China?s reopened stock markets plunge as coronavirus outbreak set to become pandemic

Eight foreigners were denied entry over the weekend, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, according to Kyodo news.Health Minister Katsunobo Kato told the same parliamentary committee that the government would consider tightening those restrictions if the contagion spreads further, possibly to include regions beyond Hubei.TOKYO — As the number of infected people with coronavirus shoots up, doctors around Asia are racing against time and with each other to come up with effective treatments.China is kick-starting a clinical trial of a drug to treat coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, but it is also reported to be telling hospitals to treat patients with traditional Chinese medicine as it seeks quick answers to contain the health crisis there.A medical team from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital will test Remdesivir, a new antiviral drug by Gilead Sciences aimed at infectious diseases such Ebola and SARS, Bloomberg reported Monday.Researchers aim to recruit 270 patients with mild and moderate pneumonia caused by the virus in a randomized, double-blinded and placebo-controlled study, Chinese news outlet the Paper reported Sunday.At the same time, a document issued by Wuhan’s health authorities and posted online showed hospitals have been instructed to administer traditional Chinese medicine to all patients in the city, starting Monday — presumably alongside other treatments being offered — and to report back on their conditions every day.On Friday, Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases said it succeeded in cultivating and isolating the new virus from patients who had sought treatment in the country. It will start work to develop a vaccine and a drug for the coronavirus, as well as a test kit capable of quick diagnosis, the Jiji Press news agency reported.On Sunday, doctors in Thailand reported success in treating severe cases of virus with a combination of medications for flu and HIV, Reuters reported.The doctors from Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok said a mixture of anti-HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, in combination with flu drug oseltamivir in large doses, had led to significant improvements in several patients in their care, including one 70-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan.But experts say even though the genome of the virus has been identified, it will take months if not longer to find and test a vaccine.HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Monday she would close more border crossings with mainland China, leaving only three open, but she stopped short of fully shutting down arrivals from the virus-hit country.Her announcement came as thousands of medical workers in the city started the first wave of a strike designed to pressure the government to close Hong Kong’s borders. Many Chinese cities have postponed the reopening of nonessential businesses and offices, while a drop-off in Chinese tourists is also impacting the economies of nearby countries in Asia.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.2 percent higher after falling 5.9 percent last week, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down 1.0 percent after falling 2.6 percent last week, and South Korea’s Kospi index was flat after falling 5.7 percent last week.In Europe, London’s FTSE-100 index and Germany’s DAX opened slightly higher.TOKYO — If the relentless negative news about coronavirus is all getting too much, or if you’re trapped at home in China feeling bored and fidgety, or starting to panic, Chinese psychologists have some suggestions.Calligraphy and e-sports, reading, singing, exercise and meditation were just some of the ideas proposed at a news conference organized by China’s National Health Commission on Monday.“Companionship from family and friends is important social support,” said Chen Xuefeng, vice director of Institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Science.“Think about what valuable life experience you can get from this chapter of experience.”But for overworked medical professionals and community workers on the front line of the battle against the virus, more radical measures might be needed.“They should master some methods and solutions to get the negative feelings off their chests,” said Yang Fude, the Communist Party chief of Beijing’s Huilongguan Hospital. On Friday, two members of his family were also diagnosed with the virus.South Korea’s Education Ministry has recommended schools close to stop the spread of the virus and announced Monday that 336 had done so.The U.S. military in South Korea has also instituted a 14-day self-quarantine for service members returning from mainland China.MOSCOW — A new Russian plan to prevent the spread of coronavirus allows for the deportation of foreign citizens who test positive for the disease, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a government meeting Monday, according to the Interfax news agency.The new coronavirus, which has infected thousands of people in China, has been added to the country’s list of dangerous diseases, he said.“That will allow us to deport foreign citizens who test positive for the virus and to impose special restrictive measures, such as isolation and quarantine,” he added.Russia announced its first two cases of coronavirus on Friday — both Chinese citizens. All it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a bad example,” she continued, according to translated remarks supplied by the Foreign Ministry.“The U.S. is turning from overconfidence to fear and overreaction,” she said, taking aim at the Trump administration’s decision to ban travelers from China — despite the fact that a host of other countries, from Australia and the Philippines to Iraq and Indonesia have done the same.She noted that the coronavirus outbreak was far less deadly that influenza in the United States, quoting a Center for Diseases Control and Prevention report that said 19 million people were infected and at least 10,000 died from the flu in the United States in 2019 and the first part of 2020.“We hope countries will make reasonable, calm and science-based judgments and responses,” she said.Hua also noted that the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency, “continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak.”“There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade,” she said.Hua had previously slammed the “certain U.S. officials” for inappropriate remarks, an apparent reference to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who last week said the coronavirus could “help” to bring jobs to the United States as companies moved operations away from China.HONG KONG — For weeks, Taiwanese authorities have been badgering counterparts in mainland China to allow them to repatriate the 500 or so Taiwanese stranded in Hubei province. Tsai and other Taiwanese leaders have repeatedly balked at this arrangement, particularly as the coronavirus outbreak spreads, and says it must be included and can contribute to the global fight against the disease.The charter flight carrying the first batch of Taiwanese evacuated from Wuhan is due to arrive in Taiwan on Monday night.TOKYO — It’s a race between the power of the Chinese construction industry and the fast-spreading coronavirus.A new Chinese hospital opened in the virus-hit city of Wuhan on Monday, after taking just 10 days to build, news agencies reported.Ten ambulances were at the ready on Monday morning to take the first batch of patients to the Huoshenshan (“fire-god mountain”) Hospital, state China Central Television reported.The hospital is designed to have 1,000 beds for patients with confirmed coronavirus infections and was handed over to military medics on Sunday. Many Chinese cities have postponed the reopening of nonessential businesses and offices, while many people are simply staying home.Lian Weiliang, vice director of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the key state economic planning agency, said the virus had its biggest impact on transportation, tourism, hotels and catering.“It needs to be emphasized that the influence is interim and temporary, and it will not change the long-term good prospects of Chinese economy,” he told a news conference.Other markets around Asia were calmer on Monday, but have all suffered from the fallout of the deadly virus.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.1 percent after falling 5.9 percent last week, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down 1.1 percent after falling 2.6 percent last week, while South Korea’s Kospi index was flat after falling 5.7 percent last week.In a research note, Oxford Economics said it was revising down its China growth prediction by two percentage points for the first quarter, and to 5.4 percent from 6 percent for the year as a whole, but warned “a more serious and long-lasting impact cannot be ruled out.”BEIJING — The National Health Commission in China reported Sunday that there have been 17,205 confirmed cases of illness caused by the coronavirus, plus 15 in Hong Kong and eight in Macao.