March 12 coronavirus news

European shares have fallen sharply at the open, as investors react to new travel restrictions from the US.

President Trump announced late Wednesday night local time that the US was suspending travel from 26 European countries for the next 30 days, effective Friday midnight.

In the opening minutes of trade, Europe's main markets were all down. The FTSE 100 was down more than 2%, the German Dax was 5% lower and the French CAC 40 fell 3%.

Airline stocks were among the big fallers. IAG, owner of British Airways and Iberia, was down 7%, Lufthansa was down 9% and Ryanair was down nearly 10%.

Shockwaves were felt in Asia too. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped into a bear market, defined as a drop of more than 20% from the most recent high. The benchmark index closed down 4.4%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) was last down 3.6%, while South Korea's Kospi (KOSPI) closed down 3.9%. Both indexes are flirting with bear market territory.

These countries are affected: The 26 countries included in the ban are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who turns 75 this month, will be tested for the coronavirus, according to a Facebook post by presidential aide Bong Go.

The decision was taken after some cabinet members were exposed to confirmed cases of the virus and are now under self-quarantine, according to the post.

The Philippines confirmed 15 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the national total to 35.

Among 208 employees of a call center in Seoul, who all work on the same floor, 80 have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the South Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are also confirmed cases from other floors in the same building.

The call center was identified as a new cluster earlier this week, with a spike in cases in Seoul after a few days of diminishing daily cases.

Some 553 other employees on different floors of the building are now under self-quarantine and are being tested, as health officials continue their investigation into the cluster transmission at the call center.

The building has been closed and disinfected, and the area where it's located has been designated an "infectious disease special zone."

Health authorities are now trying to figure out whether the confirmed cases on different floors are linked or separate cases, according to Kwon Joon-wook, vice-director of the KCDC.

The coronavirus has infected more than 124,500 people globally, according to the World Health Organization.

Here's the breakdown:

China remains the most heavily impacted country, with more than 80,000 cases, according to the WHO. Italy has the second highest number of cases, topping 12,000, and Iran follows, with around 9,000 cases.

Beijing has announced it will enforce a 14-day quarantine on all international travelers arriving in the Chinese capital, as the number of coronavirus cases outside Asia continues to rise.

On Tuesday, Beijing reported six new confirmed cases -- all imported, including five from Italy and one from the United States.

The move is one of several travel restrictions being introduced across the region, as governments step up efforts to prevent a surge in cross-border infections.

The new ruling requires all passengers arriving in Beijing from overseas to self-quarantine, either at home or in a designated facility, for 14 days.

International business travelers will be required to stay at a select number of designated hotels in Beijing where they will be tested for the virus. They will not be permitted to leave until their test results have been returned.

It used to be the other way around: At the beginning of the pandemic, it was China and other Asian countries dealing with an exponential rise in cases and the ensuing travel restrictions enacted by countries and airlines around the world.

Many of those restrictions are still in place -- but the tone of panic versus containment has completely flipped. China only reported 15 new cases yesterday -- six imported from overseas -- suggesting the virus was mostly contained within the country.

By comparison, Italy is now under complete lockdown, 43 US states have confirmed cases, and every country in the European Union has reported infections, with numbers continuing to spike by hundreds every day.

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Beijing is enforcing a 14-day quarantine on international travelers, as coronavirus cases surge

The Trump administration’s new restrictions banning travel from 26 European countries could cost the US travel industry billions of dollars, according to the US Travel Association.

The 30-day suspension, which begins Friday at midnight, marks a sharp escalation of measures taken to insulate Americans from the coronavirus outbreak.

The travel restriction extends to countries in the Schengen zone, which includes Italy, Germany, France, Spain and 22 other nations. The United Kingdom is not included.

Why this will hit hard: Thousands of Europeans visit America every month -- and during that time, they spend a lot of money.

About 850,000 international visitors flying from Europe -- excluding the United Kingdom -- entered the United States in March 2019, accounting for about 29% of total overseas arrivals to the country, according to US Travel Association economists. Those visitors spent some $3.4 billion in the United States.

US citizens and permanent residents who are in Europe will still be allowed back into the United States during the 30-day period, though will be screened upon entry and face quarantine or restrictions on their movement.

Even so, it remains unclear whether airlines will still fly the routes if passenger demand from European nationals dries up because of the ban.

A 66-year-old Greek man is the first coronavirus patient to die in the country, the Greek Health Ministry said in a statement today. 

The Ministry said the man died around 3:15 a.m. local time today at a hospital in Patras.

Greece has confirmed a total of 99 coronavirus cases.  

Vice President Mike Pence will be answering questions about the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus on CNN’s New Day, which starts at 7:30 a.m. ET.

The outbreak in the US has reached 43 states and the District of Columbia. President Donald Trump suspended travel from 26 European countries and announced additional measures late Wednesday night to help steady a rattled nation and diving markets.

You can watch the show on air, on CNN and CNN.com and all digital platforms, and streaming devices on CNNgo.

Viking Cruises announced today that it is temporarily suspending cruise operations until May, in response to the coronavirus situation. 

The statement also said guests who already booked cruises during that period would be offered a voucher for a future cruise worth 125% the original cruise price, or a total refund for the amount paid.