Coronavirus infects more than 100,000 worldwide creating financial havoc

London/Los Angeles

Twenty-one people aboard a cruise ship that was barred from docking in San Francisco have tested positive for coronavirus, U.S. officials said on Friday, as the fast-spreading respiratory disease was reported in half a dozen new U.S. states.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is running the U.S. response to the outbreak, said at a news conference that 19 crew members and two passengers out of 46 people tested so far on the Grand Princess ocean liner had the virus.

The vessel, with about 3,400 passengers and crew, would be taken to a non-commercial port where everyone on board would be tested, he said.

The infections aboard the Grand Princess added to the more than 100,000 cases across the world, as the coronavirus outbreak reached more countries and economic damage intensified, with business districts starting to empty and stock markets tumbling.

President Donald Trump on Friday signed a bill to provide US$8.3 billion to bolster the capacity to test for coronavirus and fund other measures in the United States. Cases have now been reported in half of the 50 U.S. states. Fifteen people have died in the country, out of more than 250 cases.