The latest count shows almost 126,000 cases of Covid-19 contamination worldwide, of which 68,000 people have been cured. WHO now considers the coronavirus epidemic to be a “pandemic”.
If the number of cases recorded in China continues to drop, it explodes in Europe, where more than 20,000 people are infected. Europeans are now undesirable in six countries and are subject to quarantine in twenty others.
The main information to remember
> Donald Trump suspends all travel from Europe to the United States
> Italy closes all shops except those in the food distribution and health sectors
> The French government wants to improve compensation for partial unemployment to help businesses.
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Follow live the events of this Thursday, March 12:
> Bruno Le Maire announces measures for short-time working
On the road to Colombes, the French Minister for the Economy announced that the government is ready to increase the compensation funds devoted to the partial activity of the companies and to carry the reimbursements beyond the Smic once to mitigate the consequences of the epidemic
“If there is a need for solidarity funds for the most impacted companies, I am not closed,” he added, also inviting Bpifrance to increase its loan guarantee.
> Spanish minister tested positive for coronavirus
The Spanish Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, announced the government, all of whose members will be tested.
> Rome will close one of its airports tomorrow
Rome Ciampino airport, which mainly hosts low cost airlines, will close from tomorrow due to the epidemic, while Fiumicino airport, mainly dedicated to international flights, will see its activity reduced from Tuesday.
> 125,293 cases in 115 countries
The latest official assessment of the Covid-19 pandemic shows 125,293 cases of infection worldwide in 115 countries, or 1,192 new infections in 24 hours. It caused 4,600 deaths.
> The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region closes its services
The services of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in Marseille will close their doors at least until Sunday following the positive screening of seven agents for the new coronavirus, announced its president Renaud Muselier (LR).
From this noon, access to all the buildings of the services of the Region will be prohibited and the 2,138 agents of the Marseille sites of the Region will be teleworking.
> Tehran requests emergency aid from the IMF
Iran announced Thursday that it has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency assistance of five billion dollars (4.44 billion euros) to deal with the epidemic of coronavirus, which has caused more than 354 dead in the country.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva “said the countries affected by the coronavirus would be supported through its rapid funding instrument,” Iranian foreign chief Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account.
> Muriel Pénicaud ready to adapt the new unemployment insurance rules
The Minister of Labor has assured that she will announce “within a few days” measures for “precarious workers”, the first to be affected by the unemployment benefit reform, due to the coronavirus epidemic.
“We are looking at different options,” she said on LCI. New, tougher unemployment insurance rules are due to take effect on April 1.
> Air France-KLM on the front line
Donald Trump’s decision to ban travelers from the 26 European Schenghen countries from the United States will brutally deprive the main European companies, except the British, of their main source of revenue. international.
This ban will abolish some 3,500 flights a week, representing almost a million passengers.
> LR deputies submit an emergency business assistance bill
This proposal aims to “prevent cash flow problems for companies” and “compensate for operating losses”, in particular in certain “very affected” sectors such as hotels and restaurants or transport.
These include “making the state a banker of last resort” to prevent business bankruptcies due to lack of cash. The Republicans also propose to create a compensation scheme “acting retroactively”, to compensate for the losses linked to the spread of the coronavirus: operating losses, cancellation of events, failure to deliver…
> European stock markets collapse at the opening
Panic took hold of investors Thursday morning after Donald Trump’s decision to suspend all flights from Europe to the United States in an attempt to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. Air France-KLM fell 15% at the opening while European stock markets lost an average of 5%.
At 9:00 a.m. (8:00 a.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index sank 5.11% to 4,374.67 points. In London, the FTSE-100 index of main values lost 5.28% to 5,565.68 points. In Frankfurt, the star index lost 606 points to 9,832.62 points, while the MDax of average values fell by 5.68% to 21,352.89 points. Same situation in Madrid where the Ibex 35 fell 5.2% to 7,046.40 points.
> 3,600 companies and 60,000 employees affected by technical unemployment
The Minister of Labor stated on LCI that 3,600 companies and 60,000 employees were affected by technical unemployment. “It will be much more, I know,” she warned. “We will make a massive job support plan […] I have no budget limit, we will do the right thing, ”added the Minister of Labor.
> Car sales plummet in China
Auto sales plunged 79% in February in China, the largest monthly decline on record, driven by demand weighed down by the coronavirus epidemic, the Chinese Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAAM) announced on Thursday. An unprecedented level since 2005.
> France calls on its health reserve
Already sought seven times since the start of the coronavirus epidemic, the health reserve was called for mobilization on Tuesday by the National Council of the Order of Physicians, the National Council of the Order of Nurses and Public Health France, the government agency in charge of health issues. Explanations on this common but little known mechanism.
> Donald Trump suspends all entry of people from Europe
The American president announced Wednesday evening the ban on entry into the American territory, from Friday evening and for a month, of all foreigners who have stayed in the 26 countries of the Schengen area (excluding the United Kingdom, therefore ) within two weeks. Donald Trump accused the Europeans of being insufficiently protected.
The American tax administration is also asked to accept the deferral without penalty or interest of the payment of taxes beyond the deadline of April 15, for individuals and businesses affected by the coronavirus. In the United States, the number of people infected jumped to nearly 1,300 in less than two weeks.
> Oil plunges after Trump announcements
Black gold is once again in sharp decline this Thursday morning, the prices posting declines close to 5% on the Asian markets. Around 2 am GMT, a barrel of “light sweet crude” (WTI), the American benchmark for crude oil, for delivery in April, yielded 6.28% to 30.91 dollars in electronic exchanges. For its part, the barrel of Brent, European benchmark, for May, dropped 6.04% to 33.63 dollars.
This disappointment, after the announcements of Donald Trump, comes on top of that of Wednesday, after the Saudi giant Aramco announced to raise its production objective and thus showered the hopes that Ryad and Moscow would find an agreement on the world oil production .
> Asian stock markets unscrew
Surprised by the last measures of the American president, the squares of Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul or even Hong Kong plunged back into the red. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 4.4% while the Hong Kong Hang Seng index lost 3.66%. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.3% when the Kospi posted a 3.2% drop.
In Australia, panic closed the stock market on a fall of 7.4%. The largest single day loss since the 2008 financial crisis.
> Italy closes all shops except food and health
A few hours after the announcement of a spectacular increase of 31% in the number of deaths in the peninsula (827 dead for 12,462 contaminations), the President of the Italian Council, Giuseppe Conte, announced on Wednesday, further tighten the measures already drastic restrictions in the country. All shops will therefore be closed as of this Thursday, with the exception of those which sell food and health products.
Hairdressers and beauty salons, bars and restaurants that cannot guarantee a distance of one meter or more between customers will close. “We will only see the effects of these considerable efforts in a few weeks,” warned the head of the Italian government.
> French people banned from entering several countries
More and more travelers are faced with restrictive measures, in an increasing number of territories. French, Germans and Spaniards can no longer enter six countries and are subject to quarantine in twenty others.
France is, in fact, the fifth country in the world with the highest number of infections. Only Italians, Chinese, Iranians, Japanese and Koreans are more ostracized.
> Australia announces recovery plan of more than 10 billion euros
The Australian government announced on Thursday a stimulus package of 18 billion Australian dollars, or 10.3 billion euros. It aims to combat the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fear of a recession is not zero, which would be a first for almost thirty years.
“This plan is there to keep Australians in their jobs. This plan is there for businesses to continue operating, “said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morisson as the country records 128 cases of contamination with the new coronavirus.
> 15 additional cases and 11 deaths in China
The slowdown in the spread of the epidemic is confirmed in China. Ten of the eleven new deaths were recorded in Hubei province, the cradle of the epidemic, in the center of the country.
In its daily update, the National Health Commission said that the epidemic has killed 3,169 people in mainland China and that 80,793 people have been infected with the virus since its appearance last December.
> South Korea reports 114 new cases
Six additional deaths and 114 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the country, the second most affected by the epidemic. The virus has now infected 7,869 people and caused 66 deaths in the country, said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
> UN chief calls on all countries to “redouble efforts immediately”
“I call every government […] to step up efforts immediately, “said Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general. in a press release. “Since this crisis affects everyone, we all have a role to play,” he added.
> NBA suspends regular season
“The NBA is suspending the rest of the scheduled games until further notice,” said the North American basketball league, whose regular season was to run until April 15, before the playoffs. A Utah player tested positive for coronavirus.
“This Wednesday’s game in Oklahoma City has been canceled. The affected player was not in the room, “said the NBA.
> Cancellation of the Olympics “unthinkable”
“We cannot say that the announcement of a pandemic will have no impact […]. But I think a cancellation is unthinkable, “said the governor of the Japanese capital Yuriko Koike once again. Japan has recorded 639 cases of contamination and 16 deaths from coronavirus on its soil.
> New York postpones its St. Patrick’s Day parade
“This decision was not easy to make, so I promise: it is a postponement, not a cancellation,” said city mayor Bill de Blasio. The parade was to take place on March 17.
This large celebration of the Irish American community generally attracts several hundred thousand people along a colorful parade.
> First cases of contamination in Cuba
Four Italian tourists who were staying in Trinidad, a city in the south of the island, after arriving at Havana airport on Monday, have respiratory symptoms and were hospitalized on Tuesday. Three of them tested positive for coronavirus.
The government called on people to make their own masks and mandated the textile industry to produce them. Authorities are seeking to locate the people with whom these tourists have come into contact.
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