from ZeroHedge:

Summary:

• Taiwan reports 1st coronavirus death


• Hubei reports 1,933 new cases, 100 deaths


• Hubei health officials report 1,933 new cases, 100 new deaths


• Taiwan taxi driver who died from virus carried passengers from mainland, Hong Kong, Macau


• Singapore reports 3 more cases


• Total cases aboard ‘Diamond Princess’ climbs to 355 as US prepares to evacuate citizens


• Indonesia says 6 passengers from Westerdam cruise ship tested negative


• There are now at least 68,500 cases worldwide, and at least 1,665 deaths from the Covid-19 virus


• Japan found 70 more cases aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship


• Second African confirms suspected coronavirus case


• Hubei province, the outbreak’s epicenter, reported fewer new infections for the second day


• Bill Gates warns “10 million deaths” possible in Africa


• China’s facemask shortage likely won’t be over anytime soon


• WHO says Beijing’s actions bought the world time, but “we don’t know how much time”

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Update (1750ET): Health officials from Hubei Province have released the latest round of figures from Sunday. They announced 1,933 new confirmed cases and 100 new deaths for Feb. 16.

The new figures bring the totals for the province to 58,182 cases, and 1696 deaths in the province. These data bring total cases around the globe north of 71,000, while the death toll rapidly approaches 2,000.

As the Communist Party tries to get the country back to work, 760 million people are now under quarantine.

In the latest NYT story chronicling the situation on the ground in the areas worst-hit by the virus, the paper notes that the virus response has revived a type of Cultural Revolution-era social controls – relying on everyday citizens to spy and inform on their neighbors, and report anybody not in compliance with government guidelines.

China has flooded cities and villages with battalions of neighborhood busybodies, uniformed volunteers and Communist Party representatives to carry out one of the biggest social control campaigns in history.

The goal: to keep hundreds of millions of people away from everyone but their closest kin.

The nation is battling the coronavirus outbreak with a grass-roots mobilization reminiscent of Mao-style mass crusades not seen in China in decades, essentially entrusting front line epidemic prevention to a supercharged version of a neighborhood watch.

Venture outside without your facemask at your own risk.

* * *

Update (1600ET): The US has reportedly chartered 2 Boeing 747s to evacuated hundreds of desperate and terrified passengers aboard the ‘Diamond Princess’ cruise ship under quarantine in Yokohama. The ships have just landed in Tokyo, according to CNN.

As the Americans scrambled to prepare for takeoff, Japanese health officials confirmed another 70 cases of coronavirus among the ship’s passengers and crew. The number of confirmed cases has climbed to 355.

“Can’t get off here fast enough,” Sarah Arana, 52, a medical social worker from Paso Robles, Calif., told the NYT.

Passengers have been told that there will be no room for carry-on luggage, so all baggage needed to fit under the seat.

Late in the afternoon, as buses lined up on the pier, American officials dressed in protective suits knocked on the cabin doors of American citizens to inform them that they needed to put their luggage out at 6 p.m. to prepare for the 9 p.m. transfer.

Japan has recorded the highest number of infections from the new coronavirus outside mainland China: 414, if one includes the ‘Diamond Princess’ cases.

It’s worth noting that the US evacuation is taking place just days before the end of the quarantine, on Feb. 19. At that point, anybody still aboard the ship who hasn’t contracted the virus will be free to leave. Some Americans who initially signed up for the evacuation flight have changed their minds.

Some remained hesitant about whether to take the charter flight. Linda Tsukamoto, 63, a retired retail manager from Marina del Rey, Calif., said she had signed up for the evacuation flight, but changed her mind at the last minute.

Ms. Tsukamoto stuck a Post-it note on her door reading: “I’m staying.” Three military doctors came to her door and advised her to go. Their emphatic tone, she said, was “scary,” but she is standing her ground.

“I’d rather go home first class on United Airlines than a cold, noisy military charter when the Japanese Ministry of Health releases us,” she said. “I refuse to be fearful but respect the U.S. government to help others who feel more comfortable rushing home.”

As we mentioned earlier, 40 Americans who have contracted the virus will be left behind in a Japanese hospital under quarantine. But we must admit:  Tsukamoto has a point.

Meanwhile, Italy’s foreign minister said Sunday the Italian government is planning to rescue the 35 Italians still aboard the ship.

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Update (1140ET): It’s almost Monday in China. Here’s a smattering of updates from the region as the number of confirmed cases ex-China is starting to go exponential. If these cases continue accelerating, it will soon become impossible for the Chinese government to continue rigging their data.

First, Malaysia reports that six passengers who have been quarantined since arriving in the country from Cambodia after disembarking from the Westerdam cruise ship have tested negative for the virus. Yesterday, we reported that an 83-year-old American woman tested positive for the virus after flying to Kuala Lumpur.

As we noted earlier, the Taiwanese man who succumbed to the virus was a taxi driver who apparently carried three fares all returning from China, Hong Kong and Macau. The three fares are being tracked very closely by the government in Taiwan. The man also had a history of diabetes and hep B.

Singapore’s ministry of health reported three new cases, two of which appear to be linked to a cluster of cases at the Grace Assembly of God church, Bloomberg reports.

Following reports that one of Wuhan’s hastily constructed hospitals is already falling down, a hospital head in the city appeared on state television to insist that a “turning point has been reached” in the government’s fight to suppress the virus. ‘Experts’ speaking to Xinhua on Sunday parroted the message from the regime and insisted that the outbreak will only leave a slight dent in the economy.

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