Hong Kong records first death from new coronavirus; overall toll more than 420

Hong Kong reported its first death from the newly identified coronavirus on Tuesday, the second outside mainland China from an outbreak that has killed more than 420 people, spread around the world and raised fears for global economic growth.

China’s currency and stock markets steadied in choppy trade after anxiety over the coronavirus hit the yuan on Monday and erased some $400 billion in market value from Shanghai’s benchmark index, BBC reportds.

Macau, the world’s biggest gambling hub, said it had asked all casino operators to suspend operations for two weeks to help curb the spread of the virus.

More foreigners were evacuated from China’s locked-down central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and thousands of people were stranded on a Japanese cruise ship after a passenger tested positive for the virus.

The Hong Kong fatality brought the total death toll from the virus to 427, including a man who died in the Philippines last week after visiting Wuhan. Chinese authorities said the toll in China rose by a record 64 from the previous day to 425, mostly in Hubei province of which Wuhan is capital.

New cases were reported in the United States including a patient in California who was infected through close contact with someone in the same household who had been infected in China.

It marked the second instance of person-to-person spread of the virus in the United States after another such case was reported last week in Illinois.