Virus deaths top 560 as China opens more hospitals

BEIJING — China on Thursday finished building a second new hospital to isolate and treat patients of a virus that has killed more than 560 people and continues to spread, disrupting travel and people’s lives and fueling economic fears.

A first group of patients was expected to start testing a new antiviral drug, as China also moved people with milder symptoms into makeshift hospitals at sports centers, exhibition halls and other public spaces.

The health care system in the central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first detected in December, has been overwhelmed with the thousands of ill patients. A new, 1,500-bed hospital specially built for virus patients opened days after a 1,000-bed hospital with prefabricated wards and isolation rooms began taking patients.

Other treatment centers had tight rows of simple cots lining cavernous rooms. And Wuhan had another 132 quarantine sites with more than 12,500 beds, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese health authorities reported 563 deaths and another sharp jump in the number of confirmed cases to 28,018. Outside mainland China, at least 260 cases have been confirmed, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Hospital workers in Hong Kong demanding a shutdown of the border with the mainland were on strike for a fourth day. Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam announced a 14-day quarantine of all travelers entering Hong Kong from the mainland starting Saturday, but the government has refused to seal the border entirely.

A Hong Kong medical union warned that its 20,000 members could resign en masse if the city’s Hospital Authority refuses to speak with them over their demands. It estimated 7,000 were on strike and said those who were working were worried about their safety.

2 cruise ships quarantined

The outbreak of the new type of coronavirus has also ensnared two cruise ships, with the passengers and crew now quarantined on the docked vessels in Hong Kong and Japan.

Ten passengers confirmed to have the virus were escorted off the Diamond Princess at a port near Tokyo, after 10 others were taken off the previous day. The group taken to hospitals Thursday are mostly passengers in their 60s and 70s, four of them Japanese, two Americans, two Canadians, one New Zealander and one Taiwanese. Tests are still pending on others on board who had symptoms or had contact with infected people.

More than 3,600 passengers and crew on the Hong Kong ship, the World Dream, were being screened after eight passengers from a voyage that began Jan. 19 were diagnosed with the virus. Hong Kong health authorities said more than 5,000 passengers traveled on that cruise and two others before the ship was quarantined Monday.

Patients to begin taking antiviral drug

Xinhua said clinical trials for the antiviral drug Remdesivir have been approved and the first group of patients are expected to start taking the drug on Thursday. Word of the trials had boosted the stock price of the drug’s maker, American biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc.

Antivirals and other drugs can reduce the severity of the virus, but “so far, no antivirals have been proven effective,” said Thanarak Plipat, a doctor and deputy director-general of Thailand’s Disease Control Department of the Health Ministry. He said there were a lot of unknowns, “but we have a lot of hope, as well.”

China’s National Health Commission said the number of infected patients who were “discharged and cured” stood at 1,153 as of Thursday. Details weren’t given, but milder cases have been seen in younger, healthier people. The new virus is in the coronavirus family that includes MERS and SARS, and it causes fever, cough and shortness of breath, and in severe cases, pneumonia.

China has strongly defended its epidemic control measures, including locking down several cities in central Hubei province, where the outbreak has been concentrated. More than 50 million people are under virtual quarantine in Hubei, but outlying cities, towns and villages have enacted varying restrictions and other countries have severely restricted travel to and from China.

Newborn tests positive

China’s official media say the new virus has been confirmed in a baby just 36 hours after its birth.

The baby born Sunday in Wuhan is China’s youngest case of the illness. Only a handful of children have come down with the new coronavirus, which has been most severe in older people.

Zeng Lingkong, director of neonatal diseases at Wuhan Children’s Hospital, said the mother had tested positive before birth and the baby was separated from her immediately after its birth.

Zeng said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV that other mothers gave birth to babies who tested negative, so it’s still unclear if the virus can be transmitted in the womb.

Zeng said the possibility “needs further study.”

Other nations

China: 563 deaths and 28,018 confirmed cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has had 22 cases, including one death. Macao has had 10 cases. Most of the deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December. The United States has 12 confirmed cases. Japan has 45 and Singapore has 30. The only death outside of China is 1 in the Philippines.

Airlines extend flight suspensions

Airlines are extending their suspension of flights to mainland China, while more retailers are putting an estimate on the economic damage they expect to incur from the virus outbreak in China.

Air France and partner KLM are prolonging to at least March 16 their suspension of flights to mainland China. Air France normally has 26 flights per week to Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan. Its current suspension was meant to last until Sunday. After mid-March, Air France and KLM plan to gradually resume services, together offering one daily flight to both Shanghai and Beijing, either on Air France from Paris or KLM from Amsterdam. Spain’s national airline, Iberia, has extended to the end of April the suspension of its thrice-weekly return flights to Shanghai.

The luxury brand Tapestry warned that the virus outbreak in China is “significantly impacting” its business. The owner of Coach and Kate Spade said the majority of its stores in China are now closed. Reporting earnings on Thursday, the New York retailer said it expects sales in the second half of the year could be clipped by $200-$250 million because of the outbreak.

Huawei Technologies, the smartphone maker, said it will attend the industry’s biggest annual event, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, as planned this month. The company is preparing for the first global release of a new handset since U.S. sanctions imposed last year on security grounds cut off access to Google apps and other American technology. Huawei, which denies being a security risk, has yet to say whether that will happen in Barcelona. Its smaller Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., said earlier it will attend the Barcelona event but canceled a press event for the release of new devices.

Nike, the world’s largest sports apparel brand, said the closure of some stores in China, its biggest growth market, will have a short-term “material impact” on operations. Nike said it has closed about half its stores in China and retail traffic in those that still are open is lower than expected. China accounted for 17% of Nike’s 2019 revenue.

Capri Holdings, the parent of Versace, Jimmy Choo and other designer brands said it expects virus-related disruption to its business to reduce this quarter’s projected revenue by $100 million. The company has closed 150 of its 225 stores in China. “This estimate could materially change if the severity of the situation worsens,” said a company statement.