COVID-19 in Europe: Daily bulletin, 10 March

TOP HEADLINES

• **Italy wakes up in full-country lockdown **with schools and universities closed as prime minister Giuseppe Conte announces country's "darkest hour"

• Worldwide death toll passes 4,000 , with more than 110,000 cases in more than 100 countries

• Italy has now suffered 463 deaths from 9,172 cases. China, South Korea and Iran are also above 7,000 cases, although Korean cases appear to be decelerating

• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told the nation not to shake hands - then

forgot and shook hands with someone

• China's President Xi Jinping is visiting the virus epicenter, Wuhan for first time since outbreak began

• European Parliament president **David Sassoli has self-isolated **as a precaution after having traveled to Italy

• Poland (17 cases) cancels all mass events , including pre-election political rallies. The country has not yet had a death from COVID-19

• Madonna cancels two shows in Paris after the French government prohibited gatherings of more than 1,000 people

• **Czechia (40 cases) is to suspend schools from Wednesday **and ban events of more than 100 people

• Denmark's prime minister announces **ban on air travel into country **from coronavirus "red zones"

• Serbia (four cases) closes borders to arrivals "from Italy, certain provinces in China, South Korea, Iran and Switzerland"

• Moldova, which reported its first case on Sunday, **bans all foreigners entering by plane **from any country affected by the coronavirus

• Malta (four cases) suspends all flights to and from Italy and bans passengers from the ferry to Sicily

• Israel (42 cases) insists all arrivals must self-quarantine for 14 days

• Russia's safety watchdog recommends avoiding busy places , including rush-hour public transport

• After more than 70 cases, Canada records its first COVID-19 death , in an elderly care home

• **Italy's "Patient No.1" has been moved out of intensive care **for the first time since he tested positive on 21 February

• In football, the forthcoming** Champions League games at Barcelona and Bayern Munich** will be played behind closed doors, as will several games in Germany and the next two rounds of Spanish league fixtures.

00:41

ACROSS EUROPE

By Ross Cullen in Rome

Italians woke up on Tuesday to the first day of a lockdown for the entire country.

Restrictions that previously only applied to the north, now apply to the whole country. All but essential travel is banned; people are being urged to stay at home; schools, cinemas, theaters, gyms and museums are closed. Bars and restaurants have to shut each day by 6pm and can only open if they can prove customers will be at least a meter away from each other.

The government had been promising new measures this week to try to combat the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe, and the highest number of deaths outside China, but the prime minister brought forward this move as authorities try to relieve the pressure on the overburdened health sector.

The government is also dealing with deadly riots in prisons after visiting hours for family members of inmates were suspended. All domestic sport has been banned and mortgage payments may now be temporarily suspended as well.

A masked soldier at Rome's Termini railway station, 10 March. Tiziana Fabi/AFP

By Ira Spitzer in Frankfurt

The head of Germany's Robert Koch Institute called on local governments and hospitals to activate emergency plans, saying the country's COVID-19 epidemic was only just beginning.

There were 1,139 confirmed coronavirus infections in the country as of 14:00 GMT Monday; 484 of those were in the Heinsberg district, near the Dutch border.

Writing in the

Bild

newspaper on Tuesday, Germany's health minister Jens Spahn said there will be further restrictions on everyday life. He called for public solidarity to help slow the outbreak and preserve hospital beds for the elderly and chronically ill, who are at the greatest risk.

Germany recorded its first two COVID-19 deaths on Monday and there is growing pressure on professional soccer leagues to cancel matches or play without spectators.

In Frankfurt, the European Central Bank and Deutsche Bank have each reported a COVID-19 case among their employees. Both organizations say they've asked other workers who may have been infected to work from home.

Near-empty shelves at a London store. Justin Tallis/AFP

By Nicole Johnston in London

By 10:00 GMT on Monday, 319 people were reported to have contracted COVID-19 in the UK, and five people had died from it.

The UK's chief medical adviser said within 10 to 14 days, the government may ask people who show even mild signs of the coronavirus to stay at home and elderly people may be urged to self-isolate under "social distancing" policies.

Meanwhile, small tubes of hand sanitizer are in short supply in many supermarkets and pharmacies across London. CGTN Europe spoke to a dozen shoppers at four major supermarkets in Acton, west London and found they were all searching for hand sanitizer to try to protect themselves from catching the coronavirus.

One couple, aged in their 70s, said they had been to 10 different supermarkets looking for the product and still hadn't managed to find it. They said they were cautiously worried, but didn't want people in the UK to become gripped by panic.

Most of the people out mid-morning shopping were senior citizens, the age group most likely to become seriously ill from the virus.

A recent survey of 2,000 British shoppers by Retail Economics found that one in 10 Brits is stockpiling in direct response to the outbreak. That has prompted some supermarkets to put a limit on certain items, such as hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes and toilet roll.

The UK's largest supermarket chain, Tesco, has restricted sales of some essential foods. Customers can't buy more than five of items such as dried pasta, long-life milk and some tinned vegetables.

By Isobel Ewing in Budapest

As of Tuesday, **Romania **had 17 confirmed coronavirus cases. Of these, five had been declared restored to health and released from hospital.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban announced the country will close all schools indefinitely from Wednesday in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

All direct bus and train lines to and from Italy have been suspended from 10 March until 31 March. This adds to the existing suspension of flights to and from Italy in place until 23 March.

Romanian citizens arriving from Italy, China, Iran, and South Korea at land border points will be allowed into the country only under the compulsory measure of being quarantined.

The sparsely occupied hemicycle of the EU Parliament. /Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP

By Toni Waterman in Brussels

In an extraordinary move, the **European Parliament **cut its plenary session short this week because of the coronavirus outbreak. It will meet for just one full day – Tuesday – instead of the usual four. The session had already been moved from Strasbourg to Brussels over concerns the proper security measures weren't in place to transport Parliament.

At that session, European Members of Parliament admonished Brussels for its handling of the crisis, saying it has been absent in the bloc's moment of need. "To hell with European constraints. To hell with the stability pact. To hell with your point zero. Italy and the ltalians cannot die of the virus because of budget constraints," said Italian MEP Mara Bizzotto.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases

hit 239 in **Belgium **on Monday

. One patient, who was reported in the media as having died, remains hospitalized but in a "worrying" state. And video of a man on the Brussels metro spreading saliva on a support pole has gone viral. Public transport company STIB said the man was inebriated and later detained.

In Luxembourg , the first cross-border worker with COVID-19 has been diagnosed, bringing the total number of cases in the Grand Duchy to

five as of Monday

. The Health Ministry has recommended all events with more than 1,000 people be cancelled.

In the Netherlands , the total number of cases was

321 on Monday

. Officials there are now urging the public to stop shaking hands. Dutch carrier KLM also registered the first visual impacts from the virus on Tuesday. The airline said passenger numbers dropped 2.7 percent, while passenger volumes in Asia plummeted nearly 24 percent.

By Guy Henderson in Geneva

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus has now surpassed 370 in Switzerland. New infections in the western cantons of Vaud and Geneva – home to the World Health Organization – have driven up the total.

According to the Federal Office of Public Health, all of those testing positive continue to be people who were infected in Italy or by someone else who was.

The largest share comes from the southern canton of Ticino, which borders Italy's Lombardy province – currently under quarantine - and has strong economic and social links to its neighbor. On Tuesday, regional authorities confirmed the canton's first fatality from the novel coronavirus.

Confusion about the lockdown over the border has reportedly spread to Ticino as well. About 68,000 people usually commute between the two every day and there were reportedly initial fears the crossing could be closed.

As of Tuesday, it remains open. Though both Swiss and Italian authorities say citizens should avoid the journey in either direction unless it is necessary for work or if there is an emergency. It is not clear how that would be enforced.

The Italian-Swiss border between Como and Chiasso, north of Milan. /Miguel Medina/AFP

MARKETS AND BUSINESS

Oil and equity markets rebounded on Tuesday morning after a brutal Monday. Oil had dropped 25 percent, its sharpest fall since the 1991 Gulf war, but bounced back 5 percent

• Most benchmark government bond yields have also started to recover from record lows on Monday

• European stocks have regained 3 percent, having lost 7 percent on Monday

• Halifax bank closed a call center in Northern Ireland after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19

• Swiss pharma giant Roche told 1,200 employees in Spain to work remotely

• Air France-KLM, Qantas and Korean Air have all warned that coronavirus is a threat to their company's survival

Juliet Mann's Talk of the Trading Floor

After the massive losses on Monday, global markets have recovered some of their heavy losses as investors anticipate further central bank action to cushion the economic fallout of the rise in coronavirus diagnoses. U.S. equity indices futures, oil and Asian stock markets all moved sharply higher, but the trading environment remains fragile.

"Only investors with an extreme high appetite towards taking on risk will have the stomach to price in a recovery after financial markets suffered their deepest declines since the global financial crisis. Even following such dramatic drops, the selling isn't over," said Jameel Ahmad, global head of currency strategy and market research at FXTM.

European markets got off to a positive start, but analysts expect more volatility. "On any ordinary day, gains of a couple of percent in indices would be a solid day, but given the scale of yesterday's decline, it could well be nothing more than a dead-cat bounce," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe.

The sustainability of any rebound may hang on the policies outlined from various governments and central banks over the coming days. Oil has rallied strongly during early morning trade, lifted by the rally in after-hours US stock futures. Brent crude is up 7 percent at $36.70 a barrel. Analysts expect Brent to eventually settle into a $30 to $40-per-barrel range, but oil's longer-term picture looks structurally grim.

Meanwhile, gold is once again having a difficult time with significant intra-day volatility. Initially investors piled in, seeking a safe haven; the price even briefly hit $1,700, but it since pared back those gains as stocks staged a modest rally.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

**- President Xi Jinping visits **

COVID-19 epicenter in Wuhan

- **Man flees Zimbabwe hospital **

before coronavirus test

**- The Heat: Containing COVID-19 - **

report and discussion from CGTN America

**- Burkina Faso **

confirms two coronavirus cases

**CGTN Europe has been providing in-depth coverage of the novel coronavirus story as it has unfolded. **

Here

** you can read the essential information about the crisis.**

Source(s): Reuters