(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump suspended all travel from Europe, excluding the U.K., as the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
The National Basketball Association canceled all games until further notice and Tom Hanks said he and his wife have the pathogen, which the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease specialist said is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu.
While China reported only 15 new infections, U.K. cases jumped 22% to 456. Italy closed all businesses except pharmacies and grocery stores as fatalities jumped 31% to 827. Local and state officials across the U.S. took several steps to discourage or ban large gatherings.
Key Developments:
- BREAKING: NBA suspends season, Tom Hanks tests positive
- Confirmed cases top 124,000 globally; 4,600 dead
- Testing gap is creating public-health chaos in the U.S.
- Germany’s Merkel says 60%-70% of population potentially at risk
- Virus at Bear Stearns moment and may get worse, Summers says
- Month-long U.S. college basketball tournament to be played without fans
Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts. For analysis of the impact from Bloomberg Economics, click here. To see the impact on oil and commodities demand, click here.
NBA Suspends Season After Player Tests Positive (9:39 a.m. HK)
The NBA will suspend its season following Wednesday’s basketball games, after a player preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus.
“The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said in a statement. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”
The league also announced that a player on the Utah Jazz has preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus.
Tom Hanks and Wife Have Coronavirus (9:31 a.m. HK)
American actor Tom Hanks says he and his wife, Rita Wilson, tested positive for the coronavirus while in Australia.
Hanks, in Twitter post, says he and Wilson will be tested, monitored and isolated for “as long as public health and safety requires.”
Trump Says He’s Suspending All Travel From Europe (9:15 a.m. HK)
President Donald Trump said he will suspend all travel from Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days, the most far-reaching measure yet in the administration’s efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus.
The restrictions, which will not apply to the U.K., will go into effect Friday at midnight, he said Wednesday in an Oval Office address.
The president asked Congress to take action to deliver paid sick leave to hourly workers who risk their livelihoods if they stay home. He also recommended that nursing homes curtail non-medically necessary visits.
Trump said he is deferring tax payments for certain individuals and businesses affected by the virus. He said the deferments would provide $200 billion in additional liquidity. He added that he is instructing the Small Business Administration to provide emergency capital to affected firms.
White House Offers Strategies for New York Suburb (9:01 a.m. HK)
The White House Coronavirus Task Force on Wednesday weighed in on containment efforts in the New York suburb of New Rochelle. In a statement, the task force said “these mitigation activities are designed to address the effects of Covid-19 on areas that are experiencing community spread.”
On Tuesday, New York State imposed a containment zone with a one-mile radius in the Westchester County city, which is about 20 miles from Manhattan. Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the National Guard would be called in to close large, public gathering spaces.
Vice President Mike Pence spoke to Cuomo on Wednesday about “these community mitigation strategies,” according to the task force statement.
China Sees Lowest Number of New Cases Since Jan. 18 (8:48 a.m. HK)
China reported 15 additional coronavirus cases as of March 11, the lowest number since Jan. 18. Eight of the new cases were from Hubei, the province at the center of the outbreak, according to statement from China’s National Health Commission.
China now has 80,793 total confirmed coronavirus cases. Its death toll rose by 11 to 3,169. Ten of the latest fatalities are from Hubei. Discharged patients rose by 1,318 to a total of 62,793.
Duterte to Test for Virus as Cabinet Exposed to Patient (8:26 a.m. HK)
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will test for the new coronavirus after his finance and transportation secretaries announced they were exposed to an infected person and will go on self quarantine.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said he met with an infected person on March 5 and 6 and while he’s not showing any symptoms, he will be isolating himself until he gets tested. Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade also said he will go on a quarantine.
Australia Unveils A$17.6 Billion in Stimulus (8:12 a.m. HK)
Australia unveiled a A$17.6 billion ($11.4 billion) fiscal stimulus plan to buttress the economy from the coronavirus outbreak that threatens to tip the nation into its first recession since 1991.
The plan announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison includes A$1.3 billion in support over two years to safeguard the jobs of 120,000 apprentices. The government will also spend A$6.7 billion over four years to support the cash flow of small and medium businesses so they can pay wages during the expected downturn. In addition, the government will expand a tax write-off program with A$700 million in funding over four years to help businesses buy new equipment.
Nation With No Virus Bans Visitors, Quarantines Locals (8:01 a.m. HK)
El Salvador is imposing some of the world’s toughest controls to curb the spread of the new coronavirus before it has a single confirmed case of the disease.
Governments from China to the U.S. have been accused of reacting too slowly to prevent the deadly illness from spreading. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said he doesn’t want to repeat their mistakes. “How much would Italy give to be in our position and be able to declare a quarantine before having thousands of cases?” Bukele said in a national address.
The measures involve a ban on all visitors to the country via all ports of entry who aren’t residents or diplomats. Residents who return to El Salvador will be quarantined for 30 days. Schools are suspended for 21 days.
Seoul Mayor Says 99 Cases Call Center-Related: JTBC (7:42 a.m. HK)
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said a total of 99 coronavirus patients are related to a call center in Guro District, JTBC reported, citing an interview with him. Seventy of the cases are from Seoul.
CME to Close Trading Pits in Ripple to Agriculture (7:25 a.m. HK)
Shutdowns are starting to expand to the middle-America agriculture industry. Derivatives exchange CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) said it will close its famed trading pits in Chicago at the end of Friday, a precaution to prevent a large gathering that may contribute to the virus’s spread. Elsewhere, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo shut down more than a week early, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it was postponing an agriculture conference that had been scheduled for Kansas in early April.
Trump Likely to Reveal Sick Leave, Tax Extension Plan (6:45 a.m. HK)
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to take a series of executive actions to deliver economic relief from the coronavirus outbreak, including paid sick leave for hourly workers and extending tax-filing deadlines for small businesses, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The details could still change before Trump addresses the nation at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Trump is planning to provide relief to hourly earners who are either quarantined and unable to work or caring for someone with the virus, people familiar with the matter said.
The president also plans to provide a tax-filing extension of at least three months for small and medium businesses. He is also considering a three-month tax extension for individuals, the people said.
U.K. Likely to Move to ‘Delay’ Phase of Response (6:30 a.m. HK)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of the U.K. Government’s emergency committee Thursday afternoon, and his office said he’s likely to announce that the virus response is moving to the “Delay” phase.
That means accepting that the virus spread can no longer be contained, and instead looking to slow its spread. Options include encouraging home-working, restricting large gatherings, and closing schools. Johnson’s government has faced questions about why it hasn’t done that sooner, but has insisted it’s following scientific advice about the most effective time to shift response.
U.S. Weighs Restricting Non-Essential Travel From Europe (5:15 p.m. NY)
President Donald Trump is weighing whether to restrict non-essential travel from Europe to the U.S. as the outbreak of coronavirus continues to spread on both continents, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The restrictions would include some business travel, according to one of the people, but it’s unclear how far ranging the limits would be.
Basketball Tournament to Be Played Without Fans (4:46 p.m. NY)
The NCAA will conduct upcoming championship events, including Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only “essential staff and limited family attendance,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said.
Seattle Closing Public Schools (3:47 p.m. NY)
Seattle will close its public schools starting Thursday for at least two weeks. With more than 53,000 students, it would be the first major public school district in the U.S. to shut its doors in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Several other schools in the area, including the University of Washington, have already suspended in-person classes.
U.K. Govt to Draft Emergency Laws (3:15 p.m. NY)
U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock offered to work with his Labour opponents on writing emergency laws to tackle the virus outbreak. Labour welcomed the move and said it would join talks, expected to start on Thursday. Emergency laws are likely to allow teachers to teach larger classes, hauliers to work longer shifts.
Hancock said Parliament will remain open, despite the WHO declaring a pandemic, and a health minister becoming infected.
More Big Meetings Banned Across U.S. (2:50 p.m. NY)
Local and state officials across the U.S. took several steps to discourage or ban large gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Washington recommended that meetings of more than 1,000 people in the nation’s capital be canceled or postponed through at least March 31.
San Francisco public health officials banned events of 1,000 people or more, including games for the National Basketball Assocation’s Golden State Warriors, which will play without fans during its game Thursday night against the Brooklyn Nets. The order lasts for two weeks but can be extended as needed.
Kuwait Shuts Down Country (2:21 p.m. NY)
The government declared the period of March 12-26 an official holiday in an effort to limit exposure to the coronavirus outbreak, state-run Kuwait News Agency reported on Wednesday. Employers will continue to pay salaries. All commercial flights will be suspended.
WHO Declares Pandemic (12:37 p.m. NY)
The outbreak of coronavirus is now a pandemic, the World Health Organization’s top official said Wednesday in a press briefing. The long-awaited pronouncement came as worldwide cases topped 120,000 while the number of deaths exceed 4,300.
“All countries can still change the course of this pandemic,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the briefing. “If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response, those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters and those clusters becoming community transmission.”
The new coronavirus is the cause of the first pandemic since 2009, when a novel influenza strain swept around the world, infecting millions of people.
Coronavirus Far More Lethal Than Flu, Fauci Says (11:53 a.m. NY)
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told U.S. lawmakers the new coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu.
“The flu has a mortality of 0.1%. This is ten times that. That’s the reason I want to emphasize we have to stay ahead of the game.”
U.K. Unveils Stimulus (8:54 a.m. NY)
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak says announced a total fiscal stimulus package valued at 30 billion pounds ($39 billion) to support jobs and businesses. That came hours after the Bank of England cut interest rates.
The government will fund statutory sick pay for employees of small and medium-sized companies who are off work because of coronavirus, Sunak said.
