Wednesday Morning Briefing: Italy in coronavirus lockdown as deaths soar and economy fades

Coronavirus

The red zone of Italy

Italy’s lockdown measures to try to beat the coronavirus are reducing its economic output by around 10-15%, Lorenzo Codogno, a former Italian Treasury chief economist said.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte unexpectedly expanded the so-called red zone to the entire country on Monday night, introducing the most severe controls on a Western nation since World War Two and raising fears for the future, especially among small businesses.

The death toll in Italy jumped by 168 to 631 on Tuesday. The increase of 36% is the largest rise in absolute numbers since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

EU stands shoulder-to-shoulder to weather storm

“We will use all the tools at our disposal to make sure that the European economy weathers this storm,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reassured the EU after an extraordinary summit of leaders, all of whom have now confirmed cases of coronavirus in their countries.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, will set up a joint investment fund with firepower of $28 billion from existing resources to cushion the blow to vulnerable sectors of the bloc’s economies, she said.

However, the fund will have no fresh money, an EU official said, raising doubts about its effectiveness to provide a sufficient fiscal boost to counter a serious downturn.

The spread

There are over 119,000 cases of coronavirus globally and 4,296 deaths linked to the virus as of Wednesday 0200 GMT, according to a Reuters tally.

Over 55% of cases have been reportedly cured, including roughly 61,400 of China’s total 80,909 cases.

New countries reporting cases in the past 12 hours were Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jamaica and Turkey.

Fatalities were up over 26% globally from a day earlier, with Italy and Iran reporting 168 and 54 deaths respectively. Other countries reporting fatalities include Monaco, France, Japan, Lebanon, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Panama also recorded its first fatality among seven new confirmed cases, only a day after reporting its first case.

For an interactive graphic of the spread, click here

In Tokyo, there's a growing sense of angst over virus-hit Games. For weeks, Olympic organizers have relentlessly pushed a consistent message: The Summer Games in Tokyo will not be canceled or postponed. But behind the scenes, sponsors who have pumped billions of dollars into the Games have grown increasingly nervous about how the coronavirus outbreak will impact the tournament.

As pressure for coronavirus vaccine mounts, scientists debate risks of accelerated testing. Drugmakers are working as quickly as possible to develop a vaccine to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has infected more than 100,000 people worldwide. Behind the scenes, scientists and medical experts are concerned that rushing a vaccine could end up worsening the infection in some patients rather than preventing it.

U.S. may see blood shortages as coronavirus cancels office blood drives. Blood banks are concerned about potential shortages as Americans concerned about catching the new coronavirus avoid donation sites and companies with employees working from home cancel blood drives.

Top Stories

Joe Biden scored decisive primary victories in Michigan and three other states on Tuesday, taking a big step toward the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination and casting doubt on the future of rival Bernie Sanders’ fading White House bid. The sweeping wins put Biden, 77, on a path to face Republican Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election, and the former vice president quickly looked ahead with a call for party unity.

Once one of Hollywood’s most influential producers, Harvey Weinstein, 67, faces a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison, after a jury on Feb. 24 found him guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann. Both women are expected to speak at Weinstein’s sentencing.

Constitutional changes allowing Vladimir Putin to run for president again in 2024 sailed through Russia’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday, opening the way for him to potentially stay in power until 2036. Putin, who has dominated the Russian political landscape for two decades as either president or prime minister, made an appearance in the chamber a day earlier to argue that term limits were less important in times of crisis.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday his country will not shy away from even stronger military action in northwest Syria’s Idlib region if last week’s truce is broken. In a speech to lawmakers from his AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said there had been small violations of the ceasefire and that Turkey’s priority was the safety of the 12 observation posts which it has established in the region.

Business

Stocks gain after emergency BoE cut adds to stimulus hopes

European stocks rose on Wednesday after the Bank of England joined other central banks in cutting interest rates, raising hopes for more co-ordinated monetary and fiscal stimulus to counter the economic shock from the coronavirus outbreak.

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The escalating coronavirus outbreak is giving the U.S. Federal Reserve a policy headache like never before: how to judge the potential impact on the economy in the absence of reliable data on how fast the flu-like illness is spreading across the United States.

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The deep declines in the U.S. stock market over the last three weeks has left a dent in retirement portfolios and brokerage accounts, costing on average each person in the United States around $16,000 as of Monday’s close before a rebound on Tuesday erased some of those losses.

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