We have some positive news for those living in China. The National Health Commission reported only 40 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday – the lowest number of cases since the health commission began publishing nationwide data on January 20, according to Reuters.
Outside of Hubei province, there were zero locally transmitted cases for the second consecutive day, with 36 new infections in Hubei’s capital city Wuhan and four cases in Gansu, which were imported from Iran.
There are now under 19,000 active coronavirus cases in China, with 5,111 in serious or critical condition. More recently, Chinese authorities have been on alert for coronavirus infections coming from abroad, with multiple provinces requiring travelers arriving from severely affected countries (South Korea, Italy, Iran) to be quarantined for 14 days.
More Chinese workers are expected to return to offices, malls and factories this week, with companies taking precautionary measures to reduce the risk of transmission.
Outside of China, COVID-19 has spread rapidly to over 100 countries, with more than 7,000 total cases each in Italy and Iran. In the US, there are 542 total coronavirus cases and 22 dead.
On Monday morning, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped more than 4% after markets opened while the Shanghai Composite fell 2% to start the trading day in response to both the ongoing coronavirus epidemic and a massive drop in oil prices. CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal reported that the entire value of cryptocurrencies fell by over USD21 billion on Monday following a 30% drop in Brent crude futures.
READ MORE: 10 Dead After Coronavirus Quarantine Hotel Collapses in China
[Cover image via @elina.im/Instagram]
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