The Wall.St Journal 21Feb2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Friday, February 21, 2020 |A

corridors of eastern Canada.

Firms fortunate enough to

secure a truck to ship are pay-

ing premium rates. Some, such

asCKFInc., a maker of pack-

aging for food products, are

paying the increased costs for

now to keep customers satis-

fied. A logistics broker said

freight rates for trucks have

climbed as much as 20% since

protests began.

The blockades “have caused

some supply-chain chaos in

Iran Reports Two

Coronavirus Deaths

TEHRAN—Iran closed

schools and imposed emer-

gency measures in a central

province near the capital after

two people who tested positive

for the coronavirus died, the

first fatalities in the Middle

East from the disease.

Five people so far have

been diagnosed with the

Covid-19 virus, Iran’s health

ministry said Thursday. Four of

them in the city of Qom, one of

the country’s main pilgrimage

sites about 75 miles south of

Tehran, where the two elderly

patients died a day earlier.

Another case, a doctor, was

diagnosed in Arak, 70 miles

southwest of there.

Iran said the infected were

all Iranian, but didn’t explain

how the disease might have

reached the country. The two

people who died in Qom hadn’t

had a trip abroad, authorities

said. China is a major trading

partner of Iran and several

other countries in the region,

and is one of the last remain-

ing customers for Iranian oil.

Iran’s economy has been bat-

tered by a slump in Chinese de-

mand.

It wasn’t immediately clear

how widespread the virus out-

break is in Iran. Iranian Presi-

dent Hassan Rouhani ordered

the establishment of a national

coronavirus prevention commit-

tee, government spokesman Ali

Rabiei said Thursday.

The deaths came as Iran

prepared for parliamentary

elections on Friday.

—Aresu Eqbali

TOKYO—Japanese officials

defended their handling of

cruise-ship virus victims after

the first two passenger deaths

were reported—one a woman

in her 80s who had a fever for

a week before getting to a

hospital.

South Korea, meanwhile, re-

ported its first death from the

Covid-19 coronavirus, while

confirmed cases began to

mount in Beijing and Iran an-

nounced emergency measures

Thursday to stem the spread of

the virus there after two peo-

ple diagnosed with the illness

died in the central city of Qom.

Japan’s Health Minister

Katsunobu Kato told parlia-

ment the two fatalities from

the Diamond Princess cruise

ship “received the best medi-

cal treatment” but couldn’t be

saved after catching the coro-

navirus on board. As of Thurs-

day, 634 passengers and crew

members were diagnosed with

the virus out of 3,063 tested.

Slightly more than half have

no symptoms at all, officials

said, and many of the remain-

der have only mild fever or a

cough. On Thursday, 28 virus-

positive patients were re-

ported in serious condition.

Doctors have said the virus

can be particularly harmful in

elderly patients, and one of

the two fatal cases from the

Diamond Princess, a Japanese

man in his 80s, had pre-exist-

ing bronchial asthma and had

been treated for angina. The

other, a Japanese woman in

her 80s without underlying ill-

nesses, came down with a fe-

ver on Feb. 5, according to

health ministry officials. The

next day, she started suffering

from diarrhea and saw a doc-

tor on board.

She wasn’t taken to a hos-

pital until Feb. 12 when she

started suffering shortness of

breath. Her virus test came

back positive, and despite

treatment with antiviral drugs,

she died Thursday.

Asked about the woman’s

case, health ministry official

Hiroshi Umeda said, “I believe

it was handled promptly.” He

said the ship was a difficult

environment for medical staff

but they worked day and night

and tried to prioritize the

most serious cases.

The ship, which docked in

Yokohama after a two-week

tour of East Asia, had 3,

passengers and crew aboard

when it arrived in Japan but is

gradually emptying out. The

U.S., Australia, and other

countries have laid on flights

repatriating some of their citi-

zens. Those diagnosed with

the virus have been brought to

hospitals, mostly in the Tokyo

area, while more than 700

passengers who tested nega-

tive for the virus and didn’t

have symptoms disembarked

on Wednesday and Thursday.

Crew members remain on

board the Diamond Princess,

apart from those who have

tested positive, and some pas-

sengers are still quarantined

on board if they shared a

room with someone who

tested positive.

Kentaro Iwata, a Kobe Uni-

versity infectious-diseases spe-

cialist, drew widespread atten-

tion on Wednesday when he

said the ship should be evacu-

ated more quickly and criti-

cized the government’s han-

dling of quarantine procedures

on board.

On Thursday, he took down

two YouTube videos in English

and Japanese in which he de-

scribed the situation on board

as scary, saying the govern-

ment responded to his criticism

by clarifying the demarcation

between potentially contami-

nated “red zones” and noncon-

taminated “green zones.”

Concerns are growing in

South Korea about the spread

of the virus there after a surge

in infections centered on a

church in the southern city of

Daegu, which had dozens of the

country’s more than 200 cases

as of Thursday.

In mainland China, 75,

people had been confirmed as

infected as of Thursday, in-

cluding 2,236 deaths, China’s

National Health Commission

said.

Wang Chen, a respiratory

expert and vice president at

the Chinese Academy of Engi-

neering, said in an interview

with state broadcaster China

Central Television on Wednes-

day that the new virus could

circulate much as the flu does,

and for longer than the SARS

virus did in 2002 and 2003.

Most of the cases and

deaths globally have been in

China’s central Hubei province,

where the epidemic began.

Nearly 60 million people re-

main quarantined in Hubei.

Companies won’t be allowed

to restart work until March 11

unless their business is tied to

basic needs such as infrastruc-

ture, producing medical equip-

ment and providing food, the

provincial government said

Thursday. That pushes back

the previous resumption date

of Feb. 21, likely adding to the

pain felt by many auto makers

that have production sites in

Wuhan, Hubei’s capital, includ-

ingGeneral MotorsCo. and

Honda MotorCo.

Outside Hubei, many export-

ers started to resume produc-

tion Feb. 10 after an extended

Lunar New Year holiday, the

Commerce Ministry said.

Foxconn Technology

Group,Apple Inc.’s biggest

iPhone assembler, said Thurs-

day that it expects the epi-

demic to reduce its revenue.

Earlier this week, Apple

warned that it won’t meet its

revenue projections for the

current quarter, saying the

coronavirus epidemic was lim-

iting iPhone production and

reducing demand in China.

—Suryatapa Bhattacharya,

Fanfan Wang, Grace Zhu,

Liyan Qi and Raffaele Huang

contributed to this article.

WORLD NEWS

BYMIHOINADA

ANDERINMENDELL

Japan Defends Response to Virus

A passenger peering out from a bus as she left the Diamond Princess ship in Yokohama.

KIM KYUNG-HOON/REUTERS

our company,” said Ian Ander-

son, president of family-owned

CKF, which employs 800 peo-

ple and makes everything

from disposable plates to

packages for eggs. “We will

have to see how big this gets

and how long this lasts, and

what the consequences are.”

Canadian National said it

was forced to halt its eastern

network to ensure the safety

of its employees and of the

protesters. The main block-

age—near the town of Belle-

ville in Ontario—has cut off

freight traffic from Montreal

and Halifax, Nova Scotia, to

central Canada, and vice versa.

“This situation is regretta-

ble for its impact on the econ-

omy and on our railroaders as

these protests are unrelated to

CN’s activities, and beyond our

control,” the company said.

Canadian National handles

more than 250 billion Cana-

dian dollars ($189 billion) of

goods annually.

Via Rail Canada said that in

addition to its temporary lay-

off notices, it has suspended

nearly 600 trains since the

blockades began, affecting an

estimated 111,000 passengers

Some service hit by the block-

ades resumed Thursday.

“We have done everything

to mitigate the impact on our

employees and our passen-

gers,” said Cynthia Garneau,

Via Rail’s chief executive.

Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau said Wednes-

day that the layoffs were un-

acceptable and that his Liberal

government was “doing every-

thing we can to resolve this

peacefully and quickly.”

Canadian National has ob-

tained court orders to have

the protesters removed. Mr.

Trudeau, however, said “ele-

vating the temperature and

going in forcefully” could trig-

ger a new round of protests.

Dennis Darby, president of

Canadian Manufacturers & Ex-

porters, said his group’s esti-

mate is that up to C$450 mil-

lion of goods a day are being

left stranded because of the

freight rail interruption.

Three-quarters of Canada’s

manufacturing capacity is in

eastern Canada.

“This has gone from serious

to critical,” Mr. Darby said.

Todd Karran, chief execu-

tive ofNova ChemicalsCorp.,

said the petrochemicals maker

has yet to scale back produc-

tion levels and has found a

temporary workaround by

changing routes and using

trucks.

“This is definitely more

costly,” said Mr. Karran, whose

company has annual sales of

$4 billion.

Canada’s economy was ex-

pected to rebound in early

2020 after a weak fourth

quarter—weighed down in

part by an eight-day labor

strike at Canadian National.

OTTAWA—Canada’s econ-

omy is facing a blow from two

weeks of protests that have

blocked multiple railway lines,

stranding shipments and

snarling supply chains in key

commercial corridors.

In the latest fallout from

the blockades, Via Rail Can-

ada, the passenger rail opera-

tor, issued on Wednesday tem-

porary layoff notices for 1,

workers, a day afterCanadian

National RailwayCo. said it

would temporarily lay off 450

workers of its own. Factories

in central Canada could be

next in sending workers home,

said the head of a national

lobby for manufacturers and

exporters.

Economists said the stop-

pages threaten to shave 0.1%

to 0.3% from output in Febru-

ary, adding that the damage

could be greater the longer

the interruption drags on.

Protests obstructing lines in

central Canada started Feb. 6,

after police began enforcing a

court order to remove people

who were trying to prevent

construction of a natural-gas

pipeline in British Columbia. A

group of indigenous leaders

oppose the pipeline on envi-

ronmental concerns.

While one blockade has

been resolved in British Co-

lumbia, others show no signs

of ending in the important

BYPAULVIEIRA

Canadian Rail Blockades Snarl Supply Chains

Sources: Scotiabank Economics; Association of American Railroads

Total intermodal units

All other

Metallic ores

82thousandcarloads

Petroleum products

81

Chemicals

81

Grain

54

Coal

42

Vehicles and parts

38

Gravel and sand

31

Farm products ex grain

25

Lumber and wood products

20

Pulp and paper products

18

Food products

18

Primary metal products

15

Grain mill products

12

Nonmetallic products

9

Stone, clay and glass products

8

Coke

8

Primary forest products

7

Iron and steel scrap

7

10

Shipment of goods at risk because of Canada rail blockades

2019 through Feb. 19

Sameperiod

474K 474K

WORLD WATCH

UNITED KINGDOM

Suspect Is Arrested

In Attack at Mosque

A 29-year-old man was ar-

rested on suspicion of at-

tempted murder after a person

was stabbed in a London

mosque Thursday, according to

British police.

Police said the suspect was

believed to be attending prayers

and said detectives didn’t believe

the attack was terror-related.

They said that they had

made the arrest after being

called to the mosque, near Re-

gent’s Park in London. The vic-

tim, a man in his 70s, was

treated on the scene before be-

ing taken to a hospital. His con-

dition isn’t life-threatening, the

police said.

Photographs posted on Twit-

ter showed a man in a red top

and bare feet being pinned down

by police on the floor of the

mosque, before being hand-

cuffed and marched out.

The London Central Mosque

is one of the U.K.’s largest and

most iconic mosques. It can ac-

commodate up to 5,000 wor-

shipers.

—Max Colchester

ISRAEL

Gantz’s Start-Up

Faces Investigation

Israeli prosecutors on Thurs-

day announced the opening of a

criminal investigation into the

failed start-up of Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu’s challenger.

The announcement didn’t say

whether Benny Gantz is a sus-

pect, but it came less than two

weeks before the March 2 elec-

tion and during a campaign in

which Mr. Gantz’s Blue and White

party has painted itself as a clean

and scandal-free alternative to

Mr. Netanyahu, who is to go on

trial for corruption next month.

According to Israel’s state

comptroller, the police may have

violated acquisition laws by grant-

ing the Mr. Gantz’s cybersecurity

company a multimillion dollar con-

tract without a public tender. Mr.

Gantz has denied any wrongdoing.

—Associated Press

SOUTH SUDAN

Rivals Agree to Form

A Ruling Coalition

South Sudan’s rival leaders on

Thursday said they have agreed

to form a coalition government

just two days before a deadline, a

breakthrough after months of de-

lays and a major step in the emer-

gence from a five-year civil war

that killed nearly 400,000 people

in the world’s youngest nation.

The rival leaders had twice

missed deadlines in the past year

to form the transitional govern-

ment.

President Salva Kiir said the

new government will be formed

on Saturday and he will appoint

opposition leader Riek Machar

as his first vice president, or top

deputy, on Friday.

—Associated Press

TOKYO—The $500 million
cruise liner that became an in-
cubator for the novel corona-
virus will resume service again
soon with its next group of
holiday makers, according to
its operator, though only after
a thorough cleaning.
At its dock near Tokyo, the
Diamond Princess still houses
some passengers and crew un-
der quarantine for the virus,
two weeks after their voyage
was scheduled to have ended.
A barrage of publicity about
the ship and its more than 600
coronavirus patients made it
one of the most famous, or in-
famous, cruise ships in the
world. Two passengers, both
in their 80s, have died, offi-
cials said Thursday.
Nonetheless, operator Prin-
cess Cruises said the 116,000-
ton pleasure vessel will be
ready to return to service on
April 29, ahead of Japan’s an-
nual Golden Week holidays.
“The expectation is that the
ship would be fully sanitized
and then taken into dry dock
for a period of time,” said
Negin Kamali, public-relations

director for Princess Cruises.
She said the ship would re-
main based in Japan, where it
was built.
Ships that have been hit by
outbreaks of illness are usually
kept in service, reflecting the
large investment for each ves-
sel. The Diamond Princess
sailed its first cruise in 2004,
putting it about halfway
through a typical cruise ship’s
lifespan of around 30 years.
Outbreaks of gastrointesti-
nal illness or more serious dis-
ease are an occasional hazard
for cruise companies and their
passengers. In 2019, groups of
passengers on 10 cruises suf-
fered gastrointestinal illnesses,
mostly from the spread of no-
rovirus, according to the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention. A type of pneumo-
nia called Legionnaires’ dis-
ease also has made passengers
sick on cruise ships.
“Normal practice in the
case of norovirus or Legion-
naires’ disease is to pinpoint
and isolate the source of the
illness, then cancel or post-
pone the next cruise and thor-
oughly disinfect the ship from
top to bottom once all the pas-
sengers are off,” said Andrew
Coggins, a cruise expert and
professor of management at
Pace University in New York.
CarnivalCorp., the parent
company of Princess Cruises,
owns another ship in Asia that
reported cases of the corona-
virus. Carnival has canceled
several other planned cruises
because of the epidemic.
On Feb. 12, Carnival said it
couldn’t determine the full fi-
nancial impact of the virus but
if it had to suspend all of its
operations in Asia through the
end of April, it would cut its
fiscal 2020 financial perfor-
mance by 55 cents to 65 cents
a share. In December, the com-
pany said it expected earnings
for the year through November
of $4.30 to $4.60 a share. For
the year ended November 2019,
the company had net income of
$3 billion, or $4.32 a share.
Ross Klein, a professor at
Memorial University in Canada
who tracks health problems on
cruise ships, said he doesn’t
expect any impact on bookings
for the Diamond Princess. He
said sales for another Carnival
cruise liner held up when it
re-entered service after be-
coming stranded in 2013 with
its sewage systems overflow-
ing inside the ship.
Shinji Motegi, administra-
tive director of the Japan Pest
Control Association, said the
Diamond Princess could even-
tually be considered virus-
free. Unlike mold, viruses
won’t multiply and spread
without a host—such as a hu-
man or an animal, he said.
—Miho Inada
contributed to this article.

BYALASTAIRGALE

Ship Set

To Return

To Service

In April

Diamond Princess

still houses some

passengers and crew

under quarantine.

 Norwegian cancels Asia
cruises until fall........................ B