Live coverage: Solidarity Budget on Covid-19 measures

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat unveils the details of the third round of Budget measures to help Singapore through the Covid-19 situation.

Thailand reports 51 new coronavirus cases, 3 more deaths

BANGKOK (REUTERS) – Thailand reported 51 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Monday (April 6), according to a spokesman for the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

Thirteen of the new cases were medical personnel who attended to infected patients or had activities with them, said the spokesman, Taweesin Wisanuyothin.

More than half of the new cases were in Bangkok, he said.

Thailand has confirmed 2,220 cases and 26 fatalities since the outbreak emerged in the country in January.

Global GDP Tracker Shows Recession Started in March

The global economy is already contracting, and is losing steam faster than in the early days of the financial crisis: That’s the main takeaway from Bloomberg Economics’ new global GDP tracker. The tracker reading for March shows the global economy contracting at an annualized rate of 0.5%, down from 0.1% in February and 4.2% at the start of the year. With lockdowns deepening over the course of March and set to stay in place in April, the March reading is unlikely to be the worst of the downturn.

Turkish lira trades weaker, touching August 2018 levels

ISTANBUL, April 6 (Reuters) – The Turkish lira traded weaker against the dollar on Monday, hitting levels last seen in August 2018 as the spread of the coronavirus weighed on sentiment.

The currency stood at 6.7510 against the greenback at 0431 GMT, weaker than 6.7410 on Friday’s close. The lira has lost about 12% of its value against the U.S. currency this year.

Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus rose to total 574, and confirmed cases rose to 27,069, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter. (Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Japan's coronavirus panel to meet at 0500 GMT: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government’s advisory panel on the new coronavirus outbreak will meet on Monday at 0500 GMT in preparation for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Anti-parasitic Drug Killed COVID-19 Virus In Cell Culture In 2 Days: Study

With over 1.27 million confirmed coronavirus cases and death toll nearing 70,000, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the worst global health crises we have confronted.

Currently, there are no approved drugs or vaccines for COVID-19. A number of pharma companies and research organizations are working to find medical solutions to treat, prevent and manage this pandemic.

A study conducted by scientists from Australia’s Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Doherty Institute has found that an FDA-approved medicine Ivermectin that is currently used to treat parasite infections such as intestinal worms, lice, and mites, can kill the virus within 48 hours in cell culture.

According to Kylie Wagstaff, when human CD150-expressing Vero cells (Vero/hSLAM) cells) infected with SARS-CoV-2 in a Petri dish were treated with a single dose of Ivermectin, all viral RNA was removed in 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in the viral load.

However, Wagstaff cautioned that the findings are based only on lab studies and that whether or not Ivermectin is effective for treating SARS-COV-2 in humans will be known only if the trials are carried out in people.

The findings of the study were published in the journal, Antiviral Research.

Twitter Fans Yearn For A Leader Like The Queen After Moving Speech

Americans finally heard Sunday the messages they’ve been hungering for throughout the coronavirus crisis: Heartfelt thanks to workers, an appeal to our better natures and our proud legacy, a clear-eyed view that we’ll come through this — together — and that the “success will belong to every one of us.”

It came from across the sea in Windsor Castle from Queen Elizabeth II, not the White House.

“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return,” she vowed. “We will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again, we will meet again.”

The queen referred to her first radio broadcast in 1940, at the age of 14, when she consoled children who were being moved from London to the countryside to escape Nazi bombings. “Once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones,” she said Sunday. “But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do.” 

It’s what Americans yearned to hear:

And a few comments from the Brits and a Canadian:

Sage Stops GBP 250 Mln Share Buy-back; Sees Lower Organic Recurring Revenue

Sage Group Plc. (SGE.L) said that it has cancelled the 250 million pounds share buy-back programme, which was suspended on 18 March 2020 after 6 million pounds of shares purchased.

The company noted that it is too early to quantify with confidence the impact on Sage’s financial performance for the full financial year to 30 September. However the company now believes it is likely that organic recurring revenue growth will be below the previously guided range of 8% to 9%, and that the decline in other revenue will accelerate significantly in the second half, with some associated impact on margin.

Growth in organic recurring revenue for the six months to 31 March 2020
was ahead of full year guidance. Other revenue declined in line with the Group’s strategy, although the decrease accelerated towards the end of March as a result of COVID-19 impacting licence sales and professional services implementations.

The company plans to publish its interim results on Wednesday 13 May 2020.