03/04/20 COVID-19 Global News Update

A late-session rally in the energy sector helped European stocks end slightly higher on Thursday, with sentiment remaining fragile after a sharp rise in U.S. unemployment claims showed further evidence of the coronavirus’ economic impact.

Global financial regulators said on Thursday they are in talks with governments to allow key staff at financial firms to work on site during the coronavirus epidemic to keep markets open.

A quick walk down any deserted high street or a video chat with friends and family is a reminder that currently it is anything but business as normal.

The government is under pressure to explain how it will meet its target of increasing coronavirus testing ten-fold by the end of April. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he wants 100,000 tests to be carried out every day.

The emergency loans scheme for businesses struggling to survive amid the coronavirus pandemic has been revamped following strong criticism. The Treasury said it had received more than 130,000 loan enquires from firms but fewer than 1,000 had been approved.

UK retail sales plummeted to the worst levels on record in March as footfall plunged and non-essential stores were forced to close amid the coronavirus pandemic.

International seat capacity has dropped by almost 80% from a year ago and half the world’s airplanes are in storage, new data shows, suggesting the aviation industry may take years to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak will on Friday address a gap in its support for businesses trying to survive the seismic economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak, by allowing medium-sized companies access to government-backed loans.

UK banks are now barred from demanding personal guarantees from small business owners who need modest loans to stay afloat amid the Covid-19 emergency, the Treasury has announced, as part of an attempt to patch up its foundering £330bn support package for the UK private sector.

More than 220 schools have said they are prepared to open at Easter for the children of key workers and vulnerable children.

Many Royal Mail sorting offices are not providing workers with sufficient protection from coronavirus infection, according to a union which says some depots should close until staff are safe.

Care home managers have threatened to resign over new government guidelines that state they have to accept residents who have coronavirus.

Brazil faces a tense period in the coming weeks in its battle against the coronavirus, with supplies of medical and protective equipment running low and fresh shipments from China not expected to arrive in the country for another month.

Millions of people in India are struggling for food during the country's coronavirus lockdown Mohammad Alam is one of thousands of workers standing in a food queue in India's capital, Delhi.

Carbon dioxide emissions could fall by the largest amount since World War Two this year as the coronavirus outbreak brings economies to a virtual standstill, according to the chair of a network of scientists providing benchmark emissions data.

NI's deputy first minister has said the health minister is acting too slowly in key areas such as testing and providing protective equipment to health staff battling the coronavirus crisis. Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill accused the UUP's Robin Swann of "slavishly following the Boris Johnson model".

The United States is paying Russia for a planeload of medical equipment sent by Moscow to help fight the coronavirus outbreak, a senior Trump administration official said on Thursday, clearing up confusion as to who footed the bill.

Australian officials closed internal borders on Friday and warned people to stay home over the upcoming Easter holiday as the country seeks to capitalise on a further fall in the rate of new coronavirus cases.

Before the coronavirus outbreak the Europe Union looked like a place where the leaders were united.

Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google on Thursday published reports for 131 countries showing whether visits to shops, parks and workplaces dropped in March, when many governments issued stay-at-home orders to rein the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The United States is on track to "soon" have tens of thousands of new ventilators to treat coronavirus victims, Donald Trump said Thursday evening, but he was vague on the exact timing of those being fielded ahead of an expected surge in cases and deaths.

Governments in the Middle East need to act fast to limit the spread of the coronavirus after cases rose to nearly 60,000, almost double their level a week earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

Up to 9.5 million women and girls could miss out on vital family planning services this year because of Covid-19, potentially resulting in thousands of deaths.

The United Nations food agency has negotiated a humanitarian corridor to keep food aid flowing in southern Africa after many countries shut their borders to stop the spread of the coronavirus, an official said on Thursday.

More than a million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University - another grim milestone as the world grapples with the spreading pandemic. More than 51,000 people have died and more than 208,000 have recovered, according to the university's figures.