Flights to China have been grounded and stores and factories shuttered as the death toll associated with the coronavirus outbreak reached 132.
Beijing - Flights to China have been grounded and stores and factories shuttered as the death toll associated with the country's coronavirus outbreak reached 132 on Wednesday, according to the China National Health Commission.
A total of 840 new infections were confirmed on Tuesday in central China's Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak and where several cities, including hard-hit Wuhan, are under an effective quarantine. This brings the total number of cases to 3,554 within the province and more than 6,000 nationwide, representing a 60 per cent increase overnight.
Starbucks said it was closing half of its some 4,000 outlets nationwide, while Japanese automaker Toyota announced it would halt operations in its Chinese plants until at least February 9. Facebook has suspended non-essential staff travel to mainland China and British banking giant HSBC banned employee trips to Hong Kong for two weeks, and to mainland China until further notice. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng stock market index dropped 3 percent when it re-opened on Wednesday after the Lunar New Year holiday.
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