This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.
All times below are in Beijing time.
9:20 am: Shunned cruise ship finally docks in Cambodia
A cruise ship which was turned away by five countries on fears that someone aboard might be infected, was finally accepted by Cambodia. It landed in the country on Thursday, according to Reuters citing ship tracking data.
The MS Westerdam was rejected by Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Guam, and has spent around two weeks at sea.
The case of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where thousands have been quarantined, had stoked fears. Diamond Princess is currently quarantined off the coast of Japan, and more than 170 people onboard have been found to be infected as of Feb. 12.
8:55 am: 14th coronavirus case in US confirmed
The CDC confirmed a new case in California, taking the total number of cases in the U.S. to 14. The patient is among a group under quarantine after they returned to the U.S. on a chartered flight from Hubei.
7:55 am: Hubei province reports 14,840 new cases
China’s Hubei province reported an additional 242 deaths and 14,840 new cases as of Feb. 12 — a sharp increase from the previous day. The province said it is starting to include “clinically diagnosed” cases in its figures and that 13,332 of the new cases fall under that classification.
The government said that a total of 1,310 people have died in the province and that 48,206 people have been infected in the region.
7:41 am: Singapore cases hit 50, one of the highest outside China
Singapore’s health ministry said as of Feb. 12, noon, the total number of confirmed infection cases hit 50, with three additional ones reported. Next to China and Japan, which is treating more than a hundred people who contracted the disease onboard a cruise ship, the city-state has one of the highest number of reported cases of the virus.
The health ministry said contact tracing for the confirmed cases is ongoing and that test results for 125 suspected cases are pending. Of the confirmed cases, more than half are a result of local transmissions where the affected individuals did not have any travel history or links to China. Singapore in recent days saw a surge in panic buying of groceries and other essential household items. —Roy Choudhury
All times below are in Eastern time.
2:12 pm: Mobile World Congress canceled after major tech companies pull out
Organizers of Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest trade show for the mobile phone industry, have canceled the conference slated to start in Barcelona in less than two weeks. Facebook and other major companies have pulled out of MWC in recent days amid growing fears over the outbreak. “With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event,” GSMA said in a statement. — Browne
12:29 pm: IMF chief says coronavirus ‘clearly more impactful’ on global growth than SARS
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told CNBC’s Sara Eisen on Wednesday the new coronavirus that started in China is “clearly more impactful” on the world economy than the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. “China was different [then], the world was different,” said Georgieva, in an interview with Ivanka Trump from a State Department event on economic empowerment for women. During the SARS outbreak, China was only 8% of the global economy, Georgieva pointed out. “Today, China manufactures 28%, with possible impact through value chains on other countries.” — Belvedere
11:50 am: CDC prepares for community outbreaks in US
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing for the coronavirus, named COVID-19, to “take a foothold in the U.S.,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters. “At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or in other countries,” said Messonnier. “This will trigger a change in our response strategy.” — Lovelace
Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: Mobile World Congress canceled, CDC prepares for outbreak in US.
— CNBC’s Saheli Roy Choudhury, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and William Feuer contributed to this report.
