includes cars and real estate, said his manufacturing facilities would try to repurpose to make ventilators.

Testing has expanded in the country of 1.3 billion people amid concerns that the 360 reported cases, including seven deaths, vastly understates the true scale of the crisis.

People took to their balconies in major cities after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to thank medical workers and emergency personnel by clapping or banging pots and pans for five minutes at 5:00 pm Sunday.

The World Health Organization has called for "aggressive" action in Southeast Asia, fearing that a major outbreak could cripple the region's often decrepit health care systems.

Second wave

Authorities are now dealing with a second wave of infections in places where outbreaks appeared to have been brought under control as people return from abroad.

Singapore is banning all short-term visitors to the densely populated city-state after a surge of imported cases took its total to 445 — including its first two deaths on Saturday.

In Hong Kong, where the worst had appeared to be over, the number of cases nearly doubled in the past week as more people fly back to the financial hub.

Infections in Malaysia hit 1,306 — more than half linked to an international Islamic gathering held last month, with attendees later returning to Singapore and Indonesia with the virus.

In Sri Lanka, where 82 cases were reported, guards fired on inmates in a northern prison when they tried to break out, angry over a ban on family visits to prevent the spread of the virus.

Two convicts were killed and six others wounded.

Authorities also put restrictions on the sale of two malaria treatments amid fears of a run on the drugs after US President Donald Trump said that they might be effective to prevent a COVID-19 virus infection — though scientists agree that only more trials would determine if chloroquine really works and is safe.

Papua New Guinea, which has one confirmed infection, declared a 30-day state of emergency and halted domestic flights and public transport for two weeks.

Guam, which has 15 cases, confirmed a 68-year-old woman had died of COVID-19 — the first virus-related death in the Pacific.

Agence France-Presse

Philippines logs 13 new COVID-19 cases; total now at 230

MANILA, Philippines  — The Philippines detected 13 additional novel coronavirus cases on Friday, raising the total to 230 since the country first confirmed an infection in late January.

A vast majority of COVID-19 infections are in Luzon, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to place the main island under enhanced community quarantine.

The Department of Health also reported one new fatality, bringing the death toll to 18.

A 65-year-old Filipino male from Quezon City, identified as Patient 124, passed away on Tuesday. He had a travel history to Singapore, which has 345 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries in the Philippines still stands at eight.


There are additional 506 patients under investigation for possible COVID-19 infection and 6,321 persons under monitoring.

There are concerns that the number of new coronavirus cases in the Philippines may be bigger due to the country’s very limited testing program. Only 1,269 tests have been conducted since January.

Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday designated the UP-Philippine General Hospital and the Dr. Jose M. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital as exclusive facilities for patients infected with the new coronavirus.

This, after 11 private hospitals called on the government to centralize efforts into one or two facilities as the escalating health crisis continues to overwhelm healthcare centers.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that millions of people could die from COVID-19 if the virus spreads unchecked as he appealed for a coordinated global response to the pandemic.

The virus has infected nearly 244,517 people across the globe and caused over 10,000 deaths. More than 86,000, meanwhile, have recovered.

philstar.com

Air pollution 'likely' to cut COVID19 survival: experts

PARIS, France — Air pollution from petrol and diesel vehicles is likely to increase mortality from the novel coronavirus in cities, public health experts told AFP Monday.

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) warned that dirty air in urban areas that causes hypertension, diabetes and other respiratory illness could lead to a higher overall death toll from the virus currently sweeping the world.

Emissions from petrol and diesel engines were still at "dangerous" levels that could imperil the most vulnerable during this and future pandemics, said the European Respiratory Society (EPS), which is a member of the EPHA.

"Patients with chronic lung and heart conditions caused or worsened by long-term exposure to air pollution are less able to fight off lung infections and more likely to die," EPS member Sara De Matteis said.

"This is likely also the case for COVID-19," added de Matteis, who is also an associate professor in occupational and environmental medicine at Italy's Cagliari University.

The virus has so far infected more than 168,000 people and killed over 6,500 worldwide.

Several European nations have implemented unprecedented measures to prevent the spread of the disease and allow health systems to treat patients.

While there is currently no proven link between COVID-19 mortality and air pollution, one peer-reviewed study into the 2003 SARS outbreak showed that patients in regions with moderate air pollution levels were 84 percent more likely to die than those in regions with low air pollution.

COVID-19 is similar to SARS and can cause respiratory failure in severe cases.

Mortality data for COVID-19 is incomplete, but preliminary numbers show the majority of patients who die are elderly or have pre-existing chronic conditions such as heart or lung disease.

According to the European Environment Agency, air pollution leads to around 400,000 early deaths across the continent annually, despite European Union air quality directives.

One COVID-19 hotspot, northern Italy, has particularly high levels of PM10—microscopic particles of pollution due largely to road traffic.

The number of fatalities in Italy shot up by 368 to 1,809 on Sunday—more than half of all the cases recorded outside China.

Agence France-Presse

Catholic churches across Rome shut due to virus

VATICAN CITY, Holy See — All Catholic churches across Rome have been closed to stem the spread of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 1,000 people across Italy.

The churches will reopen when a broader Italian government crackdown on public gatherings expires on April 3, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the papal vicar for Rome, said in a statement.

Catholic faithful have been exempted from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.

The Vatican had spent days resisting having to take the drastic measure of shuttering places of worship in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.

It closed its museums and even the Saint Peter's Basilica — parts of its soaring dome designed by Michelangelo — to tourists as the death toll continued to mount.

All masses, weddings and funerals across the country have also been called off.

But some church buildings in the country will stay open as long as the faithful follow government regulations and remain a metre (three feet) apart while inside.

It was not immediately clear when Rome's churches were last forced to close en masse.

The Nazis and Italian Fascists kept Pope Pius XII confined to the Vatican during World War II.

Some Rome churches kept their doors open during the war.

'Domestic churches'

The closures come with the pope himself suffering from a cold and communicating with the faithful by livestream as a safety precaution.

Pope Francis complained of feeling "caged" while reading his traditional Sunday Angelus Prayer into a camera from a Vatican library instead of his usual window overlooking crowds on Saint Peter's Square.

The 83-year-old was also forced to miss his weekly Wednesday appearance on the square that he often uses to hug and shake hands with the faithful from across the world.

The new regulations cover the Italian capital and not the Vatican City statelet located entirely within Rome.

The Holy See has recorded one COVID-19 infection and is awaiting the results of another person who attended one of its functions at the start of the month.

The cardinal's statement said access to "churches of the Diocese of Rome open to the public — and more generally to religious buildings of any kind open to the public — is forbidden to all the faithful".

The statement added that monasteries would remain open to "communities that habitually use them as residents".

"This provision is for the common good," De Donatis wrote.

The Italian government on Wednesday announced a comprehensive crackdown that closed all stores except for pharmacies and groceries.

De Donatis said he was finally moved to close Rome's churches by "the even more binding restrictions placed on the ordinary movement of people".

Agence France-Presse

Italy limits travel and bans public gatherings across whole country

ROME, Italy — Italy's prime minister told people to "stay at home" as the government limited travel and banned public gatherings across the whole country to combat the threat posed by the new coronavirus.

From Tuesday, the unprecedented quarantine measures will be extended from several large areas of the north to Italy's entire population of more than 60 million, according to a new decree signed on Monday night.

Since the COVID-19 disease first emerged in China late last year, Italy has become Europe's hardest-hit country and has seen a rapid rise in cases to more than 9,000 with 463 deaths reported so far.

The strict new rules, in place until April 3, also cancel sporting events "of all levels and disciplines", stopping play in the top-flight Serie A football league.

Only competitions organised by international bodies will be allowed to go ahead, but without spectators.

Before signing the decree, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a dramatic evening television address that it could "be summarised as follows: I stay at home".

"Travel must be avoided across the entire peninsula unless it is justified by professional reasons, by cases of need or for health reasons," he told Italians.

The measures extend a quarantine zone that Italy had imposed for its industrial northern heartland around the cities of Milan and Venice on Sunday.


An AFP count showed Italy had recorded more than half of the 862 deaths reported outside China as of Monday night.

'Moment of responsibility'

The national restrictions mean that schools and universities will all immediately close.

However, it was not immediately clear how all these measures would be enforced.

Trains and numerous flights continued to operate into and out of Milan on Monday despite the earlier set of restrictions for its Lombardy region.

The government's first set of restrictions for Italy's north sent the stock market into a tailspin that saw the Milan exchange lose more than 11 percent on the day.

But the expansion of the northern restrictions to the rest of the country just a day later suggests a government struggling to cope with the scale of the medical emergency on its hands.

Italian health officials had warned on Saturday that the northern Lombardy region was starting to run out of hospital beds for its intensive care patients.

The government also began to recall retired doctors as part of an effort to quickly bolster the health service with 20,000 staff.

But the toll has kept growing by the day.

Italy recorded a record 133 deaths on Sunday and immediately announced that it was ordering 22 million surgical masks -- even though doctors question how effective they are in halting the spread of viral infections.

The government's latest set of measures mean that people will need to fill out a standard "self-certification" form justifying their reasons for travel.

These would be submitted to the authorities at train stations and airports as well as major roads running between cities.

The government decree says its forms will work on an honours system and no proof of "need" will be required.

"Everyone must give up something to protect the health of citizens," said Conte.

"Today is our moment of responsibility. We cannot let our guard down."

Agence France-Presse

Virus fears, violence hit International Women's Day rallies

PARIS, France — Tens of thousands took to the streets across the globe to mark International Women's Day on Sunday despite many events in Asia being cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak, and attacks on women at some events in Europe and Asia.

Women were attacked at events in Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan, police fired tear gas at women marching in Turkey and some politicians condemned what they said was police violence at a women's rally in Paris.


Some women who marched in ultra-conservative Pakistan came under attack with stones and sticks, reflecting the movement's challenge in a society where females are still put to death under ancient "honour" codes.

And in Kyrgyzstan, masked men attacked one rally in the capital Bishkek, tearing up placards carried by the participants, police arrested dozens of demonstrators.

A police spokesman said they were detained for their own safety.



In Turkey, Istanbul police fired tear gas to stop hundreds of women marching on the city's central avenue after the authorities banned the march for the second year running.

'Unacceptable violence'

In France, topless Femen activists, wearing protective glasses and masks, gathered at Place de la Concorde in Paris to denounce "the patriarchal pandemic", despite the best efforts of police to control them.

"Who's doing the washing up?" they chanted. "We are making a revolution".


But rights groups and politicians denounced what they said was police violence at a women's march in Paris the night before, after scuffles broke out and police arrested nine people.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, currently seeking re-election, said she was shocked by the "unacceptable and incomprehensible" violence and expressed her solidarity with the demonstrators.

Some women tweeted pictures of marchers left battered and bruised, prompting Europe Ecology-The Greens party secretary Julien Bayou to blast what he termed "absolutely unjustifiable police violence".

In China, the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic, state broadcaster CCTV highlighted the work of female medical workers on the frontlines in the fight against the virus.

Despite growing fears over the worsening epidemic, marches went ahead in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

A women's marathon planned in India was postponed over virus concerns.

In South Korea, where more than 7,000 virus infections make it the hardest-hit country outside China, several events were cancelled.

"Although we can't be physically together, our minds for realising gender equality are stronger than ever," the country's gender equality minister Lee Jung-Ok said in a video message.

'Violence and poverty getting worse'

In Bangkok, protesters called for improved labour protections amid the epidemic that has infected dozens in Thailand, and greater rights under a military-aligned government.

Hundreds of women and men rallied in the Philippine capital Manila, burning a giant effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte -- whom they accuse of misogyny -- to mark the day.

"The violence and poverty among women are getting worse," Joms Salvador of women's group Gabriela told AFP.

Women also turned out in force in Iraq and Lebanon.

There were rallies too in Mexico, which has long battled deep-rooted violence against women. Women marched in the capital Mexico City, but also in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, the scene of a string of murders of women.

Thousands marched in the Spanish capital Madrid, and thousands more in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

In Peru, women demonstrated in the capital Lima calling for legal abortion, better working conditions and an end to violence against women.

In Sudan, women demonstrated outside the justice ministry in the capital Khartoum on Sunday, calling for an end to discriminatory laws.

In Brazil, several women marched against the policies of the country's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

"The government's policies have consisted of taking away the rights of women workers," 35-year-old Marcela Azevedo, with the group Women in Combat, told AFP.

Agence France-Presse

Asia-Pacific economies face $211-billion hit from virus, says S&P

HONG KONG — The coronavirus could wipe more than $200 billion off Asia Pacific economies this year, S&P Global ratings warned Friday, sending growth to its lowest level in more than a decade, as governments struggle to combat the disease.

In a worst-case scenario, China could see growth of less than three percent, while Japan, Australia and Hong Kong could "flirt with recession", it said in a report.

Fears about the impact of the outbreak, which has spread to at least 85 countries since it began in China in late December, have hammered world markets as investors fret over its economic impact.

S&P said it expected the region to grow 4.0 percent this year as supply and demand shocks blow a $211 billion hole in the economy. That compares with a 4.8 percent estimate given in December and would be the worst performance since a contraction in 2008 caused by the global financial crisis.

"Asia-Pacific's outlook has darkened due to the global spread of the coronavirus," it said. "This will exert domestic supply-and-demand shocks in Japan and Korea. It will mean weaker external demand from the US and Europe"


The report said economies were suffering from the double-whammy of weak demand as consumers stay home for fear of catching the disease, and falling supplies as industries are rocked by shutdowns.

It saw China's economy -- which was already stuttering before the crisis struck -- expanding 4.8 percent this year, which would be the worst in three decades.

However, it added that in the worst case, which "assumes localized reinfections as people return to work and the re-imposition of some restrictions on activity" growth could crash to just 2.9 percent.

Hong Kong, which suffered its first recession last year since 2008, was tipped to shrink further.

The city, along with Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam would be the hardest hit, with tourism -- which has been battered globally -- accounting for around 10 percent of growth on average.

Still, S&P did say that economies would likely see healthy rebounds.

"A U-shaped recovery is likely to be delayed until the third quarter if signs emerge by the second quarter that the virus is globally contained," the report said.

"We assume that the coronavirus will not permanently impair the labour force, the capital stock, or productivity -- hence, the region's economies should be employing as many people and producing as much output by the end of 2021 as it would have done in the absence of the virus."

Also on Friday, the Asian Development Bank said it saw China taking a $103 billion hit, or 0.8 percentage point hit to GDP, while losses could hit $22 billion -- or 0.2 percentage points -- for other developing economies in the region.

"The magnitude of the economic losses will depend on how the outbreak evolves, which remains highly uncertain," the bank said in a statement.

Agence France-Presse

Kuwait, Bahrain announce first coronavirus cases

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait and Bahrain confirmed on Monday their first novel coronavirus cases, health ministries in the two Gulf states announced, adding all had come from Iran.

Kuwait reported three infections and Bahrain one.

"Tests conducted on those coming from the Iranian holy city of Mashhad showed there were three confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19)," the Kuwaiti health ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

It said the cases were of a 53-year-old Kuwaiti man, a 61-year-old Saudi citizen and a 21-year-old stateless Arab.

"All three cases are under constant observation by the health authority," the ministry added.


Bahrain's health ministry also reported the country's first COVID-19 case on Monday after a "citizen arriving from Iran was suspected of having contracted the virus based on emerging symptoms."

The patient was transferred to a medical center for "immediate testing," which proved positive for the infection, the ministry added.

Iran's confirmed death toll rose to 12 on Monday, with the outbreak prompting travel bans from nearby countries.

Last week, Kuwait banned entry of all ships from the Islamic republic and suspended flights to and from the country.

Kuwait had also banned non-citizens coming from Iran from entering the Gulf state and operated chartered flights to bring back hundreds of Kuwaiti Shiite pilgrims from the Islamic republic.

Around a third of Kuwait's 1.4 million citizens are Shiite Muslims, who travel regularly to Iran to visit religious shrines. Kuwait also hosts roughly 50,000 Iranian workers.

Over half of Bahrain's population of under one million are Shiites, who also travel frequently to Iran.

Iraq said it closed the only border crossing with Kuwait at Safwan, south of Basra, late Sunday.

Neighboring United Arab Emirates has already announced 13 cases of the novel coronavirus, all of them foreigners. The latest were a 70-year-old Iranian man, whose condition is unstable, and his 64-year-old wife.

Three Chinese nationals were treated for COVID-19 and have been discharged from UAE hospitals.

UAE airlines have suspended most flights to China—where the virus first emerged in December—except to the capital Beijing, but have not yet taken any measures to restrict travel to and from Iran. Around half a million Iranians live and work in the UAE.

Three Gulf states—Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar—remain free of the virus, but all have suspended flights to China.

Qatar Airways said on Monday it will quarantine people arriving from Iran and South Korea, the biggest hotspot outside of China, for 14 days.

China's death toll from COVID-19 rose to nearly 2,600 on Monday. The virus has spread to more than 25 countries and is causing mounting alarm due to new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Agence France-Presse

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

Countries with confirmed cases of coronavirus

A SARS-like virus has claimed 26 lives since emerging on December 31 in a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Here is a list of countries that have confirmed cases of the so-called coronavirus.

China

As of Friday, more than 800 people have been infected across China, with 177 in serious condition. Authorities were also examining 1,072 suspected cases.

Officials also confirmed the second virus death outside the Wuhan region, saying a patient died in Heilongjiang province, 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) to the northeast.

-- The city of Macau, a gambling hub hugely popular with mainland tourists, has confirmed two cases. The first was a 52-year-old businesswoman from Wuhan who arrived in Macau by high-speed rail on Sunday, via the neighbouring city of Zhuhai.

-- As of Thursday, two people have tested positive in Hong Kong. Both had visited Wuhan in recent days and are being treated in isolation wards in hospital.

France

On Friday two cases were confirmed in France, the first in Europe. One was in Paris while the other was in the city of Bordeaux, the country's health minister said. Both had traveled to China and both were placed in isolation.

Japan

Japan's health authorities confirmed a second case on Friday, Kyodo news agency reported, saying the patient was a man in his 40s who was originally from Wuhan and on a trip to Japan.

The country's first case was reported by the health ministry last week: a man who had visited Wuhan and was hospitalised on January 10, four days after his return to Japan.

Nepal

Nepal's health authorities on Friday confirmed their first case -- a 32-year-old man arriving from Wuhan, China. It is the first South Asian country to report the deadly disease.

The patient, who was initially quarantined, recovered and was discharged. The government said that surveillance has been increased at the airport "and suspicious patients entering Nepal are being monitored."

Singapore

Singapore has announced at least three cases: a 66-year-old man and his 37-year-old son, who arrived in Singapore Monday from Wuhan, and a 52-year-old Wuhan woman, who arrived in the city-state on Tuesday.

South Korea

South Korea confirmed on Friday its second case of the virus.

The health ministry said a South Korean man in his 50s started experiencing symptoms while working in Wuhan on Jan 10. He was tested after his return earlier this week, and the virus was confirmed.

The country reported its first case on January 20 -- a 35-year-old woman who flew in from Wuhan.

Taiwan

On Wednesday, authorities confirmed the first case on the self-ruled island of Taiwan -- a Taiwanese woman in her fifties, living in Wuhan, who returned to the island on Monday with symptoms including fever, coughing and a sore throat.

Thailand

Thailand has detected four cases so far -- three Chinese nationals from Wuhan and a 73-year-old Thai woman who came back from the Chinese city this month.

Two of the Chinese patients were treated, cured and have travelled back to their country, the Thai health ministry said this week.

United States

On Tuesday, US health officials announced the country's first case, a man in his 30s living near Seattle. On Friday a second case was announced - a woman in her 60s living in Chicago. Both were treated and are recovering.

Vietnam

Vietnam confirmed two cases of the virus on Thursday. An infected man from Wuhan travelled to Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month and passed the virus onto his son.

Both are being treated in hospital and are stable, Vietnam health officials said.

source: philstar.com