China reports 242 new deaths and 14,840 new infections in Hubei, the biggest one-day increases since the crisis began.
China’s new official toll stands at more than 1,360 deaths and nearly 60,000 infections.
Vietnam becomes the first country outside China to impose a mass quarantine, confining more than 10,000 people to six villages near Hanoi for 20 days.
Checkpoints are set up around the villages that make up Son Loi after the health ministry reports six infections there.
Another 44 people on board a quarantined cruise ship off Japan’s coast have tested positive, the health minister says, taking the number to 218.
Thousands of people on-board the Diamond Princess are under quarantine until February 19, although Health Minister Katsunobu Kato says some elderly passengers will be allowed off if they test negative.
The US cruise ship Westerdam is finally given permission to dock in Cambodia, having been turned away from several Asian ports over concerns that a passenger could be infected.
This ship is to dock early Friday in Sihanoukville and passengers will be transferred directly to the airport to fly to Phnom Penh and onward.
The world’s top mobile telephone trade fair, the annual World Mobile Congress, is cancelled after fears stemming from the Coronavirus spark an exodus of industry heavyweights.
A major sports conference scheduled for Beijing is another casualty. Organizers are looking for an alternative venue for the Sports-Accord World Sports and Business Summit 2020, originally set for Beijing in April.
The International Energy Agency warns that global oil demand will suffer its first quarterly drop in a decade as the COVID-19 virus lashes the economy in China and its impact ripples throughout the world.
