Asian shares tank on US health officials' virus warning

Shares in the leading financial markets fell in Asia, Thursday, after US President Donald Trump announced the country was stepping up its efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 2.1 percent at 21,951.78, while in Australia, the S&P ASX/200 dropped by 0.8 percent at 6,653.50. In South Korea, where 334 new cases of the virus were reported, the Kospi dropped by 0.9 percent at 2,058.10. Hong Kong’s benchmark, the Hang Seng, lost 0.7 percent at 26,519.65. Shares also fell in Jakarta, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.

Trump told reporters he was open to spending “whatever’s appropriate” to fight the virus, after the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York suggested US$8.5 billion instead of the requested US$2.5 billion. He put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the effort.

But health officials standing beside Trump warned more infections are coming. And shortly after Trump spoke, the government announced that another person in the U.S. was infected — someone in California who appears not to have the usual risk factors of having traveled abroad or being exposed to another patient.-AP