World coronavirus dispatch: Australian contraction, German recession

From currency exchange rate revisions to 'coronabonds', and from struggles of big economies to demand for bunkers and plight of the elderly, read it all and more in today's world coronavirus dispatch

A total of 17,742 new cases came up overnight in the US, forcing President Donald Trump to go back on his earlier stance that things would return to normal by Easter. He said “social distancing” would remain in place till April 30, and that things might start to recover after June 1.

Some say the US is at the tip of an iceberg. Death toll in the North American country could rise to 200,000, Anthony Fauci, director of America’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has warned.

Meanwhile, governments globally continue with monetary cushions to curtail the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on economic activity. Australia has announced a record A$130-billion ($80-billion) jobs-rescue plan, pledging to subsidise workers’ wages.

Singapore’s central bank has fixed the currency exchange rate to a higher range – an unprecedented move – for companies to take benefit of export-driven growth.

China has pledged to increase its fiscal deficit and raise funds through special sovereign debt bonds, while in Europe, the push for the so-called ‘coronabonds’ is gaining support among leaders.

Let’s look at global statistics:

Total confirmed cases: 732,153

Change over the previous day: 53,433

Total deaths: 34,686

Total recovered: 154,673

Nations hit with most cases: US (143,055), Italy (97,689), Spain (85,195), China (82,198), and Germany (62,435).

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Germany in recession

The German government’s economic advisors predict that the coronavirus pandemic will give the nation its worst recession since the global financial crisis. The output is expected to shrink by 2.8 per cent this year. Read more here.

Australia GDP contraction

Bloomberg Economics research shows the Australian economy is poised for its deepest recession in 90 years owing to corporate restrictions. The country’s GDP may decline by 10 per cent in the first three quarters of 2020 before a gradual recovery in the final three months. Read more here.

Automaker continue lockdown

Three of America’s biggest automakers – Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler – are extending production shutdowns into April. The lockdown, which started on March 18, was earlier planned till March 30. It may now go on until late April. Read more here.

Foxconn profits down

Apple’s chief hardware maker, Foxconn, has reported a 23.7 per cent drop in profit in the October-December 2019 quarter. The Taiwanese company in February saw its steepest sales dip in seven years and said its business would fall 15 per cent in the January-March quarter. Read more here.

Partners may not get salaries

The ‘Big Four’ — KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and EY – along with top law firms and other accounting firms in the UK are preparing to withhold payouts to partners. “We are already being hit by cash protection measures from our clients, some of which are extending their time to pay invoices,” said a senior person at EY. Read more here.

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry move to LA

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have moved to Los Angeles, quietly behind the curtain of the unfolding pandemic. The pair had been living on Vancouver Island since they decamped from the UK and are now in lockdown in the Hollywood area with their 10-month-old. Read more here.

Tokyo Olympics rescheduled

The Tokyo Olympics have been rescheduled to start on July 23, 2021, after deliberations among the International Olympic Committee, Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and the international federations. Japan has spent more than $26 billion to ready Tokyo for the games. Read more here.

Wall Street executive dies due to coronavirus

The 56-year-old CFO of Jefferies, a large investment bank, has died of Covid-19, in one of the first reported deaths due to the disease among senior Wall Street figures. Read more here.

Bunkers demand rises

The demand for bunkers is at an all-time high, as the super-rich plan to ensure survival of their families, should the pandemic turn into international catastrophe. Rising S Bunkers, a Texas, US-company, says queries are 2,000 per cent higher. “It’s not the disease, but the possibility of civil unrest.” Read more here

Essential Reads

How South Korea managed a sharp decline in coronavirus cases?

Behind its success is the most expansive and well-organised testing programme in the world, combined with efforts to isolate infected people, trace, and quarantine their contacts. South Korea, a country of 50 million, tested more than 270,000 people, which amounts to more than 5,200 tests per million inhabitants — second only to Bahrain. Read more here.

Five days of worship that set a virus time bomb in France

A prayer meeting on February 18 at Christian Open Door church in Mulhouse – at the border of France, Germany and Switzerland – was identified as the source site for over 2,500 cases. That was before France sealed borders with Germany; there were only 12 confirmed cases at the time. Read more here.

Older people die without seeing their children

One of the deeply unsettling consequence of the coronavirus pandemic is having the elderly retire from life without having the chance to say goodbyes to their families, especially young children. For grandparents all over the world, being protected from the pandemic has meant a piercing distance from their loved ones. Read more here.