Breaking: Coronavirus update killing risk assets, AUD/JPY -0.66% in a heartbeat

FXStreet Team FXStreet

** Update: The numbers published are skewed.

The Health Commission for Hubei Province has explained that the province recently conducted investigations on suspected cases and revised the diagnosis results, and newly diagnosed patients were diagnosed according to the new diagnosis classification.

In order to be consistent with the classification of case diagnosis issued by other provinces across the country, starting today, Hubei Province will include the number of clinically diagnosed cases into the number of confirmed cases for publication.

** Editors note: Subsequently, we are seeing up to 50% corrections across the board.

Health authorities in China’s Hubei province which are the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic have reported on Thursday 14,840 new confirmed cases, almost 10 times the number reported a day earlier and markets are not responding in kind. New deaths attributable to the contagion rose to 242, more than double on the day.

This brings the totals announced by the province’s health commission to 48,206 and 1,310, respectively, as of Wednesday.

Officials in Hubei had reported 94 fatalities and 1,638 newly confirmed cases a day earlier.

14,840 new cases (13,332 "clinical diagnosis")
242 deaths on Feb 12.
3,441 patients discharged

The coronavirus is hitting the wires here and the numbers are not looking pretty which are weighing on risk sentiment and the commodity complex:

CNH down 0.18%
Copper takes a wallop falling 0.87% on the news.
US E-mini stock futures extend fall, drop as far as 0.5% after jump in coronavirus cases.
AUD/JPY -0.66%.
Yen + 0.20% vs the US dollar.

This all should not come at a surprise. It was warned already that the apparent slowdown in the epidemic spread should be viewed with "extreme caution", the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. More on that here: Coronavirus cases stabilise, but outbreak could go any way – Reuters News

The virus – also known as Covid-19 – has spread to at least 24 countries, sickened more than 60,000 people worldwide, with tens of thousands more suspected cases.

We are still waiting for the National Health Commission has not yet released the national total of new cases and deaths.

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FXStreet Team

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