Airlines continue to suffer
With stocks on the way down again, one sector is suffering more than most: airlines. According to the industry’s leading body, the International Air Transport Association, companies could lose up to $113bn in revenue this year as regular services are suspended, populations are put in lockdown and businesses and individuals cut down on travel.
The boss of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly, said the drastic drop-off in travel demand seemed fear-driven and was similar to what the industry experienced after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
“We could discount prices tomorrow and it wouldn’t do any good,” Kelly said at a conference in Washington.Earlier, Kelly told CNBC: “9/11 wasn’t an economically driven issue for travel, it was more fear, quite frankly, and I think that’s what’s manifested this time.”
The Dow Jones US airlines Index closed down 8.6% as the wider market slumped by 3.6%, or nearly 1,000 points.
Here’s the full story from our transport correspondent, Gwyn Topham:
Photograph: Kate Munsch/Reuters
Businesses in Australia are enacting emergency measures to address the threat of workplace transmission after concerns about staff exposure the novel coronavirus.
Management of the Sydney branch of global media conglomerate ViacomCBS closed their Darlinghurst premises on Thursday after an employee was found to have potentially been exposed to the virus. Staff were sent home to work remotely as a precautionary measure until further notice.
“This individual has not been diagnosed with the virus and is currently seeking medical advice,” the company said in a statement.
Meanwhile, law firm Clayton Utz sent all its staff home on Thursday and told them to work remotely on Friday after a senior staff member discovered his wife’s grandmother, who died on Tuesday in hospital, had tested positive to the virus. His wife had recently visited her grandmother.
Clayton Utz’s chief executive partner Rob Cutler told the Australian Financial Review that staff would not return to work until they received the results of the employee’s testing, and that if the test were positive, it could mean a two-weeks of quarantine and testing across the firm.
US death toll reaches 12
The US death toll from the coronavirus rose to 12 on Thursday when King County, Washington reported the latest fatality. Of the 12 US deaths, 11 have come in Washington state and one in California.
Many of the cases in Washington have been linked to an outbreak at a nursing facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, including six deaths.
Emmanuel Macron says epidemic is “inevitable” in France
French president Emmanuel Macron has said a coronavirus epidemic is “inevitable” in France.
“There is a moment when we all know that… an epidemic is inevitable,” Macron said.
On Thursday the French health ministry reported three more deaths from the disease, bringing the country’s toll to seven.
The country recorded 138 new virus cases in the biggest daily jump, bringing the total number nationwide to 423.
In a sign of the growing concern over the French figures, the EU parliament announced that the venue for next week’s session would be switched from Strasbourg in eastern France to the Belgian capital Brussels.
The Vatican is planing special virus measures for the pope
The Vatican said on Thursday it was considering changes to Pope Francis’s schedule “to avoid the dissemination” of the new coronavirus that has killed 148 people and infected hundreds in Italy.
The Vatican did not say whether the outgoing 83-year-old pope would be temporarily kept away from crowds or whether he would stop shaking hands with visitors.
Pope Francis has not been seen in public since announcing during his traditional Sunday prayer before crowds on Saint Peter’s Square that he was skipping an annual spiritual refuge south of Rome because of a cold.
He had been seen coughing and sniffing since last Wednesday.
The pontiff has cut down his schedule and has spent most of his time at his Saint Martha’s guest house in the Vatican.
In Italy, the coronavirus death toll has risen by 41 over the past 24 hours to 148, the Civil Protection Agency said on Thursday, with the contagion still showing no sign of slowing.
The accumulative number of cases in the country, which is hardest hit by the virus in Europe, totalled 3,858, up from 3,089 on Wednesday.
The head of the agency said that of those originally infected, 414 had fully recovered versus 276 the day before.
While the contagion is focused on a handful of hotspots in the north of Italy, cases have now been confirmed in each of the country’s 20 regions.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a 30-day state of emergency on Thursday after coronavirus cases were reported in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
The decree was announced hours after officials closed Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplaces of Jesus, and banned foreign tourists from West Bank hotels.
“We have decided to declare a state of emergency in all Palestinian areas to confront the danger of the coronavirus and prevent it from spreading,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, reading from the decree.
He also decided to close all schools, colleges and kindergartens and to cancel foreign tourist reservations.
US stock markets closed sharply lower again on Thursday as fears about fallout from the virus outbreak sent more shudders through the financial world.
The Dow Jones sank 968 points, or 3.6%, wiping out most of its surge of 1,173 points a day earlier. Treasury yields sank to more record lows as investors plowed money into low-risk investments.
Markets have been stuck on a rollercoaster for weeks because of uncertainty about how much damage the outbreak of the new coronavirus will do to the global economy.
These vicious swings are likely only to continue, as long as the number of new infections continues to accelerate, many analysts and professional investors say.
Brett Dean has been diagnosed with coronavirus. Photograph: PR
Australian composer Brett Dean has been diagnosed with coronavirus, the ABC reports. He had withdrawn from an Adelaide Symphony Orchestra event fearing he had pneumonia, but has since tested positive for Covid-19. There are seven confirmed cases of the virus in the state of Adelaide. Three of the people he came into contact with have placed themselves in quarantine.
There are currently seven confirmed cases of the virus in Adelaide, including Dean and an eight-month-old boy, who was also diagnosed yesterday.
The Australian market has followed the lead set by the US and dropped 1.6% shortly after the opening bell as coronavirus fears once again grip traders.
US markets were down about 3.5% overnight (Australian time) after California, the country’s biggest state by population, declared a state of emergency and infections in New York City surged.
Travel agencies have taken a big hit on the back of bans on corporate travel and tourism.
Corporate Travel Management, which has been falling for a fortnight, dropped again in early trade, shedding about 6%. It’s already been savaged this week, shedding 7.5% on Thursday and more than 9% on Wednesday.
Flight Centre, which has also had a bad fortnight, fell about 5%.
All the big four banks – ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac – were down more than 2%, with NAB the biggest loser of the pack at almost 3.7%.
Updated
