Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
“Every American adult should immediately receive $1,000 to help ensure families and workers can meet their short-term obligations and increase spending in the economy.”
Director-general of World Health Organization says ‘We cannot fight a fire blindfolded’ and urges governments to test public; US measures ramped up; Germany closes shops. Follow the latest news
Angela Merkel has announced a raft of further drastic measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Germany, including the closure of places of worship, playgrounds and non-essential shops.
Speaking at a press conference in Berlin on Monday afternoon, the German chancellor issued new guidelines for restricting social gatherings, which the country’s federal state are expected to enforce in the coming days. She said:
These are measures that we have never had in our country, but they are necessary to reduce the number of illnesses and severe illnesses and avoid overwhelming our health services.
The more individuals stick to these rules, the quicker we will get through this phase. The benchmark [for these measures] isn’t what we want to do, but what scientists tell us is the right response”.
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, says he will close his country’s border to foreigners. Only four Canadian airports will be allowed to accept international flights, he said.
The closure will not apply to commerce or trade, Trudeau said.
HAPPENING NOW: I’m speaking from Rideau Cottage about the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak and announcing significant new measures we’re taking to protect your health and keep you safe. Watch live: https://t.co/ZWtPbeNPVk
PM tells Britons to avoid pubs, restaurants and non-essential travel but school stay open for now as chief medical officer says ‘next few months are going to be extraordinarily difficult for NHS’
The FTSE 100 fell below 5,000 points on Monday and trading on Wall Street was suspended for the third time in a week as markets were gripped by mounting concerns over the threat of a global recession, despite a coordinated effort by central banks to protect growth and jobs.
In an escalation of the worst turmoil since the 2008 financial crisis, stock markets suffered further sharp losses on Monday despite dramatic action taken by the US central bank late on Sunday in an attempt to limit the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Boris Johnson has announced new measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in Britain. The measures include whole household isolation and avoiding mass gatherings
Meet Sonia Zhou who runs a popular Chinese restaurant in Rome's Chinatown. She has been forced to shut up shop, in part, due to people avoiding the area after the coronavirus outbreak. Italy has seen increased incidences of anti-Chinese racism but also much-needed acts of solidarity as it goes into national lockdown.
The World Health Organization director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says he has a simple message to countries on how to deal with the coronavirus outbreak sweeping the globe: 'Test, test, test.' Speaking during a news conference on Monday he urged countries to test more suspected cases, warning that they 'cannot fight a fire blindfolded'
Minister’s spokesperson says arrangements ‘consistent with other employment programs’ but few require group activities
Aboriginal people who work for the dole will have to show up for group activities as usual, despite the government telling service providers that there is a “high likelihood that larger scale community outbreaks [of Covid-19] will occur in the near future”.
The National Indigenous Australians agency (NIAA) wrote to CDP (community development program) providers on Monday to tell them “mutual obligations remain in place at this stage”, meaning that Aboriginal people will still be expected to turn up for work or risk losing their welfare payments.
As countries scramble to close their borders in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of cruise ship passengers are stranded on the high seas while their vessels seek a port at which to dock.
The Norwegian Jewel, sailing under the flag of the Bahamas, has been refused permission to dock in French Polynesia, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, and is piloting to American Samoa to refuel.
Cities and states across the US, from New York to Washington state, saw empty streets, sporting games cancelled and Disneyland shuttered over the coronavirus pandemic
Major airlines including British Airways, Ryanair, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic announced a dramatic scaling-back of their operations on Monday, including plans to cancel the majority of their flights and ground thousands of planes, with experts and industry executives calling for government bailouts to avoid bankruptcies.
The moves came as an aviation consultancy warned that the international airline industry will collapse within months, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, unless states worldwide inject billions of dollars of emergency funding to see it through the coronavirus “catastrophe”.
Countries across Africa have imposed wide-ranging and stringent new measures as the coronavirus begins to spread more rapidly across the continent.
Though the continent is still far behind Europe and Asia in the total numbers of Covid-19 cases, the disease has now reached about half of its countries. Algeria has 48 confirmed cases, Egypt 110, while South Africa has 62, according to the World Health Organization and national governments on Monday. Other countries have fewer cases, mostly in single figures.
Celebrities have been advising people about what to do to minimise the risk of contracting coronavirus. Arnold Schwarzenegger, accompanied by his miniature horse and pet donkey, suggested people should not leave their homes, while others focused on demonstrating different activities that people can do to make sure they are washing their hands for long enough – from reciting poems to kicking a football around
Donald Trump urged Americans to refrain from panic-buying basic supplies during the coronavirus pandemic as the administration announced plans to expand testing for the virus.
'You don't have to buy so much', the US president said during a press briefing at the White House on Sunday evening, adding that people should 'take it easy. Just relax'
The populist leaders of Brazil and Mexico have come under fire after publicly thumbing their noses at growing fears over the spread of the coronavirus.
Panic buying continued to sweep parts of the country over the weekend, with many shoppers buying many everyday essentials in excess as they prepared for periods of isolation during the coronavirus crisis.
Despite the highly unusual move of all major operators signing up to a letter urging customers to shop responsibly and ensure supplies are shared out fairly, some customers continued to stockpile.
Blow to Benjamin Netanyahu who appeared to come out ahead in recent election
Israeli political parties have backed the opposition leader, Benny Gantz, to form a government, in a shocking blow to Benjamin Netanyahu after he appeared to come out ahead in an election held earlier this month.
The dramatic news came as a Jerusalem court postponed the prime minister’s corruption trial due to the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 100 million Europeans are living under lockdown after Spain joined Italy in imposing a national quarantine to combat coronavirus, with a wave of further restrictions on travel coming into effect worldwide.
The World Health Organization announced that Europe was the new centre of the Covid-19 outbreak, with hundreds of thousands of cases. The UK is yet to impose the level of restrictions seen in the rest of Europe but the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said new measures will be announced in the coming weeks