David Abel says in video update on Facebook that he had been dining with fellow Briton who tested positive for coronavirus on a cruise ship docked in Japan. He said Alan Steele was on honeymoon and would be separated from his wife as he was taken off the ship for treatment. Abel has been sharing videos on social media of life under quarantine on the Diamond Princess
Continue reading...Category Archives: Asia Pacific
South Korean mass wedding defies virus fears – in pictures
Thousands of couples – many in face masks – wed in a mass Unification Church ceremony on Friday despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: cruise ship cases rise to 61 as China mourns whistleblower doctor – latest news
Li Wenliang’s death in Wuhan comes as Hong Kong prepares to impose quarantine on mainland travellers. Follow live updates
- Doctor who blew whistle over coronavirus has died, hospital says
- Profile of whistleblower doctor
- First British national to contract coronavirus had been in Singapore
- Share your stories
Toyota has extended the closure of its 12 factories in China by a week.
Officials at the Beijing press conference said they had confidence in the economic system and that the impact on the economy from the outbreak would be “temporary. It will be limited and will not affect the fundamentals, and the economy is sound and stable”.
They added:
The outbreak has taken place during the spring festival and the impact on services is notable. The holiday has been extended and the construction sector and other sectors will be affected. There will be an impact on economic performance in Q1 but the economy will return to productivity when the epidemic is over. Look at 2003 Sars outbreak. There was disrupted growth in Q2 but in Q3 it rebounded. When the epidemic is controlled, the economy will rebound and pent-up investment and consumption released. The Chinese econony will have a quick recovery. it is promising and resilient. The funadmentals will not change. There is ample room for macro regulation – China is one of the few major economies that have normal monetary policy so we have sufficient tools to repsond.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: Briton tells of life on quarantined cruise ship – video
David Abel, a British passenger, has been sharing videos on social media of life in quarantine on a cruise ship off Japan.
Japan on Thursday confirmed another 10 infections among 3,700 passengers and crew stuck onboard the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship moored off the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo. Ten people tested positive for the illness on Wednesday
Coronavirus live updates: China deaths pass 560 as 10 more cruise passengers test positive – latest news
Wuhan authorities warn of lack of ‘equipment and materials’ and consider converting hotels and schools into treatment centres. Follow live news and updates
- Deaths reach 563, with fresh cases on stricken cruise ship off Japan
- Hong Kong faces ‘double devastation’ as coronavirus and civil unrest take toll
- Mother-baby transmission unproven despite case of newborn
- Tokyo Olympics chief says coronavirus could disrupt Games
Here’s a summary of what we know so far today about the spread of the coronavirus.
Here’s the latest tracker image from Johns Hopkins University on the spread of the coronavirus. If you want to check in on the tracker, you can find it here.
Continue reading...Coronavirus deaths reach 563, with fresh cases on stricken cruise ship off Japan
WHO experts prepare to meet in Geneva amid further significant rises in confirmed cases in China
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China has reached 563, as health experts prepared to meet in Geneva next week in an attempt to develop a vaccine and Japan reported 10 more infections among passengers aboard a luxury cruise liner quarantined outside Yokohama.
Chinese authorities said on Thursday the death toll had risen by 73 in the previous 24 hours – the third record daily rise in a row – with 70 of the deaths recorded in Hubei province, the centre of the outbreak.
Continue reading...Hong Kong faces ‘double devastation’ as coronavirus and civil unrest take toll
Reports of panic buying emerge as airlines drop city as a destination and lucrative tourism from China falls away
Hong Kong’s economy risks being plunged deeper into recession as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc in the crisis-hit territory, with consumers panic buying staple goods and airlines stopping flights.
Hours after the city’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific placed 27,000 staff on three weeks unpaid leave, Virgin Australia said on Thursday that it would no longer fly to Hong Kong because it was not “commercially viable”.
Continue reading...Will coronavirus make markets take a ‘black swan’ dive?
Impact of Chinese outbreak has already rippled out well beyond world’s No 2 economy
The impact of coronavirus on the global economy is growing and spreading daily. What started as a medical emergency in the Chinese city of Wuhan has led to planes being grounded, cruise ships being quarantined, theme parks being shut and car plants being mothballed.
TV footage of deserted streets and empty shops tell their own story: China’s economy, which was already slowing, is going to suffer a major hit as the authorities seek to stop the virus from spreading.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: all arrivals to Hong Kong from mainland China face ‘compulsory quarantine’ – latest news
Thousands on board Diamond Princess cruise ship in offshore quarantine in Japan after 10 people test positive, as China death toll passes 490
- Thousands trapped on cruise ship in Japan after 10 test positive
- Britons returning from China advised to stay at home if they fall ill
- What is self-isolation?
- Share your experiences
A hotel worker in the northern Italian city of Verona has tested negative for coronavirus.
The woman, who was isolated after coming down with a fever, is a member of staff at the same hotel where a Chinese couple being treated for the virus in Rome stayed for one night.
Here’s a report from Josh Taylor, a Guardian reporter based in Melbourne, that the Australian government is considering sending its citizens evacuated from Wuhan to isolated mining camps if Christmas Island reaches capacity for people being quarantined.
The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, admitted there is the possibility that Christmas Island could reach capacity if the outbreak continues to spread. He said one option would be for people to share rooms, or potentially even open up other locations away from the rest of the Australian population.
Related: Coronavirus: 14th Australian case confirmed as Dutton says people could be sent to mining camps
Continue reading...Cruise ships quarantined over coronavirus – in pictures
Thousands of passengers and crew on two cruise ships in Asian waters have been placed in quarantine after cases of coronavirus were confirmed onboard. About 3,700 people are facing at least two weeks locked away on the Diamond Princess cruise liner anchored off Japan, while 1,800 passengers and crew are being kept onboard the World Dream, docked in Hong Kong
Continue reading...Diary of a coronavirus evacuee: ‘Everyone’s trying to avoid contact with each other’ | Daniel Ou Yang
Australian Daniel Ou Yang, 21, was on the Air New Zealand flight out of virus-struck Wuhan to Auckland. Here he writes about the stress of his evacuation
At 2.52pm, we arrived at Wuhan Tianjin airport.
The drive here was smooth, all the big wide roads with no cars on them. We made it through the checkpoints and arrived within an hour.
Continue reading...New Zealand floods: first ever red weather warning issued as thousands evacuated
South Island’s southernmost region cut off amid fears paper mill could release toxic ammonia if chemicals mix with floodwaters
Part of New Zealand’s South Island has become cut off after days of torrential rains washed away roads, forced the evacuation of 2,000 people and saw the country’s MetService issue its first ever red weather warning.
The flooding across the flat agricultural plains of Southland, in the island’s southernmost end, came a day after hikers and tourists were evacuated from another part of the region, Fiordland, where more than a metre of rain had fallen in less than three days.
Continue reading...The great kava boom: how Fiji’s beloved psychoactive brew is going global
From trendy bars in New York, to anti-anxiety pills sold in Australia and New Zealand, the powdered root is taking off
On a Friday night in Suva, the capital of Fiji, the Kava Bure is filling up. Groups of people have started arriving to meet friends for a post-work basin or three of kava, a drink made from the root of the piper methysticum tree.
The bar, which is out in the open air with wooden tables surrounded by bamboo fencing, sells $5 or $10 bags of powdered kava. These are mixed in a plastic basin by an elderly Fijian man, who asks patrons if they would like the mix “sosoko” – strong – or “just right”, before giving them the basin and coconut shell bowls for drinking.
Continue reading...Coronavirus crisis: Raab urges Britons to leave China
UK citizens should leave ‘if they can’ to reduce risk of exposure to virus, says foreign secretary
- Stay or go? Britons in China weigh up coronavirus risks
- Is UK overreacting by telling citizens to leave China?
All 30,000 British nationals in China have been urged to leave the country “if they can” because of the coronavirus outbreak, in a surprise move that prompted criticism that the UK government has left its citizens to fend for themselves.
In a further sign of mounting international concern about the spread of the coronavirus, the Foreign Office also recommended a ban on Britons travelling to China.
Continue reading...The treaty of Waitangi was forged to exclude Māori women – we must right that wrong | Emma Espiner
The signing of the treaty marks the point at which Māori women began to be written out of history
This week, to mark Waitangi Day, the Guardian is publishing five pieces of commentary from Māori writers.
This year I’m not interested in the symbolism of what Jacinda Ardern does or doesn’t do or say at Waitangi. I’m looking to the Mana Wāhine Kaupapa inquiry. Nearly 30 years since it was instigated, the inquiry investigates the role of the Crown in contributing to the disadvantage that has inequitably burdened wāhine Māori since the Treaty was signed. At the end of this month a judicial conference will be held to consider the claims.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: first Hong Kong death reported as China cases pass 20,000 – live updates
Thirty-nine-year-old man in Hong Kong believed to have had underlying condition. Death is only second outside mainland China
- China’s leadership admits ‘shortcomings’ in coronavirus response
- Coronavirus: British evacuee falls ill during flight from China
- How to protect yourself
- Hundreds of Canadians await evacuation flight from Wuhan
From gassy passengers to viral anthems: how Beijing is seeking to lighten the mood amid the coronavirus crisis. This includes state media striking an upbeat or humorous tone, in line with President Xi Jinping’s call for “public opinion guidance”. Read the full story below:
Related: From gassy passengers to viral anthems: Beijing seeks to lighten mood amid crisis
Reports that a South Korean person has tested positive for coronavirus following a visit to Thailand are likely to cause great concern to Thai officials. The outbreak has already dealt a massive blow to Thailand’s tourism industry, which relies upon Chinese visitors.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand said it expects 2 million fewer Chinese tourists this year than last year, when 11 million visited.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: Hong Kong reports first death as China’s leadership admits ‘shortcomings’
Carrie Lam says measures would be taken ‘to reduce people movement across the border’ as death toll grows
Hong Kong has reported its first death from the coronavirus as the number of fatalities from the outbreak in China passed 420.
A 39-year-old man with an underlying health condition died on Tuesday morning, according to public broadcaster RTHK.
Continue reading...New Zealand: 100 hikers cut off after deluge destroys roads and sparks landslides
Two hikers injured by landslide as helicopters ferry those stranded to nearby town in South Island
About 100 hikers are being rescued by helicopter after becoming stranded overnight on popular bush tracks in New Zealand’s South Island when a month’s rainfall in a single day washed out roads and bridges and caused flooding and landslides.
Eight helicopters and waiting buses ferried the hikers stuck in shelters in Fiordland – and about 70 drivers trapped on the Milford Road – to safety in the town of Te Anau. Two of the hikers were injured when the hut they were sheltering in was hit by a landslide.
Continue reading...Daily life in Wuhan during the coronavirus lockdown – in pictures
The Chinese city of 11 million resembles a ghost town, with empty streets and biosecurity checkpoints – though a new hospital was built in days. The number of people who have died from the Wuhan coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV, in China has climbed to 425, while more than 20,000 people there have been infected. Cases have been reported in other countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, the UK, Germany and France
• Coronavirus live updates: China admits ‘shortcomings’ as death toll passes 420 – latest news
Continue reading...Forget anti-racism. This Waitangi Day demand our land back | Morgan Godfery
Land loss is at the heart of every Indigenous struggle and our national day is a reminder that Māori are still fighting for self-governance
This week, to mark Waitangi Day, the Guardian is publishing five pieces of commentary from Māori writers.
One reason progressives love committing to anti-racism rather than, say, decolonisation is the former requires nothing more than a state of mind. “I’m not racist” – drop the spoken or unspoken “but” – and congratulations, you can wash away the guilt.
Continue reading...