31/03/20 COVID-19 Global News Update

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez on Tuesday proposed increasing the budget of the European Union to tackle the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “Perhaps we should improve European cashflow, perhaps the European budget should be larger,” Gonzalez said on French radio station Europe1.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are likely to accelerate work next week on using their bailout fund ESM and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to counter the economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, their chairman Mario Centeno said. T

GENEVA (Reuters) - Developing countries will need a $2.5 trillion support package this year to face the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a U.N. report said on Monday.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as China’s economic activity surprisingly returns to growth Introduction: Chinese PMIs show economy strengthening 8.02am BST China’s statistics body also warns that the global coronavirus pandemic is hurting the world economy.

LONDON (Reuters) - Confidence among British companies slumped in the second week of March as the coronavirus crisis gathered pace but before the government shut much of the economy to slow its spread, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

The package of economic support offered by the Treasury — from a standing start — is one of the most impressive among any western country. But the cascading consequences of the coronavirus crisis mean that there are all kinds of areas where the pleas for help continue to come.

Northern Ireland’s Finance Minister Conor Murphy will present Stormont’s budget for the new financial year on Tuesday. The budget is expected to be dominated by the response to the coronavirus crisis. In the Westminster budget three weeks ago, Stormont was allocated an additional £200m.

Ratings agencies have reported a surge in demand from UK companies as firms try to secure credit ratings that would let them access the Bank of England’s coronavirus bond-buying scheme.

Asos has been criticised by staff who say they are scared to come to work at its distribution centre because they are not being sufficiently protected during the coronavirus pandemic.

LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Diesel profit margins are bucking the downward spiral engulfing jet fuel and gasoline, lifted by continuing industrial activity and stockpiling even as national lockdowns hammer demand for other fuels. With 3 billion people - nearly 40% of the world’s population - under lockdown and entire airline fleets ...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been urged by a group of MEPs to delay his Brexit deadline as countries around the world battle the coronavirus. The European Parliament’s largest group of MEPs said the pandemic puts pressure on the chance of securing a trade deal by the planned date.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Germany has risen to 61,913 and 583 people have died of the disease, statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday.

Homeless people in major European cities are increasingly going hungry during the coronavirus pandemic and suffering in the enforcement of the lockdown, with rough sleepers being issued with police fines for being outside.

WUHAN, China (Reuters) - Residents of China’s Wuhan city, ground zero for the coronavirus pandemic, have mixed emotions as containment measures are lifted and the community infection rate slows to a trickle, with some praising the government and others rueing the economic costs.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia on Tuesday reported a sustained fall in the country’s rate of new coronavirus infections but officials and experts warned against complacency, stressing the need for further strict social distancing policies.

Deaths can be invisible, coffins are hard to hide. Outside the Rothschild care home in Paris, a delivery van pulls up to unload its pale wooden cargo, still wrapped in factory plastic.

Almost half of charities supporting vulnerable children in London will be forced to close within six months due to a collapse in income caused by the coronavirus crisis, unless they get additional support from the state, according to a new survey.

UK police officers have been told to take a "consistent" approach when ensuring people comply with emergency measures aimed at curbing coronavirus. Guidance to officers calls on forces to "coordinate" efforts and emphasises the importance of professionalism.

Families with children eligible for free school meals in England will be able to claim weekly shopping vouchers while schools are closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, say ministers. The scheme will allow schools to issue vouchers worth £15 a week per child.

Employees at an online clothing warehouse have accused the company of "putting people's lives at risk" through a lack of social distancing. Several workers at Clipper Logistics in Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, said warehouse staff were "crammed into corridors" and given no hand sanitiser.

More than 80% of young people with a history of mental ill health have found their conditions have worsened since the coronavirus crisis began in the UK, a survey has found.

BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday that there can be no more quarantine measures imposed on the country than those already in place to combat coronavirus because jobs are being destroyed and the poor are suffering disproportionately....

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht told Deutschlandfunk radio on Tuesday that tracking apps to help tackle coronavirus could only be used voluntarily in Germany, where people are deeply suspicious of digital surveillance.

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam will begin 15 days of social distancing from Wednesday to curb community transmission of the coronavirus, the Southeast Asian country’s prime minister said on Tuesday.

British officials took part in four meetings where EU projects to bulk-buy medical kit were discussed – the earliest in January, according to official minutes that heap doubt on government claims of missing an email. Last week Downing Street claimed that it failed to take part in an EU scheme ...

American Airlines has confirmed it will seek $12bn (£9.7bn) of financial support from the US government because of the impact of coronavirus. Employees were told in an email this "would allow us to fly through even the worst of potential future scenarios".

Best of BBC iPlayer

British Airways will suspend all flights to and from London's Gatwick airport amid a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus.