Japan Unveils $4 Billion aid Package to Help Economy

• China reported 19 new confirmed cases and 17 additional deaths as of March 9, according to the country’s National Health Commission, bring the total number of infection to 80,754, with 3,136 deaths to-date. 
• South Korea confirmed another 131 cases, and three more deaths, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday morning. 
• The White House said Monday evening that U.S. President Donald Trump has not been tested for COVID-19 because “he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients nor does he have any symptoms.” 

• • Global cases: At least 110,029, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization
  • Global deaths: At least 3,817, according to the latest figures from the WHO

  All the times below are in Beijing time.

  6:44 pm: Coronavirus slows return of poor Chinese migrant workers to their jobs

  
  

  
  

  It’s taking longer for Chinese migrant workers this year to return to their jobs in larger cities, as the virus outbreak has restricted travel throughout the country.

  As of March 5, the number of migrant workers from poor households was 14.2 million, 52% of what it was last year, Su Guoxia, spokeswoman of the State Council’s Poverty Alleviation Office, said Tuesday at a press conference.

  “Not only have they left later, but there’s not as many as last year,” she said, according to a CNBC translation of her Mandarin-language remarks.

  She also noted that spring plowing has also been affected, while blocks in logistics channels have prevented the flow of agricultural products, directly affecting the income of poor households.

  Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced 2020 is the year China will eliminate poverty. As of the end of last year, 5.51 million people still lived in poverty, according to official figures.  Su said Tuesday that the start of some poverty alleviation programs have been delayed, and only about a third have begun work. — Cheng

  
  

  6:16 pm: Wuhan city closes all makeshift hospitals

  The last of the 14 makeshift hospitals in Wuhan city, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, discharged its final patient on Tuesday afternoon, according to state media.
  
  The city had opened the makeshift, or “cabin” hospitals, on Feb. 5 and these re-purposed venues have treated more than 12,000 people with mild cases of the virus, according to CCTV.

  Last week, other Chinese media reports noted that at least one such hospital warned of an increasing number of relapses among discharged patients. — Cheng

  5:25 pm: Japan unveils $4 billion coronavirus package

  Japan has unveiled the second package of measures worth about $4 billion in spending to cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported. The measures, published Tuesday, focus on support to small and mid-sized firms.

  The package aims to boost growth and stave off corporate bankruptcies as Japan’s economy suffers from a decline in tourism amid the outbreak.

  The government will tap the rest of this fiscal year’s budget reserve of about 270 billion yen to help fund the package, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, Reuters reported.