(Bloomberg) — The number of coronavirus cases globally approached 100,000 as the outbreak in the U.S. gathered pace, and China and South Korea continued to report new infections and deaths.
China, where the pathogen originated, reported 143 more cases for Thursday and 30 additional deaths, down from highs reported in February. The total number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 80,552. South Korea confirmed 518 new infections, for a total of 6,284, and said the death toll rose to 42. Most of the infections still are in the southern city of Daegu.
Key Developments:
Global cases 97,866; death toll 3,383Tokyo hospital rations masks for staffSouth Korea blasts Japan over quarantine planPence visits surgical-mask maker to encourage more production
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Facebook Tells Bay Area Staff to Work From Home (1:40 p.m. HK)
Facebook Inc., which already alerted employees to an infection at its Seattle offices, is strongly encouraging all staff at its Bay Area home base to work from home starting Friday. The social-media giant will review the situation on a weekly basis, according to a statement.
Seattle-area employees earlier were encouraged to work from home until the end of March.
Tokyo Hospital Imposes One-Mask-a-Day Rule (12:12 p.m. HK)
A Tokyo hospital treating coronavirus patients issued guidance last week to its doctors and nurses: only one surgical mask per staff will be allocated each day due to a supply shortage.
The notice, posted on the walls of the hospital’s general ward on Feb. 28, said the facility only had enough masks in stock to last another month, so staff should use the same one throughout the day.
Manhattan Private Schools Cancel Classes (12:10 p.m. HK)
Two New York City private schools canceled Friday classes after being notified that a parent was exposed to the coronavirus while traveling abroad, according to emails sent to parents. Collegiate School and The Spence School said they would carry out thorough cleanings before allowing students to return.
Collegiate said the unidentified family is in self-quarantine while awaiting test results for the virus.
China Arranging Buses for Some Overseas Arrivals (10:02 a.m. HK)
Beijing reported more infections, and the government said it will enforce stricter quarantine measures for inbound passengers.
Passengers from some countries with coronavirus outbreak will be transported in chartered buses after arriving in China to curb inbound infections, the Ministry of Transport said without identifying the nations.
China reported 16 imported new coronavirus cases March 5, resulting in total of 36 inbound infections.
Beijing’s party chief, Cai Qi, said Thursday the “airport is the battle field.” Beijing reported four new coronavirus infections Thursday, which are all inbound infections from Italy. The total inbound infections in the city rose to eight as of March 5.
Maryland Reports Three Cases Near D.C. (9:45 a.m. HK)
Maryland reported three virus cases in Montgomery County, a suburban area of Washington, D.C. The patients were infected after travel abroad and are in good condition, officials said. They are in their homes with symptoms abating. Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency due to the virus.
California’s Santa Clara County Cases Jump to 20 (6:07 p.m. NY)
Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, recommended that large gatherings be postponed or canceled after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 20.
Six more people were confirmed to have the virus since yesterday. Sara Cody, health officer for the county, said the area is no longer in containment mode as it’s getting harder to trace the contacts of each confirmed case.
Quest, LabCorp to Start Testing for Coronavirus (5:26 p.m. NY)
Quest Diagnostics Inc. and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, which dominate medical testing in the U.S., will start testing for the novel coronavirus.
LabCorp said its tests will be available later Thursday. Quest said it will roll out its service on March 9.
U.S. health agencies are struggling to test people after problems with the original kits developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
EBay Bans New Listings of Face Masks (5:26 p.m. NY)
EBay Inc. is banning new listings for face masks, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes “due to regulatory restrictions across the United States,” the San Jose-based company said Thursday.
The news comes as demand surges have prompted sellouts in stores, skyrocketing prices online and pressure from regulators to enforce price- gouging laws. Packs of hand sanitizer that usually sell for $10 were listed on online marketplaces for as much as $400.
Before Thursday’s announcement, EBay said it had been “taking action to mitigate the inflated price of masks listed on the site.” The online marketplace was pulling listings for face masks that exceeded $7.50 per mask — about 10 times the usual 75 cents.
NYC Urges Voluntary Quarantine For Travelers (3:58 p.m. NY)
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said all New Yorkers should voluntarily quarantine themselves for 14 days if they have returned from China, Iran, Italy, South Korea or Japan within the past two weeks. Anyone returning from these nations who has respiratory illness should seek medical care immediately, de Blasio said.
N.J. Patient Is Health-Care Worker (3:30 p.m. NY)
A coronavirus patient in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is a health-care worker with a residence in Manhattan, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The infection of health-care workers is of particular concern for two reasons: They could have contracted the disease from a patient, or they could have been around vulnerable people while sick. The patient, who hadn’t traveled internationally, fell ill March 2 after attending a conference in New York City, the person said.
The patient sought care at a walk-in clinic in Bergen County, then was sent to Hackensack University Medical Center and placed in isolation, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said at a news briefing. She also confirmed a second case in the state.
Virus Cases Surge in Seattle Area (3 p.m. NY)
Twenty new cases of the virus were reported Thursday in the Seattle area, and one more person who had been previously diagnosed with the coronavirus there died, local officials announced.
That brings the total cases in King County to 51, according to local officials. The person who died was a women in her 90s who had been hospitalized at EvergreenHealth, which has treated many of the sickest cases.
First San Francisco Cases; Ship Passengers Tested (3 p.m. NY)
San Francisco has two confirmed cases, Mayor London Breed said. The patients are a man in his 90s and a women in her 40s who are being treated in isolation at separate hospitals. Both infections appear to have been from community transmission.
Testing kits have been flown in for passengers on a Princess cruise ship that has been linked to the virus and is being held off the California coast. Thirty-five people have shown flu-like symptoms during the ship’s voyage to Hawaii and are being tested, though some of those people are no longer showing symptoms, San Francisco officials said.
The ship had originally been planned to dock in the city, but state officials are now working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine where it will eventually land. The ship has 2,383 passengers on board, as well as 1,100 crew members.
First U.K. Death; Cases Rise to 115 (1:20 p.m. NY)
An elderly patient has become the first person in the U.K. to die from the coronavirus as health officials across the country brace for a potential period of mounting infections.
The patient, who had underlying medical conditions and was in treatment at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, is believed to have contracted the virus in the U.K., the government said in an email Thursday.
The fatality was reported on a day that the number of confirmed cases in the U.K. hit 115. As many as half of the U.K.’s total cases may emerge in a potential three-week episode that would put the National Health Service under “huge pressure,” Chief Medical Adviser Chris Whitty told a parliamentary committee earlier Thursday.
Confirmed Cases in New York Double (1 p.m. NY)
Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of cases identified in New York doubled since Wednesday after more people were tested.
After a significant number of tests overnight, 11 new patients emerged, Cuomo said, for a total of 22 in the state.
Eight new cases in Westchester County were tied to a hospitalized lawyer in New Rochelle who also spread the pathogen to his family. There were two cases in New York City and one in suburban Long Island, the governor said. Residents should remains calm in the face of rising numbers, he said.
“The number has to go up if you continue to test,” Cuomo said. “I’m worried about undue fear and anxiety.”
He said the real centers of concern should be nursing homes and senior-care facilities.
WHO May Name Countries Failing to Fight Virus (11:30 a.m. NY)
The head of the World Health Organization said the spread of the coronavirus could become a pandemic if countries don’t fight it aggressively, and he threatened to name names.
“It’s a long list,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday in Geneva. “It’s a significant number of countries who are not mobilizing the whole government, and I can give you the list next time.”
Health ministries alone can’t fight the disease, and the top head of state or the second-in-command needs to lead the battle in order to fully mobilize governments. Tedros commended U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to name Vice President Mike Pence to head the nation’s efforts as an example of what countries should do.
Amazon Recommends Employees Work From Home (11:55 a.m. NY)
Amazon.com Inc. said that all employees based in the Seattle/Bellevue area who work in a role that can be done from home should do so through the end of March, according to a company memo sent to employees late Wednesday.
Microsoft Corp. has also suggested the same for its area employees, through March 25.
U.S. Won’t Meet Test Rollout Goal, Senators Say (9:57 a.m. NY)
The Trump administration won’t be able to meet its promised timeline of having a million coronavirus tests available by the end of the week, senators said after a briefing Thursday from health officials.
“There won’t be a million people to get a test by the end of the week,” Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida said. “It’s way smaller than that. And still, at this point, it’s still through public health departments.”
Read full story here
–With assistance from Michelle Fay Cortez, Jihye Lee, Jon Herskovitz, Shiho Takezawa, Max Zimmerman and Shoko Oda.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Dominic Lau in Hong Kong at [email protected];Li Liu in Beijing at [email protected];Amanda Gordon in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rachel Chang at [email protected], Kara Wetzel, Michael Tighe
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