Europe is closing in on itself to fight against the coronavirus, which has become more deadly than in Asia. This provoked a reaction to the bazooka of the ECB with an aid plan of 750 billion euros and a call for “financial solidarity” by the French president.
It is Italy which pays the heaviest price on the Old Continent by approaching the threshold of 3000 deaths, whereas the “peak” of the epidemic does not seem yet reached. A week after the start of general containment, the peninsula recorded Wednesday 475 deaths in 24 hours, the worst daily toll in a single country, even exceeding Chinese data at the height of the disease in Wuhan, its first epicenter. At this rate, Italy (2,978 dead in total) risks overtaking China on Thursday (3,245 dead) as the country with the most deaths.
No local contamination in China
China did not report any new local contamination on Thursday, a first since the beginning of the epidemic which appeared in December in this country. Health authorities have reported 34 additional imported cases. Portugal is expected to announce restrictions on free movement on Thursday after declaring a state of emergency the day before.
For its part, the United Kingdom, where the threshold of 100 dead has been crossed, has ordered the closure of schools from Friday. According to Unesco, more than 850 million young people worldwide, or almost half of pupils and students, have their school closed.
Described as “enemy of humanity” by the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus has already killed more than 8,700 people worldwide, and more than 209,500 cases have been recorded in 150 countries and territories.
Help plans
The pandemic has plunged the stock markets around the world, causing the release of billions of economic aid. The European Central Bank (ECB) has thus announced the release of an envelope of 750 billion euros (794 billion francs) intended for repurchases of public and private debt.
French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed these measures and called on EU states to “budget interventions”. “It is up to us European states to be there through our budgetary interventions and greater financial solidarity within the euro zone”, he added, without specifying via which mechanism.
President Donald Trump promulgated a $ 100 billion ($ 96 billion) social assistance plan for workers affected by the impact of the epidemic, as negotiations continued for a stimulus package much more ambitious. It could reach 1,300 billion dollars (1,259 billion francs). This rain of billions had a positive effect on the financial markets: the Tokyo Stock Exchange started Thursday on the wheel hats and oil prices jumped.
“Prepare for the worst”
In an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, restrictions on freedom of movement are increasing. The Belgians, after the Italians or the French, have in turn discovered life at home, with exceptions for essential shopping or physical activity.
Austria suspends from Thursday all its regular flights, and France begins its third day of confinement, the center of Paris, with its large boulevards usually teeming with life, now looking like a dead city. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel called on her fellow citizens to follow the recommendations to limit her trips, “essential to save lives”.
Elsewhere in the world, Israel’s borders will be closed, like that between the United States and Canada, after many others. The coronavirus also caused the first death in sub-Saharan Africa, in Burkina Faso. Africa must “wake up” and “prepare for the worst,” warned WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
25 million jobs threatened
The economic world is more and more at a standstill. General Motors and Ford have announced the suspension of their production of cars in North America. The pandemic threatens up to 25 million jobs worldwide, in the absence of an internationally coordinated response, warned the International Labor Organization.
Many cultural events have already been canceled. Latest: the Eurovision song contest, scheduled for May in the Netherlands. But no decision has yet been made on the Tokyo Olympic Games, the world’s most anticipated sporting event, with huge financial stakes, planned for this summer. (ats / nxp)
Created: 19.03.2020, 05h55
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