CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - 24 MARCH 2020 - ALMOST 400 000 PEOPLE INFECTED AND 17 200 DEATHS RECORDED GLOBALLY

Britain joined the ranks of countries in lockdown to try to hold back the coronavirus pandemic, and data showed business activity collapsing from Australia and Japan to Western Europe at a record pace in March. The picture in the United States is expected to be just as dire.

DEATHS, INFECTIONS
- More than 395,500 people have been infected across the world and over 17,200 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

- For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

EUROPE
- The number of cases in Italy, which has more fatalities than any other country, is probably 10 times higher than the official tally, the head of the agency collating the data said on Tuesday as the government readied new measures to force people to stay at home.

- Britain could introduce stronger punishments for flouting new restrictions, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said on Tuesday, following measures imposed on Monday that allow people to go out only for limited reasons.

- France’s prime minister, Edouard Philippe, said the country’s lockdown could last several more weeks and that his government was tightening restrictions even further.

- Austria will massively expand testing in coming days to locate and isolate infected people, its chancellor said on Tuesday.

- Poland’s government said it would expand restrictions on citizens, including a limit on the number of people taking part in masses, a drastic move in a deeply devout country.

- Russia’s president Vladimir Putin donned a hazmat suit and respirator during a hospital visit on Tuesday and Moscow’s mayor said the outbreak in the capital was much worse than official figures showed.

- Norway extended its restrictions until April 13.

AMERICAS
- The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it was seeing a “very large acceleration” in the United States which had the potential of becoming the new epicentre.

- Several more U.S. governors joined the procession of states ordering people to stay at home, and President Donald Trump signalled he’s considering a move in the opposite direction.

- The Trump administration plans to use the Defense Production Act on Tuesday to procure 60,000 test kits, amid severe equipment shortages for healthcare workers, CNN reported on Tuesday.

- Mexico will suspend all large public and private gatherings for a month and extend support to small businesses, government officials said on Tuesday. The previous day the president had said he would focus on helping the poor rather than major companies.

- Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro laid to rest a diplomatic spat with China in a call with President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, with the two agreeing to work together to fight coronavirus as Brazil’s largest city went into lockdown.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
- Scientists in Singapore say they have developed a way to track genetic changes that speeds testing of coronavirus vaccines.

- China will increase international cargo flight capacity and stabilise supply chains, the government said on Tuesday.

- Police in Meerut, northern India, are making citizens who defy lockdown hold up signs reading, “I am a friend of coronavirus,” or “I am the enemy of society,” before posting their pictures on Twitter. The Prime Minister ordered a 21-day lockdown on Tuesday.

- Australia will close food outlets at shopping centres, place limits on weddings and funerals and ban overseas travel, the government said on Tuesday.

- Kyrgyzstan declared a state of emergency in its three biggest cities, locking them down and imposing a curfew.

- Myanmar and Laos recorded their first cases.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
- About half of Iran’s government employees were staying at home on Tuesday as the country’s death toll exceeded 1,900.

- Turkey imposed restrictions on grocery store opening hours and numbers of shop customers and bus passengers on Tuesday, as its death toll rose to 37.

- Saudi Arabia on Tuesday reported its first death, while the United Arab Emirates’ main airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi said they would temporarily suspend all passenger flights from Thursday.

- Egypt has declared a two-week curfew, and those who violate the measure will be penalised under emergency laws, the prime minister said.

- The Nigerian president’s chief of staff has tested positive, a source with direct knowledge said.

- South Africa will impose a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from midnight on Thursday.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT
- Financial markets rebounded sharply on Tuesday, with a measure of global equities headed for its biggest bounce since the crisis erupted a month ago, while the safe-haven dollar recoiled as investors welcomed unprecedented global stimulus efforts. [MKTS/GLOB]

- Senior Democrats and Republicans said on Tuesday they were close to reaching a deal on a $2 trillion stimulus package.

- Global airlines urged governments on Tuesday to speed up bailouts to rescue the air transport industry as they doubled their estimate of 2020 revenue losses from the coronavirus crisis to more than $250 billion.

- Norway’s unemployment rate soared five-fold this month to its highest level since the 1930s, as companies announced mass layoffs and shutdowns, data showed on Tuesday.

- Britain’s economy is shrinking at a record pace, faster than during the 2008-09 financial crisis, a survey showed on Tuesday.

- Ecuador will use a 30-day grace period on some bonds to delay making around $200 million in interest payments, and will devote those funds to containing the outbreak.

EVENTS
- The Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021, the first such delay in the Games’ 124-year modern history, as the crisis wrecked the last international sporting showpiece still standing this year.

- Australia’s A-league soccer season was suspended on Tuesday.

via - REUTERS