BEIJING:
The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China passed 490 on Wednesday, as two U.S. airlines suspended flights to Hong Kong following the first fatality there and 10 cases were confirmed on a quarantined Japanese cruise ship.
China's National Health Commission said another 65 deaths had been recorded on Tuesday, bringing the toll on the mainland to 490, mostly in and around the locked-down central city of Wuhan where the virus emerged late last year.
There have been two deaths outside mainland China. A 39-year-old man in Hong Kong with an underlying illness who had visited Wuhan city, the epicentre of the virus, died on Tuesday. A man died in the Philippines last week after visiting Wuhan, the first virus-related overseas fatality.
Across mainland China, there were 3,887 new confirmed infections, bringing the total accumulated number to 24,324.
Ten people on a cruise liner under quarantine at the Japanese port of Yokohama tested positive for coronavirus, Japan's health minister said, a figure that could rise as medical screening of thousands of patients and crew continued.
The 10 confirmed cases were among 31 results from 273 people tested so far. There are around 3,700 passengers and crew aboard the Carnival Corp ship.
Another 176 cases have been reported in 24 other countries and regions, according to the World Health Organisation.
Economic impact spreads
As the economic impacts of the virus spread, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the epidemic would delay a surge in U.S. exports to China expected from the Phase 1 trade deal set to take effect later this month, the first time a Trump administration official has said the outbreak would hamper the deal.
"It is true the trade deal, the Phase 1 trade deal, the export boom from that trade deal will take longer because of the Chinese virus," Kudlow said, adding he did not believe the virus would have a catastrophic effect on business supply chains.
Global markets stabilised on Tuesday after days of selling triggered by fears about China's econmic growth, with many factories closed, cities cut off and travel in and out of China severely restricted.
The financial and health impacts of the epidemic were increasingly being felt in Hong Kong, with American Airlines Group and United Airlines suspending flights to and from the Asian financial hub after this week.
Hong Kong has confirmed about 17 cases. It was badly hit by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a coronavirus that emerged from China in 2002, killed almost 800 people worldwide and cost the global economy an estimated $33 billion.
Neighbouring Macau, also a special administrative region of China lying across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, ordered its casinos to suspend operations on Tuesday, effectively closing off the lifeblood of its economy in a drastic measure to con ..
Insurance Industry
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus will likely weigh on Chinese insurers' earnings and revenues in 2020, says S&P Global Ratings.
While the claim expenses associated with the outbreak remain uncertain, medical costs for future treatments may burden insurers. As of 3 February 2020, the Ministry of Finance and local governments have planned to allocate total funding of CNY47bn ($6.7bn) to assume responsibility of medical-related costs.
S&P anticipates that eventual mortality claims will be moderate given the seemingly low fatality rate of the coronavirus infection.
The outbreak could increase insurance awareness in China, and may help the longer-term development of the country's life insurance sector. As the world's second-largest life insurance market, China's growth potential remains strong. S&P anticipates an accelerated revolution of traditional insurance distribution fueled by technology advancements as insurers seek to distribute policies remotely.
The coronavirus outbreak will strain China's property and casualty (P&C) sector as insurance companies see thinning profitability.
A lower economic outlook and increasing claims may pinch the already shallow pockets of Chinese P&C insurers. A highly competitive market and ongoing motor pricing reforms have pulled down profitability. And a slowing economy may lead to higher delinquencies for credit guarantee insurance contracts.
In S&P's view, the outbreak may limit auto sales volume in early 2020, affecting the already dim growth prospects for motor insurance. To cope, the sector had refocused its attention toward non-motor lines. At end-2019, non-motor insurance premiums accounted for 37.1% of the sector (up from 33.4% in 2018).