February 13 coronavirus news

Yesterday, China reported far fewer cases of the novel coronavirus than it did the day before, signaling that the spread of the virus could be slowing.

But the numbers are back up today: China has announced a major jump in both new deaths and new cases. 

There are many reasons we’re seeing this phenomenon, including variances in the incubation period and more people seeking treatment.

But one of the top reasons for the variation in numbers is the constantly changing definitions of what constitutes a case in China: Is it just when someone has a lab-confirmed test? Is it when they exhibit symptoms indicative of infection? Should someone who is asymptotic be counted?

Today’s spike is partly due to a broader definition of what constitutes a confirmed case, to include people diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms rather than testing positive.

Keep in mind: This is normal. 

“It’s normal during the course of an outbreak to adapt the case definition,” Dr. Sylvie Briand, director of the World Health Organization’s Infectious Hazards Management Department, said during a news conference yesterday.

The 15th case of the novel coronavirus in the United States has been confirmed in Texas, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

The patient is among a group of people under federal quarantine order at San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The patient arrived in the US on a State Department-chartered flight on Friday. This is the first case among a person quarantined at JBSA-Lackland. The person is isolated and receiving medical care at a hospital nearby, the CDC said.

There are now 15 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States. This is the first case confirmed in Texas. Here’s where else cases have been confirmed:

There are two instances of person-to-person transmission, one in Illinois and one in California. Two California cases are among evacuees from China.

Two hospital staff “are undergoing active surveillance at home” for two weeks after coming into contact with a coronavirus patient, according to Lewisham & Greenwich National Health Service Trust Chief Executive Ben Travis. 

The patient “self-presented” at Lewisham Hospital in South London. The circumstances match the description of the ninth UK patient, who was the first in London.

The patient came to the Emergency Department of University Hospital Lewisham on Sunday and was diagnosed with coronavirus yesterday, according to the statement. The patient was given a mask on arrival and escorted for testing. 

CNN’s Will Ripley spoke to a father quarantined on board the Diamond Princess in Japan with 10 family members, including kids, to get a look at what daily life looks like on that ship.

Harvey, who asked that CNN not use his last name, has five kids on the ship with him — the youngest is 3, the oldest is 8.

The kids are forced to spend 23 hours in their room. They get a daily delivery of clean toys and coloring books. Harvey said being “trapped in this cabin” has made him “appreciate the little moments, little details of life.”

He said they told their children that they need to do this to protect themselves from an “invisible monster” called coronavirus.

So far, nobody in the family is showing any symptoms of novel coronavirus, but Harvey wants everyone in his family to be tested. The Japanese government has only tested a few hundred of the 3,000 people on board. He worries that if everyone on board the ship isn’t tested, they’ll be stigmatized when they get back home to Hong Kong.

Watch the video:

Twenty-one people who were brought back to Spain from Wuhan to Spain have completed their quarantine at Gomez Ullah Hospital in Madrid, the Spanish Health Ministry said on Twitter.

They have all been released from hospital.

Here is a quick roundup of the latest coronavirus developments for those who are just joining our coverage:

Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong attends a meeting during the annual National People's Congress in Beijing, in March 2019.

China has moved to dismiss key party officials as the coronavirus outbreak shows no sign of abating in the country.

Jiang Chaoliang will be replaced by Shanghai mayor Ying Yong as Hubei Communist Party chief in a major shakeup of provincial leadership, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Wuhan Communist Party chief Ma Guoqiang has also been replaced by Wang Zhonglin, party chief of Jinan city in Shandong province, according to Xinhua.

These moves come after two officials in charge of the provincial health authority were sacked early this week.

Austria's Minister for Social Affairs Rudolf Anschober, left, talks with European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic during the Ministers of Health meeting on the coronavirus in Brussels on Thursday.

European officials stressed the need for a coordinated European Union (EU) response to the coronavirus at a meeting of the Health Council in Brussels Thursday.

Janez Lenarčič, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, emphasized a focus on “preparedness.”

Lenarčič also underlined the need for cooperation, adding that “in this situation we have to act as a union.”

He said ministers will discuss the necessity of border checks, and said that although the number of cases in Europe is still low, the EU has “to be prepared in case this situation gets worse.”

German health minister Jens Spahn addressed questions about the potential closure of the Schengen free movement area by stressing the need for a “common approach.”

Spahn said unilateral decisions regarding Schengen make “no sense.”

Maggie De Block, Belgium’s minister of social affairs and public health, said the coordinated efforts of European health agencies have also been important in preventing shortages.

“For the moment we don’t see any reason to have shortages in the following months, said De Block.

Medical staff prepare pre screening procedure at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases building at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health has confirmed an additional eight cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number in the city to 58.

In a press statement released Thursday, the ministry confirmed all eight of the new infections are linked to previously confirmed cases in the city.

At least five of the new cases are linked to a cluster at the Grace Assembly of God church, a further two are linked to a cluster at a construction site, and the remaining case was detected in a relative of a previous coronavirus patient.

All of the new cases have no history of travel to China.

Fifteen coronavirus patients have fully recovered and been discharged from hospital, according to the ministry.

Of the remaining 43 confirmed cases still being treated in hospital, seven are in critical condition in intensive care units.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it’s too early to make any predictions on when the novel coronavirus will be contained.

“We don’t know exactly where this outbreak will go. It can go either way,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told CNN’s John Berman on New Day Thursday. 

“One of the reasons why it’s difficult to predict is we still don’t know much about the virus.”

China reported 15,000 new cases of coronavirus Thursday, and Jasarevic explained the dramatic spike is a result of how cases are being tallied.

“Now not only people who are confirmed by laboratory testing are being reported but also people who presented clinical symptoms and have been diagnosed clinically without going through testing,” said Jasarevic.

The change allows untested patients to get the same treatments as those who have been confirmed, he added.

Jasarevic said more studies are needed on the spread of the virus in the population in order to determine whether the outbreak is bigger than previously thought.

“There may be more [mild] cases. People who do not see the doctor or people who see a doctor but are not necessarily tested,” he said.

Passengers are seen on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, on February 12.

Vulnerable passengers aboard the quarantined cruise liner Diamond Princess will be notified today if they can disembark earlier than planned.

The ship is currently quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama, and the restrictions are scheduled to end on February 19.

“Guests who are identified by Japanese officials as potential passengers for disembarkation will get a notice tonight,” said Captain Stefano Ravera in an announcement. “Please follow the instructions.”

Ravera told passengers that a video message would be broadcast on the entertainment system on Thursday evening with valuable advice about staying healthy, adding that the vessel would remain in Yokohama until further notice.

The captain’s message ended by reassuring the passengers. 

“Rest assured that everything is being done to bring this trying time to an end,” he said. “We only have 6 days to go. Good night.”

Grant Tarling, chief medical officer for cruise operator Princess Cruises, told passengers in a message that the situation is “very dynamic.”

While Japanese authorities said the quarantine period will end on February 19, it is not clear what further measures may be taken, said Tarling.

He said Princess Cruises would keep passengers updated on developments, and reiterated that authorities believe newly identified cases were infected before the quarantine began.

“I understand you may be very anxious when you hear about more confirmed cases,” Tarling added.

“However, health authorities expected additional cases to be identified given the original case likely exposed others and their close contacts between January 20 and February 4.”

Japan has recorded its first death from the novel coronavirus, the country’s health minister Katsunobu Kato said Thursday evening local time.

The Japanese woman, in her 80s, did not come from the Diamond Princess cruise ship which is in quarantine in Yokohama port, near Tokyo.

A 'Stand Up To Racism' rally on February 11 in Newcastle, England.

University students across the UK have criticized xenophobia against Asian students following multiple incidents involving discrimination related to the coronavirus outbreak. 

Chinese students at Newcastle University spoke out about being targeted with verbal abuse or being ostracized in the community during a rally against coronavirus discrimination Tuesday.

“Some students spoke about friends and family members who have experienced racism,” said Sara Elkhawad, the Newcastle student union’s equality officer.

“Other students talked personally about having gotten verbal abuse walking down Northumberland Street in Newcastle or people moving away from them on the metro.”

Elkhawad said every report has been taken very seriously and the university has a zero tolerance policy on discrimination.  

“It’s our duty to come forward and support people of different communities even when it doesn’t affect us directly,” Elkhawad told CNN.

“One student actually from Wuhan spoke and expressed how moved she was that people from all backgrounds came out to give support.” 

The first UK cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in Newcastle.

Students at the 'Stand Up To Racism' rally at Newcastle University on Tuesday.

Students at the University of Leicester condemned similar discrimination at the institution.

“There is absolutely no place for racism on our campus and we are deeply sorry to our students who have had to endure this,” said Leicester Students’ Union in a statement.

“The incidents unfortunately involved comments regarding coronavirus, which highlights how sensationalized the discourse surrounding the virus generally has been, where people have used ‘health concerns’ as a very thin veil for their racism.”

Two high school students from southeast Asia were accused of bringing the virus into the UK and had eggs thrown at them in a separate incident near Leicester on February 3.

Leicestershire Police are investigating that incident as a “racially aggravated assault.”

At Bath University, where one person is being tested for coronavirus as a precaution, the student union also released a statement urging students to treat each other with tolerance and reject rumors surrounding the coronavirus. 

Next week, students in Newcastle are partnering with Chinese student societies to hand out pamphlets dealing with myths about coronavirus and information on cultural norms surrounding surgical masks.

“Can I please ask you to take a minute to consider the impact that the current situation is likely to be having on those who have traveled back to Newcastle from China in recent weeks and find themselves in the middle of this situation that is completely outside their control?” Newcastle University President Chris Day wrote in a letter to staff and students.

“This is a particularly difficult time for them and no doubt many of them will also be worrying about family and friends who are still in China.”

More than 120,000 Chinese students, and about 225,000 students from Asia in total, attend British universities, according to the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency.

This story has been updated to correct the name of Sara Elkhawad.

A taxi driver in the Japanese capital Tokyo has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Japanese state broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday.

According to NHK, the taxi driver said he had driven one customer that appeared to be Chinese. Japan’s health ministry is currently investigating how the taxi driver was infected.

Japan now has a total of 248 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 219 cases from the Princess Diamond cruise ship.

A man drags a handcart across an empty road in Wuhan on February 5.

The amount of oil needed to run the global economy will decline sharply in the first quarter of this year as the coronavirus forces factories to close in China, snarls transportation and hits supply chains.

Global oil demand in the first three months of 2020 is expected to drop by 435,000 barrels per day compared to a year earlier, according to the International Energy Agency, the first quarterly decline in more than a decade.

The agency also marked down its forecast for oil demand growth for the whole of 2020. It is now expected to increase by just 825,000 barrels per day, the weakest annual pace since 2011.

The IEA said in its monthly oil report that the impact from the coronavirus was difficult to measure at this stage.

“The onset of [the coronavirus] will likely have a large impact on both the world’s economy and oil demand,” said the agency. “Consequences will vary over time, with the initial economic hit on transportation and services, likely followed by Chinese industry, then eventually exports and the broader economy.”

However the IEA did say there is “little doubt” that coronavirus will have a bigger impact on oil demand and the global economy than the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003.

“While steps taken in China to reduce its spread were adopted earlier than in the SARS crisis and have been far more extensive, the profound transformation of the world economy since 2003 means China’s slowdown today is bound to have a stronger global impact,” it said.

Read the full report here.

A Nissan auto assembly line is pictured at a plant in Dalian, China in July 2019.

Nissan’s profits are plummeting, and the company is now bracing for more pain as the novel coronavirus outbreak threatens to wreak havoc on the global auto industry.

The Japanese carmaker reported on Thursday that operating profit fell to 54.3 billion yen ($495 million) for the three months ended in December, plunging 83% compared to the same period a year earlier.

And Nissan said the deadly coronavirus will impact business in China and around the world.

“The market remains tough in part because of the novel coronavirus outbreak,” CEO Makoto Uchida said during the earnings presentation Thursday.

The company said last week that supply shortages of parts from China will temporarily impact production at its Kyushu plant in Japan. It is working to restart two of its plants in China from February 17.

The global auto industry is particularly exposed to the outbreak because the virus originated in one of China’s “motor cities.”

Nissan, General Motors (GM), Renault (RNLSY), Honda (HMC) and Peugeot owner PSA Group (PUGOY) all have large factories in Wuhan, which has been on lockdown since late January.

China’s auto industry association on Thursday said the impact from the coronavirus on the country’s auto production and sales will be worse than from the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Read the full story here.

Nigerian student Victor Vincent pictured wearing a mask in Wuhan, China.

Victor Vincent is one of around 50 Nigerian students living in Wuhan – the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak – who say they’ve been abandoned by their country, their repeated pleas for evacuation and medical supplies largely ignored by government officials.

The students say they, along with over a dozen other Nigerian teachers and businesspeople living in Hubei province, have repeatedly written and called Nigerian government officials requesting assistance. But they say very little has been forthcoming in return.

Many countries, including the US, the UK and Japan, are working to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. Nigeria is yet to take such a step.

Requests for evacuation, medical supplies: As well as evacuation, Vincent, who is an executive of the Nigerian Students in Wuhan Association, said they’ve asked the government for medical supplies, such as masks, goggles, gloves and disinfectant. 

Money for food: The association received a grant of 20,000 yuan ($2,870) from the Nigerian ambassador to China last Thursday. The money was provided to “assist us in procuring foodstuffs and medical supplies,” Vincent said.

Chances of evacuation slip by: “Other than that, the situation remains the same. We still have no clear indication on when we are getting evacuation, where we will be quarantined or even if that will happen at all,” Vincent said.

CNN reached out to the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Nigerian embassy in Beijing, but has not received a response.

Read the full story here.

Beds are made in the Wuhan Sports Center, which has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan, China.

As of end of day Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in mainland China rose to 59,804, the country’s National Health Commission announced on Thursday. 

That’s an increase of 15,152 cases from the previous day.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in the country now stands at 1,367 deaths, a jump of 254 from the previous day, the NHC said.

A total of 5,911 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

Changing the definition of confirmed cases: Hubei’s health commission changed its tally of cases to include “clinically diagnosed cases,” in addition to those confirmed by a test. It means that any suspected cases of coronavirus in Hubei province will now be counted as confirmed. 

According to NHC spokesman Mi Feng, the introduction is intended to help patients receive treatment as soon as possible to increase the recovery rate.

On Thursday, Hubei announced 242 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, twice as many as on the previous day. New infections there jumped by more than 14,000.

Crew members carry out maintenance on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan on February 11.

The Indian Ambassador to Japan has responded to concerns from Indian crew members onboard the Diamond Princess that they are being exposed to undue risk by continuing to work and eat in a communal mess hall.

Sanjay Kumar told CNN on Thursday that while he acknowledges the risk from eating together, he said he “had no reason to believe” the crew were in danger.

“While they are eating, yes it is one risk in which they eat all together,” Kumar said. “So I cannot rule out the transmission of the virus in that mess where they are eating.”

“But for me to say anything beyond that would not be good because I am not there, and the Japanese authorities have a quarantine requirement, which they are following,” he continued.

Fears of greater risk for crew: On Wednesday, Diamond Princess security guard Sonali Thakkar expressed concern that the coronavirus could spread between crew members, especially when they remove their masks to eat together.

As the quarantine of the vessel continues in Japan’s Yokohama, more than 1,000 crew members remain at work, providing for and interacting with potentially infected passengers and taking care of the ship. 

Kumar said there are 132 Indian crew and six guests on board, of which two of those crew members have tested positive and been taken to local hospitals.

The embassy says they are in touch with those on board.

Cases increasing every day: A total of 44 more cases were confirmed on the Diamond Princess on Thursday, bringing the total from the ship to 219 – the biggest coronavirus outbreak outside of mainland China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visits a coronavirus prevention site in Beijing on February 10 -- his first public appearance during the outbreak.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is facing a major challenge to his vast system of censorship and information control, but history does not bode well for those aligned against him.

Following revelations that authorities in Wuhan downplayed news of the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak while it was in its early stages, and police cracked down on people spreading “rumors” about the deadly virus, there have been numerous calls for freedom of speech and a relaxation of censorship.

They only increased after the death of Li Wenliang, a Wuhan doctor who had tried to raise the alarm about the virus, officially called Covid-19, only to be reprimanded by police. Li died in hospital last week from the virus, after belatedly being praised by Chinese authorities.

Following his death, hundreds of thousands of people posted demands for free speech online – that were themselves quickly scrubbed by the censors.

As the outrage threatened to boil over, Beijing quickly dispatched an anti-corruption task force to Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province – the epicenter of the outbreak – with the clear implication that they would come back with some scalps to assuage public anger.

At the same time, state media ramped up positive stories about efforts to rein in the outbreak, and Xi himself made his first public appearance related to the virus.

Read the full story here.

A match between Australia and Kenya is played during the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong in April 2019.

World Rugby announced on Thursday that both the Hong Kong and Singapore legs of the World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 have been rescheduled due to, “continued health concerns relating to the novel coronavirus outbreak.”

“This prudent decision has been taken in order to protect the global rugby community and the wider public and was taken based on the World Health Organisation and relevant public authority travel and health guidelines,” it continued.

The Hong Kong Sevens had been due to take place from April 4-5 with the Singapore Sevens originally set for April 11-12.

Both events have been rescheduled to take place later in the year.

The Singapore Sevens is now set for October 10-11 and the Hong Kong Sevens October 16-18.

In Hong Kong, the Sevens is one of the biggest events in the sporting calendar. World famous for the atmosphere it generates, the tournament is just as much about dressing up in costumes and partying in the South Stand as it is about the world class rugby.

Passengers line up to board a bus from Tuen Mun in Hong Kong to Shenzhen on February 6.

Hong Kong now has 51 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus, according to the city’s health department.

The latest patient is a 43-year-old man who lives in the northern Tuen Mun district, in the New Territories, Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Center for Health Protection, said at a news conference on Thursday.

Chuang said the man had eaten at a group dinner together with 12 other people, one of whom was the city’s 47th confirmed case.

He had developed a cough on January 29 and then diarrhea two days later. According to Chuang, the man had visited a doctor three times – on January 31, February 5 and February 8 – before being admitted to Tuen Mun hospital on February 10.

Health authorities are examining 10 of the man’s colleagues and three clients.

Passengers of a China Southern Airlines flight arrive at Perth International Airport in Australia on February 2

Australia’s ban on foreign nationals traveling from mainland China to Australia has been extended for another week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a news conference on Thursday.

The initial 14-day ban, introduced on February 1, was set to end on Saturday. Morrison said that the ban will be reviewed “on a weekly basis.”

According to a statement on the Australian Border Force’s website, “all foreign nationals who were in mainland China on or after 1 February will not be allowed to enter Australia, until 14 days after they have left, or transited through, mainland China.”

Exceptions include Australian citizens, permanent residents, and immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents.

A boy is covered in a plastic bag amid the coronavirus outbreak as he arrives from a train at Beijing Station on February 12, 2020.

The Chinese province at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak reported a record spike in deaths Thursday, bringing the total number to more than 1,300 infections globally.

Hubei announced an additional 242 deaths and 14,840 cases of the virus as of Thursday morning, the largest single-day rise since the epidemic began and almost 10 times the number of cases confirmed the previous day.

Here’s what to know:

As countries continue to take strict emergency measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, thousands of people are stranded at sea on cruise ships with nowhere to dock.

Two ships are affected in Asia, but they are in very different situations.

Here’s the latest on the two ships:

The Westerdam cruise ship approaches port in Sihanoukville, on Cambodia's southern coast where the liner had received permission to dock.

The Westerdam:

The Diamond Princess cruise ship at Daikoku Pier, Yokohama where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine.

The Diamond Princess:

Police wearing face masks allow an ambulance to pass through a checkpoint at the Son Loi commune in Vinh Phuc province on February 13, 2020.

Vietnam has placed an entire community on lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus after reporting the country’s 16th confirmed case, according to a government news report.

The 50-year-old male patient is the father of a previously confirmed case at the Son Loi commune in Vinh Phuc province, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the capital Hanoi.

This is the first lockdown of a town outside of mainland China since the start of the outbreak, and some 10,000 people are affected, according to Agence France-Presse.

Local authorities locked down the area around the commune in Binh Xuyen district, and residents will be quarantined for the next 20 days starting from today, the report said.

CNN photojournalist Justin Robertson documented his flight from Frankfurt to Beijing on Tuesday, as airlines ramp up safety measures over the coronavirus.

In the video, he says everyone is wearing a mask on the Air China flight, and there are pre-recorded announcements warning people of the dangers of the virus.

“It’s astonishing, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he says.

Come mealtime, all food is served in disposable, one-time use packaging for hygiene reasons, he says. 

Some of the coronavirus test kits shipped to labs across the US are not working as they should, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

As a result, the CDC is remaking parts of the test kits after some produced inconclusive test results.

The kits were sent to the states to speed up the testing process, the CDC’s Nancy Messonnier told reporters Wednesday. The states found out the flaw during the verification process. For quality control, when states get any test kit, they first verify that it works.

Some states notified the CDC that they were unable to validate the test, and the agency is remanufacturing a reagent used in the test that’s not performing consistently.

Not all states have been affected. 

Read more here.

The World Health Organization’s representative to North Korea said that there has been no cases of the novel coronavirus reported by the North Korean health ministry, in a written statement to CNN on Wednesday.

The WHO is providing laboratory reagents and personal protective equipment such as goggles, gloves, masks, and gowns to the country at the request of the North Korean Ministry of Public Health, the statement added.

Outbreak prevention: Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, North Korea has been reporting almost daily on the regime’s efforts to prevent the infection.

North Korean state-run news service, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported on Wednesday that North Korea was extending its coronavirus quarantine period from 15 days to 30 days.

Nearly every country and territory in East Asia has confirmed cases of novel coronavirus. So why hasn’t North Korea?

Read more here

Chairman of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games coordination committee John Coates, left, and Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori attend the International Olympic Committee (IOC) project review meeting in Tokyo on February 13.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics is definitely going ahead this summer, officials said, amid concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said on Thursday that the Tokyo organizing committee is not considering cancelling the Games due to the coronavirus, according to Reuters.

Mori added that the organizing committee has set up a task force that has begun “sharing information for the prevention of the infection.”

A senior organizer had previously warned that the outbreak could impact Japan’s preparations for the Games.

“I am extremely worried that the spread of the infectious disease could throw cold water on the momentum toward the Games,” said Toshiro Muto, chief executive of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. “I hope that it will be stamped out as soon as possible.”

Fanfare beginning: Nevertheless, the fanfare around Tokyo 2020, which is due to officially begin on Friday, July 24, is well underway.

Tokyo’s new National Stadium was inaugurated last December and the Olympic torch relay is scheduled to kick off from Fukushima prefecture on March 26.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also dispelled concerns that the Summer Olympics would be canceled after false rumors circulated online.

“We will take appropriate measures so that the preparation for the Olympic games will proceed without affecting them,” Abe told a parliamentary committee.

A security guard mans an entrance to Daikoku Pier, where the Diamond Princess cruise ship is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment on February 13 in Yokohama, Japan.

In an announcement to passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship this afternoon, Captain Stefano Ravera gave more details on which passengers will be allowed to disembark early.

Ravera said that everybody over the age of 80 has now been tested for the novel coronavirus.

The captain said that those who will be given the option of disembarking early are:

Those passengers will still have to remain in a “housing facility managed by the Japanese government” until the end of the quarantine. Anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive will not be allowed to disembark.

Passengers who test positive will continue to be moved to on-shore hospitals.

2 weeks on lockdown: More than 3,700 passengers and crew are stuck on the cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan that is essentially a floating quarantine zone. The ship was placed under quarantine on February 4 and it isn’t scheduled to be lifted until February 19.

Rising infections: The number of infections aboard is increasing by the day. On Thursday, another 44 people tested positive for the virus aboard the ship, bringing the total to 219.

People line up outside a drugstore to buy medical masks in Nanjing, China, on Wednesday, January 29.

Pharmacies in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing have been banned from selling all fever and cough medicine in the hope that residents with fever or coughing will seek treatment in hospitals instead, Nanjing’s propaganda department posted on its official Weibo account.

This follows similar policy in the eastern city of Hangzhou, according to the statement.

Meanwhile in Beijing, pharmacies are being urged to register all customers who buy fever and cough medicine.

They are required to register their names, addresses, ID card numbers and contact information, as well as the symptoms, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

A woman wearing a protective face mask is reflected in a mirror as she walks inside a mall in Shanghai on February 8.

The organizers behind Shanghai Fashion Week, which was scheduled to take place from March 26 to April 2, announced Monday via the Chinese social media platform WeChat that the event would be postponed due to the novel coronavirus.

“We will actively search for (new) times and ways, and maintain close communication with partners who care for and support Shanghai Fashion Week,” read the post. “We will strive to promote the development of the fashion industry,” the statement continued.

China Fashion Week, the country’s other major fashion event in Beijing, scheduled to start on March 25, has yet to publicly announce if it will postpone or cancel its event. CNN has reached out for comment.

Shining star in the region: In recent years, Shanghai Fashion Week has grown to become one of the most ambitious fashion weeks in the region, as well as home to Asia’s largest fashion trade fair, China International Fashion Fair. It has drawn international names like Vera Wang, Jenny Peckham and Vivienne Tam to show on its runways. It has also served as a platform for some of China’s most notable and well-known designers

Hub for young designers: China Fashion Week is also likely to suffer if a cancellation does happen. Less internationally established, the event has recently been positioning itself as a hub for young designers, and showed new efforts to amplify its global reputation by partnering with the China edition of Women’s Wear Daily (WWD).

Read more here.

Wuhan's new Communist Party chief Wang Zhonglin in Jinan, China, on May 11, 2017.

Wuhan Communist Party chief Ma Guoqiang has been replaced, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

Wang Zhonglin, party chief of Jinan city in Shandong province, has taken over his position.

It’s the latest move in a major shakeup of provincial leadership in China as the coronavirus outbreak shows no sign of abating at the epicenter in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.

Also today, Hubei province’s Communist Party chief Jiang Chaoliang was replaced with Shanghai’s mayor, Ying Yong.

These replacements come after two officials in charge of Hubei’s provincial health authority were sacked earlier this week.

A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he walks in a nearly empty and shuttered commercial street in Beijing.

The Chinese province at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak reported a record spike in deaths Thursday, bringing the total number to more than 1,300 infections globally.

Hubei announced an additional 242 deaths and 14,840 cases of the virus as of Thursday morning, the largest single-day rise since the epidemic began and almost 10 times the number of cases confirmed the previous day.

The government explained the spike is due to a change in how cases are tabulated.

What now counts as a confirmed case? The total will now include “clinically diagnosed cases” after rising numbers of residents complained about the difficulty in getting tested and treated for the virus.

Who falls into that category? “Clinically diagnosed cases” are those patients who demonstrate all the symptoms of the novel coronavirus but have been unable to be scientifically tested, or died before they were tested.

What effect will this have? The hope is that more people will be able to receive treatment by allowing doctors to diagnose them with the virus.

Case number confusion: The massive increase in the number of cases exposes confusion over just how to diagnose the virus globally.

Delayed diagnosis: Delays in diagnosing the virus could be significant. There are reports of patients waiting up to a week for their results, as the testing kits were sent from Hubei to a lab in Beijing. While there have been efforts to speed up the process, scientific testing of samples is difficult and time consuming, and allowing doctors to diagnose patients will enable far more people to receive treatment, including in several purpose-built hospitals dedicated to treating the virus in Wuhan.

Not just China: In the US, the CDC currently requires that all potential samples are shipped to its central laboratories for full testing.

Read the full story here.

People wearing face masks walk on a street in Central, the business district of Hong Kong, on Tuesday, February 11.

The Hong Kong government has announced that it is extending its work-from-home arrangement for civil servants until February 23, amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Government workers had been asked to work from home following the end of the Lunar New Year holiday on January 29.

That has now been extended “to reduce social contacts and the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus in the community,” a government statement said.

The directive excludes emergency service workers and people who work for essential public services.

The private sector has also been urged to make similar flexible work arrangements.

Hong Kong has reported 50 confirmed cases of the virus, with one death.

A Cambodian hotel guard wearing a mask stands outside a hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The global number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases now stands at more than 60,000 in at least 27 countries and territories, with the vast majority in mainland China. 

Outside of mainland China, there have been 568 confirmed cases and two deaths – in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

A cruise ship docked in Japan carrying 3,700 passengers and crew has the largest outbreak of the virus outside of China, with 219 cases, including one quarantine officer.

Here’s the latest rundown:

1. Australia (15 cases)     

2. Belgium (1 case)     

3. Cambodia (1 case)     

4. Canada (7 cases)     

5. Finland (1 case)     

6. France (11 cases)     

7. Germany (16 cases)     

8. Hong Kong (50 cases, 1 death)     

9. India (3 cases)     

10. Italy (3 cases)     

11. Japan (247 total: 28 cases on land + 219 from cruise ship)     

12. Macao (10 cases)     

13. Malaysia (18 cases)    

14. Nepal (1 case)     

15. Philippines (3 cases, 1 death)     

16. Russia (2 cases)     

17. Singapore (50 cases)                                 

18. South Korea (28 cases)     

19. Spain (2 cases)     

20. Sri Lanka (1 case)     

21. Sweden (1 case)     

22. Taiwan (18 cases)     

23. Thailand (33 cases)    

24. United Arab Emirates (8 cases)    

25. United Kingdom (9 cases)     

26. United States (14 cases)    

27. Vietnam (15 cases)

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The MS Westerdam sails off Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on Thursday, February 13, 2020.

Cambodian officials have now boarded the Westerdam cruise liner in Sihanoukville, cruise ship company Holland America Line told CNN on Thursday.

“The Westerdam has arrived and local officials are aboard,” the statement read.

Refused entry elsewhere: Despite having no confirmed cases of coronavirus on board, and no quarantine being in effect, the Westerdam was refused port by four authorities: Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

1,455 passengers: Cambodia Holland America Line previously said that it had reached an agreement with Cambodian authorities for all 1,455 guests on the Westerdam to disembark in Cambodia, and board commercial flights from the capital Phnom Penh at the company’s expense.

WHO thankful: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, thanked Cambodia for allowing the Westerdam cruise ship to dock there, calling the move “an example of the international solidarity we have consistently been calling for.”

Ying Yong on October 19, 2017 in Beijing, China.

Hubei province’s Communist Party chief is being replaced with Shanghai’s mayor, in a major shakeup of provincial leadership in China as the country grapples with the novel coronavirus.

Shanghai mayor Ying Yong will replace Jiang Chaoliang, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. 

Heads are starting to roll as the outbreak shows no sign of abating at the epicenter. This latest replacement came after two officials in charge of Hubei’s provincial health authority were sacked earlier this week.

Outbreak epicenter: Hubei province announced 242 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Thursday morning, twice as many as on the previous day. New infections in Hubei also jumped by more than 14,000 amid a broadening of the definition of what constitutes a confirmed case.

Members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces attach a military vehicle to a gate of the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Another 44 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato said on Thursday.

This bring the total number of cases on the ship to 219, including one Japanese quarantine officer – the largest outbreak of the virus outside of mainland China.

Kato did not give a breakdown by nationality of the new cases, nor of passengers versus crew.

Floating quarantine: More than 3,700 passengers and crew are stuck on the cruise ship in Yokohama that became a floating quarantine zone after dozens of people tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this month.

The number of infections is increasing by the day. On Wednesday, Kato announced 40 new cases among those on board.

CNN’s latest tally indicates that at least 24 Americans have tested positive.

Some respite: The health minister also said that people who have tested negative for the virus and are over 80 years old, or have a non-virus medical condition requiring attention, will be allowed to leave the ship and move to a government medical facility, if they wish. He did not give a timeline for that process.

An unknown number of passengers with non-virus medical conditions were allowed to disembark earlier on Tuesday.

All 147 South Koreans and their Chinese family members from Wuhan, who arrived at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul yesterday, have tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the South Korean Health Ministry announced Thursday. 

Those repatriated were quarantined at the Korea Defense Language Institute, a military school facility located in a rural area in Icheon, Gyeonggi province.

There were about 2,000 South Korean citizens residing in Wuhan, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry. So far 848 have been repatriated via three chartered flights.

Hong Kong has extended the suspension of school classes until at least March 16 due to the novel coronavirus, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung said at a news conference on Thursday.

Schools were previously suspended until March 2, but that start date has been delayed for an additional two weeks due to the virus outbreak.

Yeung said there’s “no urgency” for students staying in mainland China or other places to return to the city, and the government is “considering different options for students from mainland China.”

Students will still be able to complete their work through e-learning platforms, despite the suspension.

The semi-autonomous Chinese city has reported at least 50 cases of the coronavirus, and one death.

A man wears a protective mask as he rides a segway in a grocery store while shopping on February 11 in Beijing.

China’s Hubei province has reported 242 deaths and 14,840 new infections of the novel coronavirus, the largest single-day rise since the epidemic began. Authorities continue strict emergency measures – some of which have led to unforeseen consequences, like thousands of people stranded at sea with nowhere to dock.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus faces the media at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on February 12, 2020.

Yesterday Chinese officials broadened their definition of what constitutes a confirmed coronavirus case, to include “clinically diagnosed cases” – i.e. people diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms rather than testing positive.

This has led to a huge spike in the number of cases reported – 14,840 in just one day. But this kind of tweaked definition is “normal,” said the World Health Organization.

The global number of confirmed coronavirus cases now exceeds 60,015 – the vast majority in mainland China.

Laboratory technicians test samples from people for the coronavirus in Shenyang, China, on February 12, 2020.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that it’s remaking parts of coronavirus test kits because some produced inconclusive test results.

The CDC had sent kits to states to speed up testing. For quality control, the states then had to verify that the kits worked before testing patients – but some kits returned inconclusive results during this verification process.

Some states said the results they were getting weren’t false negatives or false positives, but were inconclusive, said the CDC. So it’s remaking the one reagent in the test that is not performing consistently.

Which labs are affected: State labs that have been successful in verifying the test kit works can go forward with the testing. Those that haven’t been successful will have to wait for the CDC to ship out the replacement components. The CDC did not confirm how many states were affected or when they might receive the replacement components.

“We have multiple levels of quality control to detect issues just like this one. We’re looking into all of these issues to understand what went wrong, and to prevent these same things from happening in the future.”

A United Airlines plane at Los Angeles International Airport on September 27, 2019.

United Airlines said on Wednesday that it will extend the suspension of flights to China and Hong Kong until April 24.

The destinations affected are Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Global airlines cut flights: United is just one of many major international airlines that have suspended, reduced, or entirely withdrawn routes to China and its territories due to the coronavirus outbreak and a fall in demand.

Delta and American Airlines, two of the largest US airlines, also canceled flights. American announced its decision last month after a union representing 15,000 pilots sued the company to immediately halt its US-China service, citing “serious, and in many ways still unknown, health threats posed by the coronavirus.”

Quarantine staff in protective gear are pictured at Pyongyang International Airport.

North Korea has extended its coronavirus quarantine period from 15 days to 30 days, according to reports in state-run news service KCNA.

From the beginning, North Korea “has taken positive measures against the inroads of the epidemic that seriously affects people,” the KCNA report added.

No cases in North Korea yet: Every country and territory within a 1,500-mile radius of North Korea, except for sparsely populated Mongolia, has confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

There have been no cases reported in North Korea, and it’s unclear how the country has been able to avoid the virus. Pyongyang has either been very lucky, isn’t saying something, or is reaping one of the few benefits of being a so-called “hermit nation.”

Read more here.

A couple wear protective masks as they embrace each other on February 11 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.

Another 242 people died from the novel coronavirus in Hubei province on Wednesday, and 14,840 new cases were recorded – a huge spike in confirmed infections.

At least 1,355 people have now died in mainland China from novel coronavirus, with 1,310 deaths in Hubei alone. One person has also died in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines. 

A new way of counting cases: The huge rise in confirmed cases comes from a tweak in how the authorities are tallying infections. The government is now including “clinically diagnosed cases” – i.e. people diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms rather than testing positive – to make it easier for those patients to access treatment. 

The numbers in Hubei: The epicenter of the outbreak has now recorded 48,206 cases. Of those, 33,693 patients have been hospitalized and 1,437 are in critical condition, according to the health authority. Meanwhile, 3,441 patients have recovered and been discharged.

The global tally: The global number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases has now exceeded 60,015, with the vast majority of cases in mainland China.

China’s National Health Commission is expected to release numbers for all of China’s provinces later.

The Diamond Princess, seen on Wednesday, February 12, is quarantined at the port in Yokohama, near Tokyo.

More than 3,700 passengers and crew are still stuck on a cruise ship in Yokohama that became a floating quarantine zone after dozens of people tested positive for the novel coronavirus earlier this month.

To date, a total of 175 people aboard the Diamond Princess have become infected and passengers on board have gone public with their fear and concern.

Now crew members are saying that they’re also afraid of catching the disease.

Sonali Thakkar, 24, from Mumbai, has worked for Princess Cruises for the past two years. She is part of the security team on board the ship, working on the gangway as passengers are moved on and off.

Thakkar said she and her cabin mate became ill with a headache, cough and a fever two days ago. Her supervisor told her to stop working and she is currently staying in her cabin.

“I’m not eating very well and have been having fevers,” she told CNN in a Skype call Wednesday. “We all are really scared and tense.”

Thakkar fears that the virus may be spreading around the crew members. At least five have already tested positive for the virus.

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A second person who was evacuated from Wuhan, in China, to southern California has tested positive for coronavirus.

The patient was in quarantine at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, in San Diego County, when diagnosed, Ana Toro, press officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN. 

More details: This is the 14th confirmed case in the US and the eighth in California.