Swiss President Pledges More Economic Aid If Virus Worsens

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The Swiss government may provide additional economic support on top of its $10 billion Covid-19 aid package if the crisis worsens, Switzerland’s President Simonetta Sommaruga said in an interview with SonntagsZeitung.

“Switzerland is a rich country,” she told the newspaper. “We don’t let people down.”

Sommaruga’s comments come two days after the Swiss government unveiled an emergency economic package of roughly 10 billion francs ($10.5 billion) to help workers and small businesses suffering from the impact of the pandemic.

The plan includes as much as 580 million francs in emergency bank loans to small and medium-sized businesses, which employ a majority of the Swiss labor force.

The situation for Swiss companies, businesses and freelancers is “extremely difficult,” Sommaruga said.

The priority for Switzerland now is to deal with the virus by increasing testing and encouraging citizens to protect themselves, she said.

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange temporarily closes trading halls over coronavirus

DUBAI, March 15 (Reuters) – The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) said on Sunday it was temporarily closing all its trading halls until further notice due to the global coronavirus outbreak.

The ADX said in a statement it was closing trading halls at its main offices in Abu Dhabi and in other emirates as a precautionary measure to protect public health in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE has registered 86 cases of the new coronavirus so far, of which 17 have recovered. (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Egypt's main index EGX30 down 8.1% shortly after open following government steps to contain Coronavirus – refinitiv data

CAIRO, March 15 (Reuters) – Egypt’s main index was down 8.1% shortly after open following government steps to contain Coronavirus, Refinitiv data showed on Sunday.

Egypt said on Saturday it will close schools and universities starting Sunday for two weeks to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus as the number of cases rises, reaching 110 on Saturday, with two deaths. (Reporting by Nadine Awadalla Writing by Amina Ismail Editing by Peter Graff)

Beijing to send all travelers from abroad to central quarantine facility for 14 days

BEIJING (Reuters) – Anyone arriving to Beijing from abroad will be transferred directly to a central quarantine facility for 14 days for observation, a city government official said on Sunday.

The new policy will be implemented at 12.01 am on March 16.

It comes as the majority of new coronavirus cases being reported in China have come from people arriving from abroad, rather than from domestic transmission.

Feeling anxious about the coronavirus pandemic? Here’s how to take control

Updates about travel advisories, school closings and a slew of famous people coming down with the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, have a lot of Canadians on edge.

It’s a reasonable response, experts say. But if the concern becomes worrisome or panic, then it can be a problem.

Part of the issue is that, yes, people should be taking the threat of COVID-19 seriously, and it’s hard to say at this point exactly how much concern is warranted.

UK will have power to order people to quarantine – health secretary

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) – Britain will have the power to force people to quarantine if necessary as part of its strategy to fight coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC television on Sunday.

“We are going to take the powers to make sure that we can quarantine people if they are a risk to public health,” he said. “I doubt we will need to use it very much because people are being very responsible and people need to be responsible.”

Malaysia reports 190 new coronavirus cases, most linked to mosque event

KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Reuters) – Malaysia reported 190 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, most linked to a religious event at a mosque that was attended by more than 10,000 people from several countries.

The new cases bring the total number of infections in the country to 428, the health ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Beijing to send all travellers from abroad to central quarantine facility for 14 days

BEIJING (REUTERS) – Anyone arriving to Beijing from abroad will be transferred directly to a central quarantine facility for 14 days for observation, a city government official said on Sunday (March 15).

The new policy will be implemented at 12.01am on Monday.

It comes as the majority of new coronavirus cases being reported in China come from people arriving from abroad, rather than from domestic transmission.

UK advises against all but essential travel to United States

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has advised against all but essential travel to the United States due to U.S. government restrictions on travelers from countries with a high incidence of corononavirus, which will include the UK and Ireland from 0359 GMT on March 17.

Financial expert: Do this with money during coronavirus outbreak

New York (CNN Business)The coronavirus crisis is hurting America’s retail industry, so many stores are shutting their doors or reducing their hours.

Walmart (WMT), the largest retailer in America, said Saturday that it will modify its store hours in response to the pandemic, while other retailers plan to temporarily close stores.
Beginning Sunday, all of Walmart’s more than 4,700 US stores will be open from 6 am to 11 pm until further notice. The company said the shortened hours will help employees restock shelves overnight and clean stores. Thousands of Walmart stores are already operating under shortened hours.

Walmart employees will keep their regular daytime or evening shifts, the company said.
Other US grocery stores, including Publix, Giant, Stop & Shop and H-E-B have also modified their hours in recent days as the virus has spread.

Late Saturday, Urban Outfitters (URBN) said it will close all of stores around the world and will not reopen them until at least March 28.
Patagonia (HGLD), Glossier and Neighborhood Goods have also announced their stores will temporarily close.