By Dave Sebastian, Heather Haddon and Alison Sider
U.S. businesses with operations in China are taking precautions
amid China's coronavirus outbreak, closing restaurants in affected
areas and offering free changes or refunds at resort
destinations.
Walt Disney Co. said it would temporarily close its Disneyland
and Disneytown parks in Shanghai starting Saturday, as the death
toll from China's spreading coronavirus rose.
"We will continue to carefully monitor the situation and be in
close contact with the local government," Shanghai Disney Resort,
which operates the parks, said in a statement Friday.
McDonald's Corp. said it has closed stores in Wuhan, the central
China city where the virus originated, and surrounding cities that
have suspended local public transportation due to the outbreak.
McDonald's restaurants in Hubei province operated normally where
transportation was available, a company spokesman said. He didn't
say how many restaurants were shut.
"We will maintain close communication with local health and
other relevant authorities," a spokesman said.
The outbreak comes amid the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday,
typically a busy travel period. The official death count related to
the coronavirus is 41.
The McDonald's spokesman said the company is providing hand
sanitizer in restaurants, increasing disinfection of areas with
frequent customer contact, requiring delivery drivers to wear
masks, and measuring temperatures of store crews upon arriving to
work to monitor for fevers.
McDonald's had 2,902 stores in China during its last quarter,
making it one of the company's largest foreign markets.
Starbucks Corp. said Friday that it had closed some of its
Chinese stores. A spokesman declined to say how many. China
represents the company's second-biggest market outside the U.S.
"We are working closely with local health authorities, taking
actions with the health of partners and customers top of mind," a
company spokesman said.
Disney said it would work to refund tickets to Disneyland,
resort hotel rooms and tickets for the Beauty and the Beast
Mandarin production booked through Disney's official
ticket-purchasing platform.
Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. are
allowing passengers traveling between Jan. 24 and Jan. 31 to and
from Beijing and Shanghai to change flights with no fee. United
Airlines Holdings Inc. is offering refunds only on trips to, from
or through the Chinese city of Wuhan. . Carriers also are stocking
flights to China with hand sanitizer and face masks for crew
members.
No U.S. carriers offer direct service to Wuhan but they offer
connecting flights on partner airlines. Flights from the city have
been halted.
Cruise lines Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
said they aren't allowing anyone who lives in or recently passed
through Wuhan to board.
Carnival's medical team is in touch with the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization about
recommended screenings for passengers, monitoring and ship
protocols, the spokesman said. Those measures could include
temperature and questionnaire screening for travelers entering
cruises from China and other areas, as well as an illness and
disease reporting protocol, he said.
Royal Caribbean will work with its guests on itinerary
modifications, a spokesman said.
Marriott International Inc. and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
said they are waiving cancellation fees through Feb. 8 for
reservations at its hotels in China, and for guests from China
traveling to hotels in other countries. Hyatt Hotels Corp. said it
is letting guests who reserved between Jan. 23 and Feb. 10 through
Hyatt's booking platforms to cancel at no charge. The waiver also
applies to guests from Greater China who have booked stays at
Hyatt's properties in the Asia-Pacific region, including South
Korea, Japan and several Southeast Asian countries, he said.
"Our hotels are following the guidelines of local authorities
and reinforcing recommended measures on appropriate hygiene
standards," Marriott said in a statement.
Marriott, with more than 350 properties across mainland China,
Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and Hilton with 225 properties in the
region said it is tracking updates from the CDC, WHO and local
health departments.
The Wuhan virus has spread from China to other countries
including South Korea, Japan and the U.S. For some companies, the
outbreak is having an immediate effect on business.
Honeywell International Inc. said it is seeing a surge in demand
for protective face masks in China, as well as in Europe and the
U.S. Honeywell said it is increasing production at multiple
facilities around the world.
DuPont de Nemours Inc., which makes medical body suits and other
protective gear, said it would donate equipment to agencies in
China that are handling medical cases and would work to boost
supply of its products to meet customer demand. DuPont said it is
handing out protective masks to its employees in affected areas in
China.
3M Co. said it would boost production of respirator masks as a
result of the outbreak. The St. Paul, Minn., company said it has
seen increased demand in China for its respiratory protection
products.
In Macau, casino-resort workers at Wynn Resorts Ltd., MGM
Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands Corp. have been ordered
by the government to wear protective masks. The companies are
monitoring body temperatures of customers and staff, and have
implemented increased hygiene and cleaning measures, according to
the companies and analysts. The Las Vegas-based casino giants
derive as much as 70% of their revenue from Macau, the special
administrative region of China near Hong Kong. Two people in Macau
were found infected with the virus as of Friday, and both were in
stable condition at a hospital, according to the Macau government.
Ten people had close contact with those patients, but none have
shown any symptoms of the virus, the government said.
The Macau government called off a New Year parade and other
public events. Hotel cancellations are likely, though no widespread
cancellations were apparent as of Friday, analysts said. More than
13 million protective face masks were delivered in the region.
"We are closely monitoring the viral pneumonia situation," said
MGM spokesman Brian Ahern on Thursday. "We will proactively
cooperate with the guidelines announced by the government and carry
out respective measures to protect our guests and team
members."
The Wuhan virus can be spread by coughing, kissing or making
contact with saliva. Often, coronaviruses simply cause common
colds, although this latest outbreak is far more serious.
In the U.S., the CDC said it has been investigating whether 63
patients from 22 states have been infected with the virus. Only two
have tested positive so far, while 11 have tested negative.
Authorities in Singapore, a popular destination for Chinese
tourists, have identified 28 suspected cases of the coronavirus;
all but two of them had recently traveled to China. Thailand,
another destination for Chinese tourists, has three confirmed
cases.
--Katherine Sayre contributed to this article.
Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com, Heather
Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com and Alison Sider at
alison.sider@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 24, 2020 20:11 ET (01:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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