Italy – Millions of northern Italians are grappling today with their first day back at work since the imposition of an unprecedented virtual lock-down of activity in the region. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says Italy has chosen the path of “truth and transparency” in acknowledging the full scale of the crisis – meanwhile questions abound about how its near neighbours France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland will react.
Financial markets are already struggling to understand what the Coronavirus outbreak means for asset prices. Panicked investors bought bonds and the yen, which are deemed as safer assets to own right now.
Spread-figures -The number of people infected with the Coronavirus topped 107,000 globally, according to government announcements. The death toll outside of China also shot up to 704 from 129 a week earlier. Almost 80 percent of those deaths are from Iran and Italy. In the past 24 hours Italy reported 133 deaths.
Sport – The latest sporting event to be held without fans in attendance will be the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on March 22. Bahrain itself has reported 83 cases of the virus, mostly linked to people who had travelled to Iran.
