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- Global cases: At least 95,270, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization
- Global deaths: At least 3,280, according to the latest figures from the WHO
All times below are in Beijing time.
9:55 am: Gap shuts down New York City office after an employee tests positive
Gap has closed its New York City headquarters after an employee tested positive for the new coronavirus, the apparel maker told CNBC.
The company said it was asking its employees to work from home until further notice.
“We learned today (March 5) that one of our employees in our Gap headquarters building in New York is confirmed to have Coronavirus. The individual was not in the office today and is currently recovering at home. As a result of this information, we have decided to close our New York office and are asking employees to work from home until further notice,” Gap said in a statement. — Ruggiero, Tan
9:37 am: China reports 143 new cases, 30 more deaths
China’s National Health Commission reported 143 new confirmed cases as of March 5, and 30 more deaths.
Of the new cases, 126 were from the epicenter of Hubei, and 29 of the 30 additional deaths were from that province.
That brings the country’s total to 80,552 confirmed cases, and 3,042 deaths. — Tan
9:25 am: South Korea reports 518 new cases, 7 more deaths
South Korea reported 518 new cases as of Friday morning, bringing its total to 6,284 cases.
There were seven more deaths, bringing the country’s total to 42 deaths, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most cases have been from Daegu, South Korea’s fourth-largest city and where many cases were traced back to the Shincheonji church group. Hospitals in Daegu were scrambling to accommodate the surge in patients, with 2,300 people waiting to be admitted, according to a Reuters report on Thursday. —Tan
9:00 am: South Korea slams Japan’s decision to quarantine visitors from its country
South Korea called Japan’s decision to impose a two-week quarantine for visitors from its country “unreasonable, excessive and extremely regrettable,” according to a Reuters report.
Seoul’s foreign ministry will summon the Japanese ambassador on Friday to lodge a complaint, it said, according to Reuters. — Tan
8:15 am: Crisis could wipe out $211 billion from Asia Pacific economies, S&P says
The coronavirus crisis could knock $211 billion from economies throughout Asia Pacific, S&P Global Ratings said in a report.
It will particularly affect Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand which will “enter or flirt with recession,” the report said.
S&P Global Ratings also trimmed its growth forecast for China from 5.7% for 2020, to 4.8%. — Tan
7:45 am: First school closure in Australia
Australia ordered its first school closure, after a 16-year-old student in Sydney tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to Reuters.
The Epping Boys High School in Sydney will be closed for at least a day, while almost 1,200 students and staff will be put under quarantine, the report said. Australia has 60 cases so far, and two deaths. — Tan
All times below are in Eastern time.
5:56 pm: Santa Clara County confirms 7 community transmission cases
Santa Clara County public health officials have confirmed six new cases there, bringing the total number of infections in the northern California county to 20. Seven of the 20 cases have “no known travel or direct contact with other known cases,” James Williams, director of emergency management, told reporters at a press conference.
Santa Clara County Public Health Department Director Dr. Sara Cody said the county is recommending the cancellation of mass gatherings and other big events to help slow the spread of the outbreak. There were 53 cases in California as of Wednesday, according to the state health department, with dozens of new cases announced by public health officials Thursday.
“Our cases to date indicate to us that the risk of exposure to the virus in our community is increasing,” she said, adding that the number of cases are expected to rise.
Employers are being asked to suspend all non-essential employee travel, keep employees from working more than arms-length from each other, allow more flexible sick leave policies and increase tele-commuting. —Kopecki
4:46 pm: San Francisco health officials say COVID-19 is ‘spreading in the community’
San Francisco health officials announced the first two cases of COVID-19 in the city, and said they were unable to determine the source of the infections.
The first patient is a man in his 90s who has underlying health conditions and is in “serious condition,” San Francisco public health director Dr. Grant Colfax told reporters Thursday. The second person is a woman in her 40s who is in “fair” condition.
“We do not know at this point how they were exposed to the virus, which suggests it is spreading in the community,” he said in a statement. “We expected that to happen and are further investigating the circumstances of these patients’ exposure.” —Feuer
4:27 pm: Almost 300 million kids missing school because of the coronavirus, UNESCO says
The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the education of nearly 300 million students across the world and could threaten their future educational rights, according a UNESCO report released Wednesday.
The U.N. organization that monitors global education said the number of children missing school globally is unprecedented.
“While temporary school closures as a result of health and other crises are not new unfortunately, the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. —Bursztynsky
Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: Starbucks’ China sales drop, US cases jump to 197
— CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero, Dawn Kopecki, William Feuer and Jessica Bursztynsky contributed to this report.
