Brazil’s central bank on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to a record-low 3.75% to cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic but signaled no rush to cut again and emphasized the need for more economic reforms.
The number of Coronavirus cases tested positive are increasing significantly, in the exponential leg of the process, in Mercosur country members and in Chile. Brazil reported the first death, a 62 year old man in Sao Paulo with a medical record of high pressure and diabetes.
By Kristina Georgieva (*) – While quarantining and social distancing is the right prescription to combat COVID-19’s public health impact, the exact opposite is needed when it comes to securing the global economy.
Anyone hoping to escape wall-to-wall coronavirus coverage with a day at the beach can forget about it in Rio de Janeiro, where authorities armed with megaphones blared out messages on Monday ordering everyone home.
Britain has asked manufacturers including Ford, Honda and Rolls Royce to help make health equipment including ventilators to cope with the coronavirus outbreak and will look at using hotels as hospitals.
Argentina will close its borders for 15 days to non-residents in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, President Alberto Fernandez announced on Sunday. Public and private school classes would also be suspended until March 31, Fernandez said. National parks would also be closed.
Uruguay confirmed its first four tested cases of coronavirus on Friday, the Ministry of Health announced in a tweet. All four cases were people who had arrived to Uruguay from Milan, Italy between March 3 and March 6, the ministry said, adding that the patients are stable and at their homes.
Working from home went from optional to mandatory across Wall Street this week as financial firms reported their first confirmed cases of coronavirus and the outbreak triggered a state of emergency in New York City.
The coronavirus epidemic caused more death and disruption on Tuesday spreading to new countries as a top health official warned the world was “simply not ready” to contain it. Even as the number of fresh cases declines at the epicenter of the disease in China, there has been a sudden increase in parts of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Iran's deputy health minister confirmed on Tuesday that he has been infected with the new coronavirus, amid a major outbreak in the Islamic republic that have fuelled fears of a contagion in the region. Iraj Harirchi coughed occasionally and appeared to be sweating during a press conference on Monday with government spokesman Ali Rabiei.