British Airways has paused all flights to and from mainland China, and reports are circulating that U.S. President Trump is considering a similar ban on flights from the U.S., as reported cases of the coronavirus continue to rise, and the death toll climbs. The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) has already recommended that travelers cancel all non-essential travel to China. In addition to the cancellations by British Airways, United Airlines has suspended 24 flights from the U.S. to the Far East between February 1 and February 8 due to low demand, and other airlines, including Air Seoul, Cathay Pacific, and Air Canada, have said that they will cancel flights if necessary. Indonesia’s Lion Air also announced on Wednesday that it would suspend all flights to and from China starting in February.
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The virus has now caused over 130 deaths and has its first reported cases in the Middle East, in the United Arab Emirates. In a statement from the ministry of health in the UAE, the ministry reported that the affected family of four that traveled to the country from the Wuhan province in China recently is currently stable and under medical observation. Over 6,000 cases of the virus have now been confirmed, up from 4,515 yesterday. The fatality rate for the disease is currently between 2 and 3 percent. The ministry did not announce in which city the infected family is located in the UAE.
Despite the continued spread of the disease, U.S. markets made a significant recovery on Tuesday and are expected to continue higher on Wednesday. European markets were broadly higher on Wednesday, with the FTSE up 0.16 percent as of 12:17 p.m. GMT, and the DAX up 0.14 percent. France’s CAC gained 0.36 percent by the late morning. The gains came as all major Asian indexes closed higher.
The currency markets were stable by midday in London.