The number of reported new cases of coronavirus in China's Hubei province rose on Monday after two days of falls, as the authorities imposed tough new restrictions on movement to prevent the spread of the disease that has now killed more than 1,700 people.
With no end in sight for the outbreak, Japan and Singapore appeared to be on the brink of recession with data on Monday pointing to possible contractions in the current quarter.
Despite the continuous spread of the virus on mainland China, authorities in Macau say casinos can resume operations from February 20 after two-week suspension.
Dubai's hospitality industry, which received almost one million Chinese visitors last year, is most at risk among the Gulf states. Travel restrictions associated with the new coronavirus outbreak post the main threat, ratings agency S&P Global said.
In Cambodia, hundreds of people who disembarked from a cruise ship that docked there last week were anxiously awaiting information on when they could return home, after a former passenger tested positive for the virus in Malaysia.
Holland America Line said it was working with governments and health experts to track passengers who disembarked from the Westerdam.
More than 100 former passengers have already left the country, while some 300 are reportedly still in Cambodia.
In Hubei, the centre of the outbreak, health officials reported 1,933 new cases and 100 new deaths on Sunday, the lowest daily death count since February 11. The number of new cases rose nearly 5 per cent from the previous day, but the number of deaths fell from 139.
Nearly 90 per cent of the new cases were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the virus is believed to have originated at a market illegally trading wildlife late last year.
Across mainland China, officials said the total number of cases rose by 2,048 to 70,548, with 1,770 deaths.
Health officials in the UAE confirmed a ninth case in the country on Sunday. The Chinese citizen, 37, is said to be in a stable condition after contracting the virus.
Of the eight other cases, three patients have made a full recovery, with the remainder still receiving care.
Taiwan on Sunday reported its first death from the virus, the fifth fatality outside of mainland China.
Taiwan's Central News Agency, citing health minister Chen Shih-chung, said the man who died was in his 60s, had not travelled overseas recently and had no known contact with virus patients.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened a meeting of experts to discuss containment measures. More than a dozen cases – without any obvious link to China – have emerged in Japan over the past few days.
“The situation surrounding this virus is changing by the minute,” Mr Abe said.
Hundreds of passengers were preparing on Monday to be moved from a cruise ship they had been quarantined on after spending two weeks off Japan.
US passengers flew home on chartered planes early on Monday morning.
Fourteen people among the more than 300 US citizens and family members repatriated by plane from the Diamond Princess in Yokohama tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 14 people were allowed on the chartered flights, the US State Department and Department of Health and Human Services said.
"These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialised containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols," the statement read.
"During the flights, these individuals will continue to be isolated from the other passengers."
The first flight is due to land shortly at a US Air Force base in California, where all passengers will undergo 14 days' quarantine.
Despite the evacuation efforts, the number of cases from the ship stands at 454 people, the most anywhere outside China.
Meanwhile, US billionaire Bill Gates warned that the coronavirus in Africa could overwhelm health services and trigger a pandemic that could cause 10 million deaths.
The Microsoft founder and global health pioneer was speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Seattle just hours before the first case was confirmed in Cairo, Egypt.
There are now fears that the disease could spread to sub-Saharan Africa where it could spark an uncontrollable outbreak, with health services unable to monitor or control the virus.
