February 20 coronavirus news

Jho Low, the fugitive businessman at the center of the 1MDB scandal, may be hiding in Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak began, according to Malaysian authorities.

But the officer added, "There was no new information on whether (Low) had fled the country following the Covid-19 outbreak."

Low, the alleged mastermind of a multibillion dollar corruption scandal that rocked Malaysia, struck a $700 million deal with the US government to end a legal case against him in October last year.

The US Department of Justice previously claimed that $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by senior officials -- including Low -- and pumped into New York condos, hotels, yachts and a jet, and used to fund movies such as Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle "The Wolf of Wall Street," and expensive gifts for Low's friends, including heiress Paris Hilton.

The scandal helped bring down former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was also hit with dozens of corruption-related charges in the case. His trial in Malaysia is ongoing, and he has pleaded not guilty.

Low has been identified by some as the alleged mastermind of the embezzlement, a charge he has strongly denied. He remains wanted by the authorities in Malaysia.

Abdul Hamid said that he has asked the Kuala Lumpur International Airport "to be alert should he return." He added that should Low have become infected with the coronavirus then his best option would be return to Malaysia.

Only 349 cases of the novel coronavirus were reported today in Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the outbreak -- the lowest number of new infections officially recorded there by China in weeks.

There are now just over 62,000 cases of the virus in Hubei.

The official data on the virus released by Chinese officials continues to trend positive, but there is some uncertainty of how cases are being diagnosed in Hubei, with the criteria for diagnosing the virus outside of the lab shifting in recent weeks.

Chinese authorities this week switched back to reporting only laboratory confirmed cases from Hubei, after last week allowing clinical diagnoses by doctors -- based on symptoms or more immediate tests -- to be counted towards the province's totals.

The total number of people who have recovered from the coronavirus also rose, with more than 10,000 released from hospital in the province.

China’s National Health Commission is expected to release figures for all of China’s provinces later today.

'Greater outbreak' avoided?: In recent days, Chinese state media has lauded the success of the country's authorities in containing the virus. For the first time on Tuesday, the number of patients discharged from hospitals exceeded new confirmed cases, state news agency Xinhua reported.

On Monday, a meeting of top government officials presided over by Premier Li Keqiang declared that a "greater outbreak" had been avoided, while state tabloid Global Times ran a series of articles announcing a "slow, steady economic reboot" after several weeks of disruption.

One of the enduring images of the current coronavirus outbreak is a space-age looking thermometer pointed at an airplane passenger.

Eleven airports in the United States are using these temperature checks as part of expanded screening for novel coronavirus, and those measures might seem reassuring. If someone doesn't have a fever, it seems like they're fine -- right?

But it turns out not a single US coronavirus case has been caught by airport temperature checks, despite more than 30,000 passengers being screened a month, according to a CNN investigation.

"Inefficient and ineffective": It isn't the first time the method has been called into question.

Earlier this month, British researchers published a study showing that temperature checks will fail to detect a coronavirus infection nearly half the time.

In Israel, temperature checks have been used in the past for outbreaks such as Ebola and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) but they were found not to work.

"It is ineffective and inefficient," said Dr. Itamar Grotto, associate director general of Israel's Ministry of Health.

Read more here.

Japan's health ministry has just confirmed that two passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship have died from novel coronavirus today.

Both of them were in their 80s, although their identity and gender is not known at this time. More details are expected to be released later.

It comes as passengers from the ship who have tested negative have begun to leave after two weeks of quarantine aboard.

A total of 624 cases of the coronavirus have been found on board the ship so far.

Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak, announced 349 new cases today, the lowest daily number of infections officially recorded by China in weeks.

Chinese state media is adopting a positive stance on the fall in new infections today, but it remains too early to predict the end of the current outbreak, Dr. Mike Ryan, World Health Organization executive director of health emergencies program, said during a news conference on Wednesday.

The news of a fall in infections in China comes amid a spikes in cases in other Asian countries, notably South Korea, Singapore and Japan.

Here's the latest:

Infections drop in virus epicenter: Confirmed cases in mainland China increased by 394, according to the country's National Health Commission. Only 45 of those new cases were outside of Hubei, according to the NHC's official figures.

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China is now 74,576, bringing the global total to 75,674.

Death toll rises: The number of people killed by the virus continues to rise, with 114 more deaths announced in mainland China today. In total, the global death toll is now 2,126.

South Korea infections jump: There are now 82 cases of the deadly coronavirus in South Korea, the government reported today, after a jump of 31 additional cases overnight. Many of the new infections went to the same church as a previous confirmed patient.

Diamond Princess passengers departing: Large numbers of passengers are due to leave their cruise ship today after two weeks in quarantine on board. Cruise goers from Canada and Israel will be among those allowed off Thursday.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has given up to 500 passengers permission to leave, a Princess Cruises spokesperson told CNN. A total of 624 cases of the coronavirus have been found on board the ship so far.

Quarantine criticism dismissed: Japan's health ministry has defended its quarantine of the Diamond Princess, saying it is repeatedly in contact with "experts from university hospitals and other institutions" on how to handle the cruise ship.

It came after a viral YouTube video made by Professor Kentaro Iwata criticized the government's handling of the situation, implying the virus was out of control onboard.

Scientists slam conspiracy theories: A group of scientists from around the world have come together to denounce rumors that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory, rather than naturally in animals.

"(We) overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife, as have so many other emerging pathogens," 27 study authors said in a statement published Wednesday in medical journal The Lancet.

China has cut a key lending rate today as the country tries to shore up the economy and thwart long-term damage from the coronavirus outbreak.

The People’s Bank of China cut its one-year loan prime rate (LPR) to 4.05% from 4.15%. It also lowered its five-year rate to 4.75% from 4.8%.

The LPR, which banks charge corporate clients for new loans, is a new benchmark that China introduced in August. Thursday’s cuts were widely expected -- the economy has been slowing down and the coronavirus has been damaging to business this year. 

Billions in losses: China’s central bank will likely keep loosening its purse strings in the coming weeks, according to analysts at Capital Economics. They pointed out that the coronavirus has started to weigh on employment. 

“But rate cuts alone will provide limited relief to the millions of small private firms that are suffering the most from the epidemic and are poorly served by the formal banking,” the analysts added.

Some analysts and state-run media have already said that the coronavirus fallout could cost the Chinese economy a few percentage points of growth. In dollar terms, that could lose the country more than $60 billion.

The steady departure of passengers from the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan is expected to continue today.

Passengers who have completed quarantine aboard the ship will be allowed to disembark, with citizens of Canada and Israel among those expected to leave. 

Diamond Princess captain Stefano Ravera announced that the process of disembarking passengers will begin at 10:30 a.m. local time.

He said passengers from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan would also be leaving.

A total of 624 cases of the novel coronavirus are linked to the ship.

Canadian passengers test positive: But not all the Canadian cruise goers will be heading home. According to Canada's Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, 47 out of the 256 Canadians onboard have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Even Canadian citizens who tested negative will be required to undergo another medical screening upon their arrival back in Canada.

If they're healthy they'll be taken to Cornwall, Ontario, for another 14 days of quarantine.

More than 2,100 people have died from the novel coronavirus across the globe, according to the latest figures released on Wednesday.

The Hubei health authority reported that 108 more people died of the coronavirus in Hubei province on Wednesday, raising the death toll in the epicenter since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak to 2,029. The Hubei report brings the total number of deaths in mainland China to at least 2,112.

The global death toll from coronavirus has risen to at least 2,120, with eight deaths reported outside of mainland China. Hong Kong and Iran have each reported two deaths from coronavirus. Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and France have each reported one death. 

The global number of confirmed coronavirus cases now exceeds 76,262, with the vast majority of cases in mainland China.

China’s National Health Commission is expected to release numbers for all of China’s provinces later.