Coronavirus cases stabilise, but outbreak could go any way – Reuters News

Reuters has reported that the number of cases of infection with the new coronavirus in China has stabilised, but that apparent slowdown in the epidemic spread should be viewed with "extreme caution", the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

"This outbreak could still go in any direction," the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a briefing in Geneva.

At the end of a two-day meeting on research and innovation into measures to tackle the new viral outbreak, Tedros welcomed the energy and enthusiasm of scientists starting work.

He added that a WHO-led advance team that travelled to China earlier this week had made "good progress" on the composition and scope of its work.

Key notes

• World Health Organization's Tedros says - number of newly confirmed cases of coronavirus from china has stabilised over the past week but that must be interpreted with extreme caution.
•  "This outbreak could still go in any direction" - WHO's Tedros says of coronavirus.
•  Tedros thanks Cambodia for having accepted cruise ship Ms Westerdam - This example of international solidarity we have been consistently calling for
• Tedros says.
• WHO-led "advance team" in China has made "good progress" on scope of its work, hopes to have "more news soon".
• "We need to come together to fight a common enemy that does not respect borders" - WHO's Tedros
• The behaviour of coronavirus outside hubei province doesn't appear to be as aggressive or accelerating, that's a good sign - WHO expert Dr. Mike Ryan
• That slower spread in other chinese provinces "still gives us an opportunity for containment, potential interruption of virus" but is not a guarantee - WHO's Ryan says
• "We must continue to try to stop the virus but prepare countries for its arrival" - WHO's ryan
• Only 22 percent of coronavirus cases outside china are actually due to localised transmission outside china - WHO's Mike Ryan
• At moment this virus is not out there causing efficient community transmission in other countries outside china - WHO's Ryan
• China is doing many good things that are slowing the virus (spread) and the facts speak for themselves - Tedros.

Market implications

The US stock market is trading in record territories on the news that the new numbers of coronavirus are falling. In the fear of missing out, traders are buying the news on a whim and subsequently, all three benchmarks are trading in record-close territory and set new intraday highs Wednesday.