Yet even as COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, reached new territory, it was retreating in China, where it first emerged late last year, and slowing in South Korea, another major epicenter.
More than half of those who contracted the virus have now recovered, and U.S. health officials said they expect a far lower death rate than the World Health Organization’s international estimate of 3.4% — a high rate that doesn’t account for mild cases that go uncounted.
The fear and the crackdowns that swept through China are now shifting westward, as workers in Europe and the U.S. stay home, authorities vigorously sanitize public places and consumers flock to stores for household staples.
“The Western world is now following some of China’s playbook,” said Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at the financial firm IG.
The spectacle of a cruise ship ordered to stay at sea off the California coast over virus fears replicated ones weeks ago on the other side of the globe in which hundreds of people were infected on a ship even during a quarantine. Thailand on Friday blocked a separate cruise ship from docking, worried that it carried dozens of passengers from Italy, the center of Europe’s epidemic, which has 148 virus deaths. No one on that ship was known to be infected.
In the U.S. the number of cases passed 230 people scattered across 18 states. President Donald Trump canceled a trip to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta even as he prepared to sign a $8.3 billion bill for vaccines, tests, potential treatments, and to help state and local governments.
China reported 143 new cases Friday, the same as a day earlier and about one-third what the country was seeing a week ago. Just a month ago, China was reporting several thousand new cases a day. The problem has now flipped, with the outbreak moving to Europe — where Italy, Germany and France had the most cases — and beyond.
South Korea reported 505 additional cases Friday, down from a high of 851 on Tuesday.
The new virus has spread to about 90 countries. The Netherlands reported its first virus death Friday while Serbia, Slovakia, Peru and Cameroon announced their first infections. Even Vatican City was hit, with the tiny city-state confirming its first case Friday but not saying who was infected. The Vatican has insisted that 83-year-old Pope Francis, who has been sick, only has a cold.
