February 4 coronavirus news

By Jessie Yeung, Steve George and Amy Woodyatt, CNN

Updated 9:21 p.m. ET, February 4, 2020
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10:30 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

Thailand confirms six new cases of coronavirus

From Kocha Olarn in Bangkok and Isaac Yee in Hong Kong

Thai officials conduct temperature screenings at a mall in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday.
Thai officials conduct temperature screenings at a mall in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday. Credit: Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

Thai health officials have confirmed six additional cases of the Wuhan coronavirus -- bringing the countrywide total to 25.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the Director General for the Disease Control Department Dr. Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoen said that four of the new cases are Thai nationals, and two are Chinese nationals.

Two of the Thai nationals are a married couple who recently traveled to Japan and the other two Thais are “hired car drivers” who have transported Chinese passengers.

Five out of the six cases are in stable condition, with the sixth case -- a 70-year-old Thai taxi driver who transported Chinese tourists -- in critical condition, according to Dr. Wattanayingcharoen.

8:37 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

Pictured: the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Illustration: Alissa Eckert, MS/Dan Higgins, MAM/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Illustration: Alissa Eckert, MS/Dan Higgins, MAM/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

An illustration from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) depicts the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The virus has spread globally, sickened more than 20,000 people and caused at least 427 deaths since the first cases were detected in central China in December.

The illustration shows the "ultrastructural morphology" exhibited by coronaviruses, CDC said.

8:18 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

UK advises British citizens in China to leave over coronavirus fears

From CNN's Lindsay Isaac in London

The British Foreign Office (FCO) is advising UK nationals in China to leave the country over the coronavirus outbreak. 

In a statement, the FCO said it “now recommends that British Nationals who are able to leave China do so.” 

The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority. As such, we now advise British Nationals in China to leave the country if they can, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus. Where there are still British Nationals in Hubei Province who wish to be evacuated, we will continue to work around the clock to facilitate this,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

The FCO maintains its current advisory against "all but essential" travel to mainland China. 

8:15 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

Cruise ship passengers must stay on board in port near Tokyo during virus checks

From CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo

The Diamond Princess cruise ship sits anchored in quarantine off the port of Yokohama, Japan, on Tuesday.
The Diamond Princess cruise ship sits anchored in quarantine off the port of Yokohama, Japan, on Tuesday. Credit: Stringer/JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images

The “Diamond Princess” cruise ship will remain in the Japanese port of Yokohama overnight, city officials announced Tuesday, after it was revealed that a former passenger has contracted the Wuhan coronavirus.

Its operator, Princess Cruises, halted plans for passengers to leave the vessel at the end of a 16-day Asia cruise after it was informed that a man who disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive with the virus several days later. 

“While on the ship he did not visit the ship’s medical centre to report any symptoms or illness. The hospital reports that he is in stable condition and the family members traveling with him remain symptom-free,” the cruise company said in a statement.

Japanese authorities are racing to contain a possible outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus, locking down the vessel and the roughly 2,500 passengers and 1,000 crew on board.

Health ministry officials said more passengers than expected need to be temporarily quarantined while being tested, and it could take another day to finish the screenings.  

No one is allowed to leave the ship while officials test the group. Officials would not confirm how many people are being tested. So far there are no confirmed cases of the virus on the ship.

7:49 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

China could spend billions buying stocks if the coronavirus panic continues. It's done it before

From CNN Business' Laura He

Medical workers spray antiseptic outside of the Shanghai Stock Exchange Building on Monday.
Medical workers spray antiseptic outside of the Shanghai Stock Exchange Building on Monday. Credit: Yifan Ding/Getty Images

Monday's market sell-off in China was the worst in many years and wiped nearly half a trillion dollars off the value of the country's biggest companies. Now the Chinese government has to find ways to stem the panic before the coronavirus epidemic makes things even worse.

Beijing already has a blueprint to work with. When the Chinese stock market bubble popped in 2015, sending shares into an even deeper tailspin, the government stepped in with a rescue plan. Using a state-owned financing company and its sovereign wealth fund, China spent more than 1.2 trillion yuan ($170 billion) buying shares to shore up prices.

This time, the country may have to do the same.

Read the full story here.

7:39 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

Japanese airlines cut flights to mainland China

From CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki and Junko Ogura in Tokyo

A board displays airline departure information at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, on January 31.
A board displays airline departure information at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, on January 31. Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Two Japanese airlines -- All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines -- have announced a reduction or suspension of flights to mainland China due to the coronavirus outbreak.

All Nippon Airways will suspend flights between Narita and Beijing from February 10 to March 29, and flights from Haneda to Beijing will be halved. The suspension of flights between Narita and Wuhan will be extended until March 28.

Japan Airlines also announced that flights between three Japanese cities (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka) and four Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin) will be reduced from 196 flights weekly to 86 services due to decreased demand from February 17 through March 28.  

Read more here about airlines' reaction to the coronavirus outbreak.

7:16 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

Coronavirus is currently not a pandemic, but a "mask alone is not enough," says WHO official

From CNN's Lindsay Isaac, Zahid Mahmood and Meera Senthilingam

The coronavirus outbreak is not being considered a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) officials who are hopeful that transmission of the virus can be contained.

The agency acknowledged that it is challenging to contain the virus because of global mass movement, but trust that the control measures in place will stop transmission.

"We believe it can be done with containment measures currently in place," Sylvie Briand, director of the Infectious Hazards Management Department at the WHO, said on Tuesday.

"We are not in a pandemic," she said, explaining that the virus is currently considered to be an epidemic with multiple locations. "We will try to extinguish the transmission in each of these," she said.

To help reduce continued spread of the coronavirus, Briand highlighted that masks alone are "not enough" and urged people to also wash their hands regularly.

6:48 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

Singapore reports local transmission of coronavirus and six new cases

From journalist Isaac Yee in Hong Kong

Singapore has confirmed six additional cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, including four local human-to-human transmissions. The six new cases bring the total number of people infected with coronavirus in the city state to 24.

According to Singapore's Ministry of Health, three of the new local transmission cases can be traced to contact with recent travelers from mainland China. The fourth case involved a close contact of one of the local transmission cases.

6:21 a.m. ET, February 4, 2020

Macao will close its casinos for two weeks over the coronavirus outbreak

From CNN Business' Michelle Toh, Sandi Sidhu and Chermaine Lee

An attendant checks the temperature of a visitor at the entrance to the Galaxy Macau casino and hotel in Macau, China, on January 24.
An attendant checks the temperature of a visitor at the entrance to the Galaxy Macau casino and hotel in Macau, China, on January 24. Credit: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Macao, one of the world's top gambling hubs, is planning to close its casinos as the deadly coronavirus outbreak continues to surge.

The government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory will suspend operations in gambling and other related industries for about two weeks, Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said during a press conference Tuesday.

Macao has 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which has killed at least 427 people and infected more than 20,000, mainly in China.

Ho said that the decision was made after an expert review, as the ninth confirmed patient was discovered to have worked in the gambling industry.

Read the full story here.