China on Friday reported an uptick in new cases of coronavirus, boosted by over 200 people testing positive for the disease in two prisons outside of Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.
As international authorities tried to stop the outbreak in China from becoming a global pandemic, finance leaders from the Group of 20 major economies meeting in Saudi Arabia over the weekend were set to discuss risks to the global economy.
China has had over 75,400 cases of the coronavirus and 2,236 people have died of the disease it causes, known as COVID-19, most in Hubei province and its capital of Wuhan where the virus emerged in a wildlife market in December.
Asian shares dipped as fears over the creeping spread of the disease sent funds fleeing to the sheltered shores of U.S. assets, lifting the dollar to three-year highs.
“COVID-19 anxiety has risen to a new level amid concerns of virus outbreaks in Beijing and outside of China,” said Rodrigo Catril, a senior FX strategist at NAB.
Japan and Singapore are on the brink of recession and South Korea said its exports to China slumped in the first 20 days of February, with the outbreak upending global supply chains.
Mainland China had 889 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections as of Feb. 20, the National Health Commission said, up from 394 cases a day earlier.
The death toll rose by 118, with most in Wuhan, which remains under virtual lockdown.
Infections found in two jails, in the northern province of Shandong and the eastern province of Zhejiang, made up most of the 258 newly confirmed cases outside Hubei.
After several days of more encouraging trends in infections, China’s Communist Party newspaper warned that it would be mistake to think victory was in sight.
“If we give in to blind self-confidence, the epidemic could rebound and the virus exploit us when we are off guard,” the People’s Daily said.
According to a Reuters tally of official statements, the virus has emerged in some 26 countries and territories outside mainland China where there have been 11 deaths.
South Korea reported 52 new confirmed cases of the virus, taking the national total to 156.