Coronavirus live updates: Trump puts Mike Pence in charge of US response, says risk to Americans 'very low' - MW
(US president Donald Trump flanked by vice-president Mike Pence at the White House briefing. Follow for coronavirus live news and latest updates Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
334 new cases in South Korea
South Korea’s centre for disease control has reported a further 334 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total to 1,595 in the worst outbreaks outside of mainland China.
As flagged earlier this week, South Korea and the US have also decided to indefinitely postpone joint military drills.
From Reuters:
Growing concerns inside the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank about the spread of the new coronavirus have prompted the institutions to consider scaling back their Spring Meetings in April or hold them by teleconference, people familiar with the discussions said on Wednesday.
The institutions’ 17-19 April Spring Meetings are scheduled to bring some 10,000 government officials, journalists, business people and civil society representatives from across the globe to a tightly packed, two-block area of downtown Washington, DC, that houses their headquarters.
The virus’ spread has raised concerns inside the Fund and the World Bank that the close interactions among people from their 189 member countries at the Spring Meetings could inadvertently contribute to the problem.
Officials from both institutions and member governments said that talk of canceling the meetings outright is premature, but they are considering several options to modify them. No decisions have been made, they said, adding that much depends on efforts to contain the virus in the coming days and weeks.
Options include scaling back the number of meetings, canceling external events and limiting the size of the country delegations that would travel to Washington. Another alternative is to hold “virtual” meetings by teleconference, and the institutions could still proceed with full-fledged meetings.
OK, the marathon press conference from President Trump ended. There are some mixed messages. Here, a quick summary of what we have said, and you can read our full report from Amanda Holpuch here.
- Vice President Mike Pence will lead and coordinate the US US response to coronavirus.
- Trump said the risk to Americans is very low, but plans are in place to spread the virus, which he doesn't think is inevitable.
- Anne Schuchat, deputy director of the US CDC, said authorities should dust off their pandemic prevention plans. Prohibiting the trajectory of what we are considering for weeks and months to come is very uncertain.
- The health and human services minister, Alex Azar, says we can expect to see more cases in the United States, and while the containment is active, the level of risk may change. switch fast.
- Fifteen cases of coronavirus infection in the US, as well as three cases of repatriation from Wuhan from Americans and 42 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
- Trump said of 15, eight had returned home, five had fully recovered, one was at the hospital and one was about to go home.
- Trump defended the low test rate in the US (less than 500 so far).
- Trump said the disease is flu-like, except that the deaths are far less common and that people only need to practice common hygiene measures like washing their hands. We can basically get a flu shot quickly.
- The National Institutes of Health says a vaccine is at least 12-18 months away, so it won't help the outbreak, but it could help bring about seasonal profits. The answer right now is to suppress.
- Trump said it was not the right time to limit travel to other affected countries like Italy and South Korea.
Markets drop on Trump comments
Stocks markets in Asia Pacific have slumped again – not helped by Donald Trump’s mixed messages on the virus just now.
The ASX200 in Sydney dropped 0.5% when Trump was speaking. It had started the day flat after three straight days of losses.
The S&P500 E-mini futures also dropped 0.3% when the president spoke.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei is down 1.1% and in Seoul the Kospi is up 0.17%.
.@realDonaldTrump addresses nation on coronavirus: "The risk to the American people remains very low." #CoronavirusOutbreak #coronavirususa
Trump concludes his portion of the #CoronavirusOutbreak press conference:
- Dow futures down 50 points
- Nasdaq down 4.5 points
- S&P futures down 8 points #coronavirususa
He said it was different because Ebola was worse and more deadly, and it was like the flu.
Obama just appointed an Ebola Czar with zero experience in the medical area and zero experience in infectious disease control. A TOTAL JOKE!
I don't want to use horses, I have very talented people and I want to use them.
Trump collided somewhat, accusing the federal reserves, Boeing, General Motors and Obama, of having lowered prices on the American market.
Q: Are you telling Americans, in addition to those who are sick, not to change any of their behavior?
A: No, you should wash your hands, you don't have to grab all the rails, he says. Treat it like the flu. Later, he shared an anecdote about a man who came to see him to say hello and hugged Trump, then said he was gravely ill, so Trump went out himself.
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Q: For the past few minutes, you have been arguing over what some of the health officials standing behind you have said. Do you trust them?
A: I have a dispute with them. I couldn't think it was an inevitable thing.
There is an opportunity that could get worse, an opportunity that could get significantly worse, but I don't think it is inevitable.
There is no reason to panic, he said, returning to the death of the flu.
It's a little different ... but we control it very well and we did really well.
When asked if the financial markets were overreacting, Trump demonstrated the well-documented impact of the coronavirus on markets around the world:
I think the financial market is boring when they watch the Democratic candidates standing on this stage to be wrong ... I think it has a huge impact.
The Australian stock market isn't responding particularly well to this. I've marked the point where Trump started talking. #COVIDー19
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