China’s National Health Commission (NHC) reported on Sunday 2,009 new cases, down from 2,641 the previous day, per Reuters.
Additional Headlines
142 new deaths were reported vs.143 seen on the previous day. All but four of the new deaths were in Hubei.
China’s latest figures showed 68,500 cases of the illness and 1,665 deaths, most of them in Hubei.
A Chinese health official said that the intense containment efforts to curb the coronavirus spread were beginning to work.
China's Hubei banned vehicle traffic to curb spread of coronavirus.
China’s Finance Ministry issued CNY8 billion ($1.15 billion) in subsidy funds to support local authorities’ epidemic control efforts, CNY3.5 billion of which are earmarked for Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, another 70 people tested positive on a virus-stricken cruise ship quarantined in Japan.
On Saturday, Europe reported the first coronavirus fatality after an 80-year-old Chinese tourist infected with the coronavirus died in France.
French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on Saturday, “this is the first fatality by the coronavirus outside Asia, the first death in Europe.”
“We have to get our health system ready to face a possible pandemic propagation of the virus, and therefore the spreading of the virus across France,” she added.
Buzyn also said that out of 12 cases in France, four patients have been successfully treated and have checked out of hospital.
Separately, while speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the coronavirus outbreak still an emergency for China, adding that “it is impossible to tell where the epidemic will spread.”
Market Implications
The market mood could likely remain cautious amid looming coronavirus risks, starting out a fresh week on Monday Asia open. Holiday-thinned trading could also exaggerate the impact on the risk trends, with the US markets closed in observance of Presidents’ Day.
China and the US officially having cut tariffs on each other’s goods on Friday for the first time in nearly two years, however, could somewhat please the investors.
The US dollar will continue to benefit from the risk-off flows across its main rivals amid increased demand for the haven. A sustained break above the 110 handle may remain elusive for the USD/JPY pair while EUR/USD could refresh multi-month lows sub-1.08 levels, as the corrective advances are seen limited.
Oil prices could reverse last week’s gains if the virus concerns intensify and heighten oil demand growth concerns. Also, the Bloomberg report that the OPEC+ is close to dropping the idea of an emergency meeting this month and will stick with March meeting dates could also likely weigh on the black gold.
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