Workers preparing the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center on February 4, 2020 in Wuhan, China. It is understood that the first and second floors of Wuhan International Convention and Exhibition Center have been converted into temporary hospitals with a total of 1,000 beds, which are specially used to treat patients with mild new-type coronavirus.
Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
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All times below are in Beijing time.
10:35 am: One American among ten passengers on Princess Cruises who tested positive
An American is among ten passengers who tested positive for coronavirus, Princess Cruises confirmed to CNBC.
The other infected passengers are from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, according to Princess Cruises.
“We were notified that amongst the samples that have completed testing, 10 people have tested positive for Coronavirus,” Princess Cruises said in an earlier statement after the first phase of health screening for guests and crew onboard the Diamond Princess.
There are more than 3,700 people onboard, and about half of the 2,666 guests are from Japan, the cruise liner said.
10:18 am: Passenger flights, rail trips in China plummet
Passenger flights in China, excluding foreign flyovers, fell 12.1% year-on-year from the first day of the Lunar New Year travel period (Jan. 10) to Feb. 4, according to state news agency Xinhua, citing China’s aviation authority. For Feb. 4 alone, the drop was 63.8%, the report said.
China’s railway operator said in an online post Tuesday night that 1.3 million passenger rail trips were expected for that day, a year-on-year decline of 88.5%. That followed a drop of 86.1% to 1.6 million trips on Monday.
The Lunar New Year is one of the busiest times for Chinese to travel. This year, authorities encouraged people to stay home in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.
10:05 am: China markets jump
Mainland Chinese stocks jumped for a second day running after plunging more than 7% on Monday in their return to trade. The Shenzhen component and the Shenzhen composite rose more than 2%, while the climbed about 1%.
9:45 am: Global economy is more vulnerable now than during SARS
8:09 am: United Airlines to suspend Hong Kong flights
United Airlines on Tuesday said it will suspend its Hong Kong service, days after it cut its mainland China flights as coronavirus spreads. The suspension starts on Feb. 8 and will last until Feb. 20 but more changes are possible.
8:02 am: China reports total deaths of 490, and 24,324 cases
China National Health Commission said that as of Tuesday night, a total of 24,324 cases have been confirmed and 490 people have died in the country.
There were 65 additional deaths and all of them came from Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
7:23 am: Hubei reports 65 additional deaths
Hubei province reports an additional 65 deaths and 3,156 new cases related to the mysterious coronavirus as of the end of Tuesday.
The Hubei Provincial Health Committee on Wednesday reported that 479 people have died and a total of 16,678 cases have been confirmed so far. To date, the province — the epicenter of the pneumonia-like virus — has accounted for most of the deaths from the new coronavirus.
All times below are in Eastern time.
5:24 pm: Outbreak costing Disney theme parks $175 million
Disney said it is expecting to take a $175 million hit from the recent coronavirus outbreak if its Hong Kong and Shanghai Disney parks remain closed for two months. Christine McCarthy, chief financial officer at Disney, said the company expects an impact of $135 million on second-quarter operating income from the Shanghai park and about $40 million from the closure of the Hong Kong park.
4:48 pm: Nike expects ‘material impact’ on operations in China
Nike has closed half of its stores in China, saying the outbreak will have a “material impact” on its operations there. “This situation was not contemplated at the time we provided Q3 guidance during our Q2 fiscal year 2020 earnings call,” the company said in a statement. “Dynamics continue to evolve and accordingly we will provide an update on the operational and financial impacts on our Q3 earnings call.”
Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: Nike expects ‘material impact,’ virus costs Disney $175 million
— CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and William Feuer contributed to this report.
