• In Belgium, 78 new deaths have been saved in 24 hours (+ 22%). In total, 431 deaths have now been reported. 629 people have been hospitalized in the past 24 hours due to their infection with the new coronavirus, Sciensano said in its daily bulletin on Sunday. A total of 4,138 beds are occupied by people with Covid-19 disease, including 867 in intensive care, or 78 more than this Saturday (+ 9.9%). In addition, 1,702 people tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total contamination cases proven in Belgium at 10,836. On the good news side, 1,359 patients were discharged from the hospital and have been declared cured since March 15, an increase of 296 in the past 24 hours.
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• In Italy, the epidemic seems to slow down. The number of new positive cases (+5.217) is down 5.6% over 24 hours. The drop was -6.9% on Saturday, -7.4% on Friday. This Sunday, 756 additional deaths were recorded. The last official balance sheet shows a total of 10,779 dead (almost a third of the world’s victims) for 97,689 cases. The Italian government is expected to decide to extend the drastic containment measures beyond April 3.
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• TheSpain recorded 838 coronavirus deaths on Sunday in 24 hours, a new record for the country bringing the toll to 6.528 victims. The peninsula has strengthened containment for fear of overcrowding in intensive care units in its hospitals. Also in Spain there is a slight slowdown the daily increase in the number of deaths: + 14.7% in 24 hours Sunday against + 27% Wednesday.
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• To the United States, Donald Trump finally gave up placing New York State and its neighbors in total quarantine. With more than 121,000 cases, the United States counts the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past 24 hours to exceed the 2,000 mark.
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• Economically, on both sides of the Atlantic, we are talking about a partial or total nationalization of airlines. French Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari has not ruled out the possibility of nationalizing the airline Air France-KLM, in which the State is a 14% shareholder, after the coronavirus crisis has passed. Edouard Philippe, the French Prime Minister had already mentioned this idea on March 17. To USA, the White House economic advisor also shared this reflection. State aid could take the form of a capital acquisition in airlines, particularly affected by the current health crisis.
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• In Belgium, Minister of Justice Koen Geens took over first orders of special powers, which the Wilmès government has benefited from last week. These were to resolve a few issues directly related to containment measures. The general meetings who cannot be held under these containment measures may be postponed for up to 10 weeks beyond June 30, the date generally used as the last date for organizing them. If necessary, they can also be organized electronically.
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