VIRUS DISEASES – CHINA

Mines, hotels to host evacuees

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 6-Feb-20

The death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 492, and more than 24,000 people have now contracted the respiratory illness, including 14 in Australia. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has warned that more Australian citizens and permanent residents will probably need to be evacuated from China. He adds that the federal government may quarantine future evacuees in hotels and mining camps if the Christmas Island facility reaches capacity. Meanwhile, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has told his state counterparts that the virus’s impact on the domestic economy could exceed that of the SARS outbreak in 2003.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Travel ban ‘won’t be turned off’

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 7 : 5-Feb-20

Health Minister Greg Hunt has indicated that the federal government is likely to extend its ban on non-citizens entering Australia from the Chinese mainland, which was initially slated to last for two weeks. Wang Xining, the China’s deputy ambassador to Australia, has described it as an over-reaction and notes that the World Health Organization believes that such measures are not necessary. Wang adds that the Chinese embassy was not advised of the travel ban before it was announced, but Hunt says that senior officials in China were told of the ban as soon as the government decided to impose it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Coronavirus outbreak not yet pandemic, World Health Organization says

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Original article by
bbc.com – Page: Online : 5-Feb-20

Mainland China’s death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 425, while Hong Kong and the Philippines have each confirmed one death. More than 20,000 people worldwide have now contracted the respiratory illness, including 13 in Australia, but the World Health Organization says the coronavirus outbreak does not yet constitute a pandemic. Meanwhile, WHO has criticised the spreading of misinformation about the coronavirus.

CORPORATES
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Chinese conglomerate isolates 20 workers at Pilbara iron ore mine

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 5-Feb-20

Twenty workers at Citic Pacific’s Sino Iron magnetite project in Western Australia have been placed in quarantine for 14 days, due to concern about the coronavirus. The Chinese company says the move to isolate the workers is a precautionary measure, as they had visited China since 17 January. The company adds that the health and wellbeing of its employees and contractors is its main priority.

CORPORATES
CITIC LIMITED, SINO IRON PTY LTD, MINERALOGY PTY LTD

Virus crisis could cost nation $13bn

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 3-Feb-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has conceded that events that are beyond the federal government’s control will have a significant impact on the domestic economy. Some estimates suggest that the coronavirus could potentially reduce economic activity by up to $13bn in the first half of 2020, with the tourism and education export sectors to be particularly hard hit. The coronavirus could also jeopardise the government’s revenue projections in its mid-year Budget update, due to its potential effect on the prices of commodities such as iron ore and coal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Government waives $1000 evacuation fee

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Original article by Richard Ferguson, Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 6 : 3-Feb-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has advised that Australian citizens who are evacuated from Wuhan will not be charged up to $1,000 for their flight. He says the Department of Foreign Affairs had provided the government with incorrect advice with regard to the costs associated with ‘assisted departures’. However, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had previously stated that it is "commonsense" for the government to recoup some of the costs of the chartered Qantas flight. More than 200 of the 600 registered Australian citizens in Wuhan are expected to be evacuated to Christmas Island, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Coronavirus: First victim dies outside China

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Original article by Jonathan Cheng, Feliz Solomon
The Australian – Page: 6 : 3-Feb-20

Chinese authorities have confirmed that the nation’s death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 304, while 14,380 people have been diagnosed with the virus. Meanwhile, the Philippines government has advised that a 44-year-old man has died from the coronavirus at a hospital in Manila. He is one of two people in the Philippines who have contracted the illness; both had arrived in the country from Wuhan on 21 January. At least 150 people in 24 countries have now fallen ill with the coronavirus, including 12 in Australia.

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Coronavirus: foreign arrivals from mainland China will not be allowed into Australia, Scott Morrison says

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Original article by
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 3-Feb-20

The federal government has raised its travel advice warning for mainland China to level four, recommending that Australians should not travel to the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. The government has also announced that it will not allow anybody travelling from China to enter Australia unless they are Australian citizens or permanent residents. Meanwhile, Qantas will suspend all direct flights to mainland China from 9 February until 29 March, while the Trump administration will temporarily ban entry to the US by any foreign national who has travelled to China in the last 14 days.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Virus fears, rate uncertainty push $A to worst January since 2015

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Original article by Timothy Moore
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 3-Feb-20

The Australian dollar has shed 4.7 per cent so far in 2020, and factors such as the coronavirus and the prospect of further interest rate cuts could see the currency test a new post-global financial crisis low. The Reserve Bank of Australia is now widely tipped to reduce the cash rate in April, although Prashant Newnaha of TD Securities says a rate cut in March is still possible. The RBA is expected to downgrade its economic growth forecasts on 7 February, and National Australia Bank economist Kaixin Owyong says this means that further rate cuts will be necessary.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, TD SECURITIES, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Flu or no, Fortescue eyes export record

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 31-Jan-20

Fortescue Metals Group’s iron ore shipments from the Pilbara topped 88.6 million tonnes in the first half of 2019-20. A similar performance in the second half would see the group beat its previous full-year record of 170.4 million tonnes. CEO Elizabeth Gaines says the pure-play miner has not yet received any requests from steelmakers in Hubei to delay shipments, despite the temporary closure of the province’s ports due to the coronavirus outbreak.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG