(Reuters) – The number of people infected with coronavirus topped 106,000 across the world as the outbreak reached more countries and caused more economic damage.
(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open here)
DEATHS/INFECTIONS
**More than 106,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 3,600 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.
**Mainland China, where the outbreak began, has seen at least 3,097 deaths, but the epidemic is now spreading faster elsewhere.
ASIA
**The mayor of Daegu, the city hardest hit in South Korea’s outbreak, expressed hope the numbers of new cases may be dropping, after the rate of increase slowed to its lowest in 10 days. Authorities reported 272 new cases, giving a total of 7,313 in the country, with 50 dead.
**The spread continues to slow in China. According to China’s National Health Commission, cases fell by roughly half on Saturday from the day before. Of the 44 new confirmed cases, 41 were discovered in Wuhan, the origin of the virus’ outbreak. Chinese cities are gradually relaxing quarantine measures put in place over a month ago.
**Bangladesh on Sunday confirmed its first three cases, two of them in people recently returned from Italy.
**The Maldives has curbed movement on several resort islands, authorities said on Sunday, after the country reported its first two cases of coronavirus.
**Japan’s health minister said testing capacity would increase by the end of the month, as national health insurance begins to cover it. The number of infections in Japan has risen to 1,159 cases, public broadcaster NHK said.
**Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will declare a public health emergency after the country recorded its first case of community transmission, officials said on Saturday.
EUROPE
**Italy ordered a virtual lockdown across a swathe of its wealthy north on Sunday, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic new attempt to try to contain a rapidly growing outbreak of coronavirus.
**Sixteen people in France have died, the head of the public health service said on Saturday, an increase of five since the previous toll. A second member of the National Assembly has been taken to hospital after contracting it, the lower house’s presidency said.
**The number of confirmed cases in Germany jumped by more than 100 on Saturday, reaching 795 by mid-afternoon. There were just 66 cases on Feb. 29.
**Bulgaria on Sunday reported its first four confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
**Moldova has reported its first confirmed coronavirus case, the Health Ministry said late on Saturday.
**Malta reported its first case on Saturday – a 12-year-old Italian girl who lives on the island.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
**Iran said 194 people had died from coronavirus and 6,566 were now infected, in a TV announcement by the Health Ministry on Sunday.
**Thirteen Americans suspected of being exposed to coronavirus during a trip to the Holy Land are in quarantine near Bethlehem and are coordinating with U.S. and Palestinian authorities to try to get home.
**Cameroon and Togo confirmed their first cases of coronavirus on Friday, bringing the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa reporting infections to five.
AMERICAS
**The cruise ship Grand Princess, held at sea and barred from returning to San Francisco last week due to a coronavirus outbreak aboard the vessel, has been directed to the nearby port of Oakland, the cruise line said.
**A patient diagnosed with coronavirus died in Argentina on Saturday, the Health Ministry said in a statement, marking the first death related to the virus in Latin America.
**Paraguay has registered its first confirmed case of coronavirus, the Health Ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.
**The death toll in the United States rose to 19 on Saturday, with two more people dying in Washington state. More than half of all U.S. states have reported cases of the coronavirus. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a declaration of emergency
**Two federal health screeners at Los Angeles International Airport have tested positive for the coronavirus.
AUSTRALIA
**A man in his 80s died in a Sydney hospital, becoming the third casualty in Australia, state health authorities said on Sunday. Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt said the government has secured an additional 54 million face masks to help protect medical workers.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
**China’s exports contracted sharply in the first two months of the year, and imports slowed, as the health crisis triggered by the coronavirus outbreak caused massive disruptions to business operations, global supply chains and economic activity.
**The outbreak likely halved China’s economic growth in the current quarter compared with the previous three months, a Reuters poll found.
**U.S. officials are wrestling with what to do in the worst-case economic scenarios, if large numbers of people can’t go to work, are told to stay home, or stop going out in public entirely.
**Strategists from top U.S. financial firms have cut their earnings per share and other targets for the S&P 500 and globally as the expected impact of the coronavirus on corporate results escalated.
**Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will create a special loan program to offer zero-interest loans to companies hit by fallout from the coronavirus epidemic.
**British finance minister Rishi Sunak, under pressure to fund the fight against the coronavirus and meet election promises in this week’s budget, has said he is looking at possible changes to rules which could allow him to spend more.
**Facebook said on Friday it is closing its London offices until Monday after a visiting employee from Singapore was diagnosed with coronavirus.
**More than 50 staff at Societe Generale’s London office were working from home on Friday, while Bank of America Corp is splitting its trading force and sending 100 New York-based staff to nearby Stamford, Connecticut, from Monday as a precaution against spread of the coronavirus.
**The European Central Bank has told most of its more than 3,500 staff to work from home on Monday to test how it could cope with a shutdown over coronavirus concerns, a spokesperson said Sunday.
**G20 finance ministers and central bank governors on Friday pledged to take “appropriate” fiscal and monetary measures.
**The Asian Development Bank said the outbreak could slash global economic output by 0.1-0.4%, with financial losses forecast to reach between $77 billion and $347 billion.
**The cost of insuring exposure to sovereign as well as corporate debt rose almost across the board on Friday as the spread of coronavirus raised the prospect of debt distress and government bailouts.
MARKETS
**Bargain-hunting investors are eyeing the shares of airlines, hotels, cruise lines and other companies that have been among the worst-hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
**Yields on U.S. Treasuries plunged to historic lows on Friday as fear the coronavirus outbreak will slam the global economy drove investors to snap up risk-adverse assets and dump equities, overshadowing data highlighting a strong U.S. labor market.
EVENT CANCELED, POSTPONED, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
**The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead this month without spectators.
**Japan’s sumo wrestlers faced off for the spring grand tournament on Sunday in front of empty seats in Osaka.
**Britain’s government has called a meeting with its sports authorities and broadcasters on Monday to discuss how events could be staged without fans present if the outbreak escalates, two people familiar with the matter said.
**Pope Francis has canceled his regular appearances in public to stop crowds gathering to see him and will stream them on the internet from inside the Vatican because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.
**The South by Southwest music, technology and film festival in Austin, Texas, scheduled for March 13 to 22, was canceled on Friday.
**The World Economic Forum has postponed a Latin America conference set to be held in Brazil at the end of April.
**The oil and gas industry is cancelling key networking events and academic and technical meetings, shifting some to virtual conferences.
**The Barcelona marathon scheduled for March 15 has been postponed until October.
**The Alpine skiing World Cup finals in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, scheduled for March 18-22, have been canceled.
**More luxury brands have postponed fashion shows worldwide.
**Russia has canceled its flagship annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum this year.
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