China Fears Virus Outbreak Could Threaten Economy
February 11, 2020
People in China started returning to work yesterday after an extended Lunar New Year holiday as the government eased restrictions imposed to counter the coronavirus. China’s President Xi Jinping warned top official that the efforts to contain the new virus had gone too far, threatening the county’s economy, according to Reuters.
China’s growth has slowed to the lowest level in nearly three decades and China leaders are eager to achieve a balance between protecting a slowing economy and stopping an epidemic.
China’s President Xi Jinping said that the government would prevent large-scale layoffs amid the coronavirus outbreak. State television reported President Xi as saying the China will strive to meet its economic and social targets for the year and make economic adjustments to minimize the impact of the virus.
The World Health Organization said the number of cases outside China could be just the “tip of the iceberg”. The death toll increased to 909, all but two in mainland China, on Sunday as 97 more fatalities were recorded. Across mainland China, 3,062 new infections were confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total number to 40,235, according to the National Health Commission. WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom, said an advance WHO team of medical experts arrived in China on Monday to investigate the coronavirus outbreak. He said there had been a concerning incidents of an onward spread of the virus in people with no history of travel to China which “could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire.”
Bloomberg reported that US President Donald Trump has proposed selling 15 million barrels from the US oil reserve in his budget proposal.
Two Iraqi government officials said the US has agreed to extend a waiver for Iraq to import Iranian energy supplies including as. They did not say how long the renewed waiver would last.