The coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, with the death toll in China now topping 360 and over 17,000 confirmed cases of the infection worldwide. On Saturday, a 44-year-old man in the Philippines became the first casualty of the disease outside of China.

The United States has declared a public health emergency and is barring foreign nationals who have recently traveled to China from entering the country. U.S. citizens who have visited Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, will be quarantined when re-entering the country.

The Shanghai stock market plunged 8% today. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross appeared to welcome the disease as a boost to the U.S. job market, saying in a Fox News interview that it would “accelerate the return of jobs to North America.”

Questions are being raised about the handling of the disease by Chinese authorities, who critics say delayed their response and downplayed the severity of the problem. And the local Red Cross in Hubei has come under fire for failing to distribute essential medical supplies to the hospitals that need it most.
Meanwhile, Chinese and Asian communities in countries including France and Canada say they have been the target of increased racism since the outbreak.
We’ll speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Laurie Garrett later in the broadcast.