Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 6, 2020.
China Daily | Reuters
This is a live blog. Check back for updates.
All times below are in Eastern time.
Total confirmed cases: More than 43,100
Total deaths: At least 1,018
8 am: Wall Street shrugs off coronavirus fears
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday as Wall Street shrugged off concerns over the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Around 7:45 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 87 points, indicating a gain of 100 points at the open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures traded higher as well. Fears over the economic fallout from the outbreak have also been offset by positive economic indicators. Jobs data released last week easily beat analyst expectations while U.S. manufacturing and services activity show signs of improvement. — Imbert, Smith
7:51 am: Robot with coronavirus advice hits Times Square
A five-foot tall 1.5 meter robot with a friendly face rolled into Times Square on Monday to help provide information about the new coronavirus to tourists. Curious passersby stopped, filled out a short questionnaire on an iPad-like touch screen attached to the robot’s chest, and even had a conversation with the machine. Promobot was created by a Philadelphia-based startup that makes autonomous service robots for businesses and is run by a group of Russians. “We did a special software to detect coronavirus symptoms,” the company’s chief business development officer, Oleg Kivorkutsev, told Reuters. — Reuters
An ambulance drives away from the Diamond Princess cruise ship as it sits docked at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus, on February 11, 2020 in Yokohama, Japan.
Carl Court | Getty Images
7:30 am: 13th case confirmed in the US among China evacuees
The first confirmed case of novel coronavirus has been found among hundreds of people who were evacuated from China to military bases around the United States, it was reported Monday. The adult and three other evacuees had been in hospital isolation after showing symptoms of the virus but on Sunday, federal health officials said they had tested negative and they were sent back to the base, where they joined more than 200 people who are under a 14-day quarantine. On Monday morning, however, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed county health officials that “further testing revealed that one of the four patients tested positive” for novel coronavirus and the person was returned to hospital isolation, UC San Diego Health said in a statement. Another evacuee from Miramar also was hospitalized for evaluation Monday afternoon, UC San Diego Health said in a statement. “Both patients are doing well and have minimal symptoms,” the statement said. This is the seventh confirmed case of novel coronavirus in California and the 13th in the United States. — Associated Press
5:30 am: China’s top virus expert reportedly says outbreak may peak this month
China’s fast-spreading coronavirus may peak in February, before cases then start to plateau and ease over the coming months, Beijing’s top economic adviser told Reuters. Zhong Nanshan, a leading epidemiologist who become known around the world for his role tackling the SARS epidemic in 2003, said the situation in China was already showing signs of improving, pointing to the number of new cases falling overnight. He added that he believes the outbreak would peak either by the middle or the end of February before the number of cases would then start to fall. Zhong had previously predicted an earlier peak for the coronavirus, Reuters reported.
4:25 am: WHO chief says outbreak ‘holds a very grave threat’ for world
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has reportedly warned that while almost all of the confirmed coronavirus cases are in China, the outbreak constitutes a “very grave threat” for the rest of the world. “With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during opening remarks of a meeting between more than 400 researchers and national authorities, Reuters reported Tuesday. His comments come less than 24 hours after he told reporters at the UN health agency’s headquarters in Geneva that cases detected outside China “could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire.”
As of Monday night, China’s National Health Commission reported that a total of 42,638 cases had been confirmed in the country, with 1,016 deaths. (See 8:17 a.m. update).
Read CNBC’s coverage from CNBC’s Asia-Pacific team overnight here: WHO chief says outbreak ‘holds a very grave threat’ for world.
Reuters, the Associated Press and CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Elliot Smith contributed to this article.
