China sees decline in coronavirus; infection rises elsewhere

REUTERS: China reported a sharp decrease in the number of new deaths and new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, while its central bank predicted a limited short-term economic impact and said the country was confident of winning the fight against the epidemic.

Mainland China had 397 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Friday, down from 889 a day earlier, with the vast majority of those in the epicenter of Hubei province, the National Health Commission said.

The 31 new infections recorded in the rest of the country was the lowest since the commission started compiling nationwide data on Jan. 20, and sharply down from 258 new cases the previous day.

But the numbers continued to rise elsewhere, with outbreaks worsening in South Korea, Italy and Iran and Lebanon, prompting a warning from the World Health Organization that the window of opportunity to contain the international spread was closing..

South Korea saw another spike in infections with 142 confirmed cases, taking its tally to 346, about half related to people who attended a church service.

Concerns about the virus weighed on U.S. stocks on Friday, driven by an earlier spike in cases in China and data showing stalling U.S. business activity in February.

The virus has spread to some 26 countries and territories outside mainland China, killing 11 people, according to a Reuters tally, and among the WHO’s biggest concerns was cases without links to China.

“We still have a chance to contain it,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said on Friday. “If we don’t, if we squander the opportunity, then there will be a serious problem on our hands.”

An outbreak in northern Italy worsened with its first death, an elderly man, among 17 confirmed cases including its first known instance of local transmission.

Japan confirmed four new coronavirus cases on Saturday, among those a teacher who had shown symptoms while working at her school.

Japan is facing growing questions about whether it is doing enough to contain its spread, and unease about whether it could scupper this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Organizers of the games on Saturday postponed the start of training for volunteers.