CORONAVIRUS | This follows sharp rises in infections in South Korea, Italy and Iran over the weekend.
| Fears grew today that the coronavirus outbreak in China will grow into a pandemic with disruptive and deadly consequences for countries around the world, after sharp rises in infections in South Korea, Italy and Iran.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said he would talk with his European counterparts soon to discuss how best to cope with a possible epidemic in Europe, after a third person died from the flu-like virus in Italy and the number of cases there jumped to more than 150 from just three before Friday. Almost a dozen towns in Lombardy and Veneto with a combined population of some 50,000 have effectively been placed under quarantine as authorities struggled to find out how the outbreak started.
European Union Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Brussels had confidence in the measures Italian authorities were taking and there was “no need to panic”. “The government will be all-out to minimise economic impact and make sure the recovery momentum would not be interrupted as we prepare for the worst-case scenario,” South Korean Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said today.
While more factories, businesses and construction sites are slowly reopening after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, the limited data available so far suggests manufacturing is still running at levels far below those in the same period last year.
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