January 29 coronavirus news

President Trump announced Wednesday that he received a briefing on the coronavirus. 

He included pictures that appear to show a meeting in the White House Situation Room.  

Trump suggested Wednesday that he’d recently spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping amid concerns over containing the Wuhan coronavirus, but a White House official tells CNN that the last time the two world leaders spoke was in December.  

Read his tweet:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday said that 195 passengers who were evacuated from Wuhan to an airbase in California have been screened, monitored and evaluated every step of the way. 

None of the passengers show signs of sickness, CDC officials said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, but they will remain under a voluntary quarantine at the air base.

The evacuees are not required to stay at the base. The health agency said the travelers agreed to a request to remain there for three days of testing, monitoring and rest.

“The situation in China is concerning,” Messonnier said. “However we are looking hard here in the United States. We will continue to be proactive. I expect that we will find additional cases.”

So far the agency has confirmed five cases of coronavirus in the US in four states and 165 suspected cases.

Multiple federal agencies, in addition to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are contributing resources to respond the coronavirus outbreak. 

For instance, the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office is facilitating airport screenings, according to a DHS official.  

Additionally, Customs and Border Protection has measures in place to identify travelers with overt signs of illness, who may be potentially infected with a communicable disease. And the CDC provided signage to the Transportation Security Administration for placement at airports warning travelers of risks associated with travel to certain areas in China, according to a TSA official. 

The US Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency and US Citizenship and Immigration Services are also involved, according to DHS. 

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Wednesday the department will continue to adapt as the virus changes and adapts.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration official, who referred CNN to the CDC and State Department, said the agency's responsibility is to ensure that planes get safely from one point to another. The agency is not involved with passengers coming in and out of the US. 

But airline personnel are keeping a close watch. 

The Allied Pilots Association — the union that represents Delta and United pilots — said it is updating pilots regularly with current information and has provided them with specific precautions they can use to mitigate any risk, according to Communications Director Gregg Overman. 

A planned flight to bring British citizens back from Wuhan will no longer leave on Thursday as originally anticipated, a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said Wednesday.  

“We remain in close contact with the Chinese authorities and conversations are ongoing at all levels” the spokesperson added.

It is understood the flight has been delayed due to Chinese permissions that have not yet come through.

There are now at least 162 dead from Wuhan coronavirus in China’s Hubei province – the epicenter of the outbreak – and a total of 4,586 confirmed cases in the province by the end of Wednesday, according to Hubei’s provincial health authority.

The case count for the province has gone up by 1,032, and death toll has gone up by 37 from the previous day.

This brings the number of cases for mainland China to over 7,000 and the death toll for mainland China to 170.

Chad Wolf, the acting Homeland Security secretary, said on Wednesday that enhanced coronavirus screening has expanded to 20 airports, including Miami, which is hosting Super Bowl LIV.

Wolf, during a news conference in Miami, addressed security concerns and measures ahead of the NFL’s annual championship and biggest draw. Sunday’s game, which pits the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers, will attract thousands of fans to the area. 

The effort, Wolf said, would pull resources from multiple agencies. Homeland Security will be taking its lead from medical professionals at Centers for Disease Control. He said their medical strategy continues to evolve as the virus evolves. Not all of the work they do will be obvious, he said.

Ikea will temporarily close around half their stories in mainland China until further notice, effective from Jan. 29, an Ingka group spokesperson confirmed in a statement to CNN today. 

"We continue to closely monitor the situation and stay updated on information from local and global authorities, and act in accordance with their recommendations as this situation is evolving” the statement concluded.

Delta Air Lines is temporarily reducing its number of weekly flights between the US and China “due to significantly reduced customer demand prompted by global health concerns related to coronavirus,” the airlines said in a statement today.

Here's the airlines full statement:

Google is temporarily closing down its offices in China due to the coronavirus outbreak, the company confirmed to CNN. 

Google said it has four offices in China that focus on sales and engineering for its ad business, and is keeping employees updated on the situation.

The tech company’s offices had been closed for the Lunar New Year festival, and the company is extending the closures in light of the outbreak. 

The Verge first reported the news.