Coronavirus live updates: WHO to send mission to virus-hit China

Eighty-seven per cent of American companies in China said the novel coronavirus, which has killed hundreds in the Asian giant and infected tens of thousands, will have a direct impact on their 2020 revenues, according to Shanghais American Chamber of Commerce. In a survey the chamber published on Friday, 24 per cent of companies said they expected revenues to fall by at least 16 per cent compared to the previous year because of the outbreak, which by Saturday had killed 722 and infected 34,546 in China, reports Efe news. Moreover, 29 per cent of the 127 companies in the survey - conducted Tuesday through Thursday - said their corporate headquarters do not fully understand the potential economic impact of the coronavirus.

US electric carmaker Tesla's factory in China's financial hub of Shanghai will resume production on Feb. 10 with assistance to help it cope with a spreading epidemic of coronavirus, a Shanghai government official said on Saturday. Many factories across China shut in late January for the Lunar New Year holiday that was originally due to end on Jan. 30 but which was extended in a bid to contain the spread of the new flu-like virus that has killed more than 700 people.

Hong Kong on Saturday began enforcing a mandatory two-week quarantine for anyone arriving from mainland China, a dramatic escalation of its bid to stop the deadly new coronavirus from spreading. The vast majority of people crossing the border are expected to self-quarantine and will face daily phone calls and spot checks by officials, with up to six months in prison for those found in breach of the isolation period. Read more

A man who had travelled to Wuhan — the central city at the heart of China's coronavirus crisis — was surprised when police showed up at his door after he returned home, asking to check his temperature. The man, who had quarantined himself at home in Nanjing, eastern Jiangsu province, said he had not told anyone about his recent trip to the city. Read more

15 students from the state who were stranded in Hubei province of China following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus have landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited and underwent a thermal screening for the infection, airport officials said on Saturday. The students travelled to Bangkok from Kunming Airport and then took an Air Asia flight to reach here, they said.

Chinese health authorities said they received reports of 3,399 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 86 deaths Friday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Xinhua reported. Read more

Another 3 people on a cruise liner off Japan have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases from the ship to 64, Japan's health ministry said on Saturday. Japan's health minister on Friday said 41 people aboard the Diamond Princess had tested positive for coronavirus in addition to 20 previously identified cases, with those infected being moved to hospitals on land. Read more

US President Donald Trump said Friday that China is doing a "very professional job" in combating the coronavirus epidemic. Trump said that he discussed the crisis with President Xi Jinping in a "very good" phone call late Thursday. "We talked about, mostly about the coronavirus. They're working really hard and I think they're doing a very professional job," he told reporters at the White House. Trump said the United States and China were "working together" on the issue. "I think that China will do a very good job." Read more

Air India's second special flight that evacuated 323 Indians and seven Maldivians from Wuhan in China had done an "emergency landing" at Delhi airport on February 2 due to a crack in its cockpit window, a senior airline official said. "A windshield was observed to be cracked in the cockpit. Delhi Airport's air traffic control (ATC) was transmitted an emergency message by pilots so that a priority landing can be obtained. The plane landed safely and without any incident" the airline official stated. Using its 423-seater B747 planes, Air India conducted two special flights to Wuhan, the epicentre of novel coronavirus outbreak in China, to evacuate total 647 Indians and seven Maldivians. The first flight had returned to Delhi airport on February 1 with 324 Indians onboard.

Charter flights offered to thousands of Chinese tourists stranded in Bali after Indonesia halted flights over coronavirus fears have been delayed because travel permits have yet to be approved, Jakarta said Friday. A diplomatic notice said Beijing was arranging flights for Friday back to Wuhan -- the epicentre of the deadly outbreak which has killed over 600 people and spread around the world. Many of the marooned tourists are from the stricken city and surrounding Hubei province, the consulate had said. But Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry said Friday it had not received the necessary paperwork to greenlight charter trips after the Southeast Asian nation shut down all commercial flights to and from mainland China.

The special flight of Air India which was deployed for evacuating Indians from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan to New Delhi had made an emergency landing at the airport in the national capital on February 2."At 09:35 am, (Air Traffic Control) ATC declared a full emergency for Air India flight, AI-1349, Sector WUHAN/DEL, due to 'shattered cockpit window issue'. The flight landed safely at 09:38 am and was fully parked on a stand," an ATC official told ANI under the conditions of anonymity. Air India special aircraft B-747 evacuated total 323 Indians and 7 Maldivian nationals from Wuhan, on February 2. Read more

After South Korean company LG electronics, Swedish telecommunication giant Ericsson on Friday announced to withdraw its participation from the flagship Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona, owing to the outbreak and continued spreading of the Novel Coronavirus. Stressing that health and safety of its employees, customers and other stakeholders is the company's top priority, Ericsson said it has closely monitored the development and adhered to recommendations from relevant national authorities and international bodies, such as the WHO. "The health and safety of our employees, customers and other stakeholders are our highest priority. This is not a decision we have taken lightly," said Borje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson.

The special flight of Air India which was deployed for evacuating Indians from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan to New Delhi had made an emergency landing at the airport in the national capital on February 2. "At 09:35 am, (Air Traffic Control) ATC declared a full emergency for Air India flight, AI-1349, Sector WUHAN/DEL, due to 'shattered cockpit window issue'. The flight landed safely at 09:38 am and was fully parked on a stand," an ATC official told ANI under the conditions of anonymity. Air India special aircraft B-747 evacuated total 323 Indians and 7 Maldivian nationals from Wuhan, on February 2. Air India evacuated a total of 640 Indians from Wuhan, in two separate operations.Unfortunately, one of the aircraft landed in emergency conditions at Delhi's IGI airport on February 2, in the second operation.

Preemptive measures are in place to deal with the threat posed by coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir, a senior government official said on Friday, asserting that people, who have arrived from China, have been screened and were found to be asymptomatic. Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo also advised the officers to be extra vigilant and follow the established protocol in handling all suspected cases. "The suspected cases so far in Jammu and Kashmir have tested negative and have been advised home quarantine," Dulloo said at a meeting of senior functionaries and health officials here. He reviewed the preemptive measures taken by the Health and Medical Education Department to deal with coronavirus threat.