Health and Science

WHO calls Iran and Italy cases 'deeply concerning,' Goldman cuts GDP forecast

Italy and Iran latest countries to see rise in coronavirus cases
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Italy and Iran latest countries to see rise in coronavirus cases

The coverage on this live blog has ended — but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's Asia-Pacific team.

All times below are in Eastern time.

Total confirmed cases: More than 79,400
Total deaths: At least 2,621

6:36 pm: Some Apple retail stores re-open in China

Apple's retail operation in China is waking up after coronavirus-related closures.

According to Apple's website, 29 of Apple's 42 retail stores in Mainland China have re-opened, although many are operating on limited hours. Earlier this month, Apple temporarily shuttered all of its stores and corporate offices in China due to "an abundance of caution." Last week, Apple warned that it would miss its $63 billion to $67 billion estimate for March quarter revenue due to the coronavirus and efforts to mitigate its effect. Apple pointed to the closure of its stores in China as well as limited hours and low customer traffic as reasons why demand for Apple products on the mainland had been affected. Apple also warned at the time that iPhone supply could be constrained due to issues with manufacturing in China. —Leswing

5:50 pm: United Airlines withdraws 2020 forecast on coronavirus uncertainty

United Airlines withdrew its full-year 2020 forecast citing the impact of the outbreak and said it was seeing a roughly 100% decline in near-term demand to China. As a result of the outbreak, the company said it has suspended flights between the United States and Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hong Kong through April 24. "Due to the heightened uncertainty surrounding this outbreak, its duration, its impact on overall demand for air travel and the possibility the outbreak spreads to other regions, the Company is withdrawing all full-year 2020 guidance issued on January 21, 2020," United said in a regulatory filing. —Reuters

South Korean tourists leaving Israel are pictured at a pavillon separated from the main terminal of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on February 24, 2020.
AHMAD GHARABLI

5:22 pm: Paramount Pictures halts production of 'Mission: Impossible VII' in Italy

Paramount Pictures has reportedly halted production on its anticipated action film "Mission: Impossible VII" starring Tom Cruise in Venice, Italy, as a coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the country. "Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus, we are altering the production plan for our three-week shoot in Venice, the scheduled first leg of an extensive production for Mission: Impossible 7," a Paramount spokesperson told The Wrap in a statement Monday. Representatives for Paramount did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. —Higgins-Dunn, Whitten

4:35 pm: Dow plunges 1,000 points on outbreak fears, worst day in two years

Stocks fell sharply as the number of cases outside China surged, stoking fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1,031.61 points lower, or 3.56%, at 27,960.80. The S&P 500 slid 3.35% to 3,225.89 while the Nasdaq Composite closed 3.71% lower at 9,221.28. It was the Dow's biggest point and percentage-point drop since February 2018. The Dow also gave up its gains for 2020 and is now down 2% for the year. The S&P 500 also had its worst day in two years and wiped out its year-to-date gain as well. —Imbert, Huang

4:31 pm: Tesla shares tumble

Tesla shares tumbled amid the broader market sell-off. Tesla, which recently began manufacturing operations in Shanghai, saw its shares close down 7.5%, ending the day at $833.79. Tesla also relies on many Chinese suppliers to make its electric cars, and is hoping to sell more cars to Chinese consumers. As the outbreak emerged, Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said on a 2019 fourth-quarter earnings call that the coronavirus outbreak would only cause the business a week-and-a-half production delay in China. By Feb. 13, the company changed its tone and said in an annual financial filing that the coronavirus outbreak may have a material adverse impact on its business. —Kolodny

4:07 pm: Virus cases in China have plateaued, but the exact timing of peak is unclear

COVID-19 cases in China appears to have plateaued, according to data from both WHO and outside researchers tracking the disease. The exact timing of when cases peaked, however, is unclear. WHO said earlier in the day that cases in China peaked and plateaued between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2. But WHO's data appears to show that cases leveled off sometime the week of Feb. 14. The reason for the apparent discrepancy could be because China changed the way it classifies cases three times, said Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the University of Toronto. "It's hard to look at the data and derive definitive conclusions, given the definition of cases has been changed several times," he said. "Whether or not it peaked at that time or another time, the key point is that it does appear to be peaking and plateauing now." — Lovelace

3:40 pm: Outbreak may worsen due to quality of health care

The coronavirus' spread into additional countries is concerning because not every nation is well-equipped to treat it, public health expert Leana Wen told CNBC on Monday. "We are now also seeing countries that don't have well-developed health care systems, and I'm very worried about what happens when this outbreak hits those countries," said Wen, a visiting professor at George Washington University's School of Public Health. The former health commissioner of Baltimore, Wen said weak government institutions, and a lack of public trust in them, could "make the outbreak much more difficult to contain." — Stankiewicz

2:45 pm: What the coronavirus means for China's economy

What does the coronavirus mean for China's economy?
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What does the coronavirus mean for China's economy?

2:15 pm: Coronavirus plunge wipes more than $250 billion from Big Tech stocks

Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet collectively lost more than $250 billion in value as part of a broader market plunge. The tech companies make up nearly one-fifth of the value of the S&P 500, which itself is down more than 3.6%. Apple has the largest exposure to China, as it relies heavily on Chinese manufacturing plants for its top products and on Chinese consumers to buy iPhones. —Bursztynsky

1:45 pm Oil falls more than 5% at low as coronavirus sparks demand fears

Oil slid more than 5% at its session low on Monday, falling into bear market territory as the number of coronavirus cases outside of China surged, worrying investors that a subsequent slowdown in the global economy could dent the demand for crude. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slid 4.8%, or $2.53, to $50.85 per barrel, while International benchmark Brent crude fell $2.89, or 4.9%, to trade at $55.62 per barrel. —Stevens

1:17 pm Coronavirus fears could push mortgage rates past 4-year low

As coronavirus fears hit financial markets, U.S. bond yields are tanking, pushing mortgage rates that loosely follow the 10-year Treasury yield toward a four-year low. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage hit 3.42% on Friday, according to Mortgage News Daily. "Aggressive lenders will be at 3.25% today, and 3.375% will be the new going rate for the average lender," said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily. —Olick

1 pm: Experts warn about the reliability of thermometers

Experts warn about the reliability of thermometers
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Experts warn about the reliability of thermometers

12:50 pm: Iran confirms 12 deaths

Twelve people have died and 61 have been infected with the coronavirus in Iran, Tehran's health ministry said. However, a member of parliament said 50 people had died in the city of Qom, 75 miles south of the capital Tehran, alone in the past two weeks from the coronavirus. Meanwhile more than 10,000 drug addicts have been quarantined in treatment centers in Tehran province to guard against the coronavirus, state-run IRNA news agency reported, citing a local official.

12:05 pm: Goldman cuts US first-quarter GDP forecast

Goldman Sachs lowered its U.S. growth outlook for the first quarter as the domestic economy takes a hit from the global outbreak. The bank slashed its U.S. GDP growth forecast to just 1.2% from 1.4%, seeing a more severe drag from the epidemic. That growth rate is drastically slower than the 2.1% increase in the fourth quarter and 2.3% for the full year 2019. "The risks are clearly skewed to the downside until the outbreak is contained," Jan Hatzius, Goldman's chief U.S. economist, said in a note on Monday. "An increasing amount of companies [are] suggesting potential production cuts should supply chain disruptions persist into Q2 or later." —Li

11:51 am: Austria says it will stop suspected cases at its borders

Austria said it would stop suspected coronavirus cases from crossing its border, a day after it held up a train from Italy for four hours to wait for test results on two passengers. Austria has yet to have a confirmed case of coronavirus and is extremely wary because of Europe's largest outbreak next door in northern Italy. More than half of freight crossing the Alps passes through Austria. - Reuters

Staff at a pharmacy wear protective face masks as they deal with customers in Milan, Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. Stunned by Europe's biggest surge of the coronavirus, Italy appears to be operating in near panic mode.
Francesca Volpi | Bloomberg via Getty Images

11:36 am: White House planning to ask Congress for emergency funds to fight coronavirus spread

The White House is planning to ask Congress to approve an emergency spending package to help the Trump administration battle the spread of the coronavirus, a source familiar with the situation told CNBC, adding that the proposed spending deal could be sent to Congress as soon as this week. The Washington Post first reported the White House's preparations. —Breuninger

11:29 am WHO says it's too early to declare a coronavirus pandemic

WHO officials stopped short of calling the coronavirus a pandemic but said now is the time to prepare for one. "Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely it has. Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said at a press conference. "This is not the time to focus on what word we use. That will not prevent a single infection today or save a single life today." —Feuer

10:56 am: WHO says new cases in Iran and Italy are 'deeply concerning'

While cases in China have slowed, the "sudden increase in new cases" outside of China is "deeply concerning," Tedros said. Outside of China, there are 2,074 cases across 28 countries, including 23 deaths, he said. "What we see is epidemics in different parts of the world, affecting countries in different ways and requiring a tailored response," he said. —Lovelace

A man wears a protective face mask in St. Mark's Square after the last days of Venice Carnival were cancelled due to coronavirus, in Venice, Italy February 24, 2020.
Manuel Silvestri | Reuters

10:24 am: Airline stocks fall more than broader market

Airline stocks fell as fears about the spread of the coronavirus beyond China added to worries about travel demand and the broader economy. American Airlines shares led the S&P 500 lower with an 8.6% drop in morning trading, hitting a more than four-month low. Delta Air Lines' stock lost 6.7% to the lowest price in nearly four months, while United Airlines was off 4%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was down 2.6%. —Josephs

9:51 am: Seventh death reported in Italy

A seventh person has died in the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy, news agency ANSA said, while the number of confirmed cases rose to more than 220 in the country. ANSA said the latest person to die was an 80-year-old man who had been taken to hospital last week in Lodi after suffering a heart attack. Doctors believe he caught the virus there from another patient. —Reuters

9:40 am: Dow drops more than 900 points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged by more than 900 points in morning trading as the number of cases outside China surged, stoking fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown from the virus. "I've now come to the view that equity markets, global equity markets, have to reprice to take into account or fully discount the dramatic economic impact that all of this is going to have," Jonathan Pain, author of The Pain Report, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Monday in Asia. "I believe that repricing … has just started and I think it's going to be approximately 20% to 25% in the next month or so." Pain said there isn't "a letter in the alphabet which adequately describes the profile of the economic shock that … we're beginning to see." —Imbert, Huang

A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks past a stock indicator displaying share prices of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on February 3, 2020.
BEHROUZ MEHRI | AFP via Getty Images

9:16 am: WHO holds press briefing

World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference at 9:30 a.m. ET to update the public on the outbreak. In the past week, the virus has spread substantially beyond China. It's infected more than 220 people in Italy as of Monday morning. The majority of the cases are in the northern region of Lombardy and neighboring Veneto, where authorities have shut schools and banned public gatherings in an attempt to contain the virus. South Korea confirmed 231 new cases on Monday, bringing the total there to more than 830. The recent surge in cases prompted the South Korean government raise the COVID-19 alert to its highest level. Iranian health officials have confirmed 61 total cases in the country as of Monday, with 12 deaths nationwide. Most of the confirmed cases were found in the city of Qom. However, last week health ministry official Minou Mohrez warned about unconfirmed cases. Watch the live press conference here.

8:44 am: Fear spreads to Milan's Fashion Week

Coronavirus fears spread to Milan, Italy's financial hub, where the final two runway shows of Milan Fashion Week scheduled for Monday were canceled. While most fashion houses held shows as usual Sunday, Giorgio Armani and Laura Biagiotti presented their collections behind closed doors, streaming live for the fashion public. —Associated Press

8:07 am: Outbreak fears roil global markets

U.S. stock futures pointed to sharp declines on Wall Street as the number of coronavirus cases outside China surged, stoking fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown from the virus spreading. As of 7:47 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were indicating a drop of 767 points at the open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were down by 2.5% and 2.8%, respectively. Futures indicated the biggest one-day point drop for the Dow since August, when the 30-stock average slid 800 points. Stock markets around the world old off Monday as spiking coronavirus cases in Italy, South Korea and the Middle East sparked fears of further spread beyond China. South Korea's Kospi index closed down 3.9% while Italy's FTSE MIB plunged more than 900 points in early trading. The pan-European Stoxx 600 benchmark tumbled 3.5%, with Britain's FTSE 100, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX all falling sharply. —Imbert, Huang, Smith

Buffett: Coronavirus outbreak shouldn't affect what investors do with stocks
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Buffett: Coronavirus outbreak shouldn't affect what investors do with stocks

8:01 am: Ireland cautions against travel to coronavirus-hit areas of Italy

Ireland said its citizens should not travel to parts of Italy affected by an outbreak of the new coronavirus. Italy's government has moved to close off the worst-hit areas in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto, and the death toll in the country from the disease rose to five on Monday. "There has been an increase in the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Italy... Citizens are advised not to travel to affected areas," the foreign ministry said on its website on travel advice updated on Monday. —Reuters

7:49 am: 'Very significant percentage of business' impacted by coronavirus, Warren Buffett says

As the ongoing coronavirus outbreak hits stocks, Buffett said "a very significant percentage of our businesses one way are affected." He added, however, that the businesses are being affected by a lot of other things too, and said the real question is where those businesses are going to be in 5 to 10 years. "They'll have ups and downs," he said. Specifically, he pointed to Apple and Dairy Queen being hit, as well as carpet maker Shaw Industries. —Stevens

A disinfection professional wears protective gear spray anti-septic solution against the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a traditional market on February 24, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.
Chung Sung-Jun | Getty Images

7:37 am: Hong Kong warns against travel to South Korea as virus spreads

The Hong Kong government warned residents on Monday to avoid all non-essential travel to South Korea, as the government in Seoul reported 231 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the country's total to more than 800. Fears of a coronavirus pandemic grew on Monday after sharp rises in new cases reported in Iran, Italy and South Korea but China relaxed restrictions on movements in several places, including Beijing, as its rates of new infections eased. —Reuters

Disinfection professionals wear protective gear while spraying anti-septic solution in virus control measures in Seoul, South Korea.
Chung Sung-Jun | Getty Images

6:50 am: Italy confirms five people have died in the country due to coronavirus

Italian authorities on Monday confirmed a fifth person infected with the coronavirus has died. The Civil Protection agency also said more than 200 cases of the coronavirus had been confirmed in the north of the country since Friday, Reuters reported. Italian stocks tumbled during European trading hours, as the euro zone's third-largest economy continues to grapple with the largest coronavirus outbreak outside of Asia. —Meredith

Staff at a pharmacy wear protective face masks as they deal with customers in Milan, Italy, on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. Stunned by Europe's biggest surge of the coronavirus, Italy appears to be operating in near panic mode.
Francesca Volpi | Bloomberg via Getty Images

6:30 am: Iraq reports its first case of coronavirus

Iran's health ministry reported its first case of the coronavirus on Monday, Reuters reported, saying the flu-like virus had been contracted by an Iranian theology student in the city of Najaf. The patient was thought to have entered Iraq before the government closed border crossings and banned the entry of non-Iraqis coming from Iran. The patient has been quarantined and medical staff are observing international health standards, Iraq's health ministry said in a statement, according to a Reuters report. Iran, which neighbors Iraq to the west, had confirmed 61 cases of the coronavirus earlier on Monday, with 12 deaths. —Meredith

Read CNBC's coverage from the Asia-Pacific team overnight: Global stock markets tumble as death toll climbs past 2,500.

Reuters and CNBC's Sarah Whitten, Lora Kolodny, Kevin Stankiewicz, Jessica Bursztynsky, Diana Olick, Yun Li, Fred Imbert, Eustance Huang, Pippa Stevens, Leslie Josephs, Kevin Breuninger, Will Feuer, Berkeley Lovelace, Sam Meredith and Kif Leswing contributed to this report.