Coronavirus Update: Global Markets Tumble, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On,’ Italian Lockdown
Buckingham Palace
TODAY’S FACTS AND FIGURES
The worldwide number of cases of Covid-19 stands at 111,664. The global death toll from the virus is 3,884. Of the current active cases, which total 45,077, 13% or 5,980 are serious, while the other cases are mild.
Italy, which has effectively quarantined 16 million people, a quarter of its population – now has 7,350 of the world’s cases and more than 360 of at least 3,800 deaths.
The United States has at least 539 cases in 34 states. Four of them – California, New York, Oregon, and Washington – have declared states of emergency due to the outbreak.
China reported only 40 new infections and 22 deaths. All but four of the new infections were in Wuhan.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
03-09 Markets tumbled across the globe and stock trading in the United States was briefly halted after the S&P Index fell 7%, triggering a Level 1 circuit breaker, which halted all trading for 15 minutes. Once trading resumed, shares recovered slightly. The drop is being attributed to the current price war for oil and the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, as investors seek shelter in government bonds.
03-09 Airports in Hubei province, with the exception of Wuhan’s airport, may reopen on March 12, said the Hubei Airport Group, which manages four airports in the province including Tianhe, the busiest in central China. Meanwhile, Wuhan Tianhe International Airport dismissed rumors on social media that it would reopen soon, saying that “[T]here is heavy preparation work for the airport to resume normal operations.”
03-09 One of China’s leading epidemiologists, Hong Mashan, said he believes that the novel coronavirus epidemic will spread globally until at least June.
03-08 Media reports from London indicate that Queen Elizabeth II, who is 93, will, in the face of the coronavirus crisis, “keep calm and carry on”– a phrase made popular by a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939 in preparation for the Second World War. She will continue with her public duties and attended the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on Sunday with eight other members of the Royal Family and representatives from 54 Commonwealth nations.
03-08 U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in an interview on CNN that the country will see more coronavirus cases and deaths from the virus, but that doesn’t mean Americans should panic.
03-08 Saudi Arabia is temporarily closing all schools and universities and blocking travel to and from a number of countries. It also cordoned off an area of the Qatif Governorate comprised of Shiite Muslim towns and villages in which the country’s 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus are located.
03-07 Jens Spahn, Germany’s health minister, said that organizers of large public events should cancel or postpone them in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “The slower the virus spreads, the better the healthcare system can cope,” he said on Twitter.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
