Coronavirus death toll surges past 1,000 as fears grow for Chinese economy

The death toll from China’s coronavirus epidemic has soared past 1,000, the government said on Tuesday, as worry grew that the extent of economic disruption to the world’s second-largest economy was greater than estimated. Companies struggled to get back to work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday while hundreds of Chinese firms said they would need billions of dollars in loans to stay afloat. Layoffs also began, despite assurances by President Xi Jinping that widespread sackings would be avoided.

Another 108 virus deaths were reported on Tuesday, a daily record, taking to 1,016 the total of those killed in China, the National Health Commission said. All but five of the deaths were in the central province of Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak. There were 2,478 new confirmed cases on the mainland by Monday, down from 3,062 the previous day, bringing the total to 42,638. It was the second time in two weeks that authorities recorded a daily drop in new cases, offering a hint of hope the epidemic was peaking.

Asian stock markets rallied as investors took some comfort from the drop, even though experts have warned it is too early to assume the numbers represent a trend. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the spread of cases outside China could be “the spark that becomes a bigger fire”. More than 300 Chinese companies are seeking bank loans totaling at least 57.4 billion yuan ($8.2 billion) to help cope with the disruption caused by locked down cities, closed factories and crippled supply lines, two banking sources said.