March, 2020

• 25 March

  India shutdown to hamper medical supply deliveries

  

  Bloomberg India’s efforts to arm itself with necessary medical equipment to fight its rising coronavirus infections are being hindered by the uncertainties of a three-week nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Strict movement curbs being enforced by local state governments are hampering supplies of medical devices and those trying to meet the growing demands of surgical gloves, masks ...

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• 25 March

  Hong Kong’s faulty wristbands allow quarantined to wander free

  

  Bloomberg A glitch in Hong Kong’s electronic tracking system, designed to ensure people under compulsory quarantine orders stay at home, could potentially allow many to go outside undetected. Some Hong Kong residents returning from overseas have found they can’t register with the app that’s meant to track their movements via their mobile phone, meaning authorities have no information on their ...

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• 25 March

  France announces $4.3 billion support package for startups

  

  Bloomberg France is setting up a 4 billion-euro ($4.3 billion) package to help the country’s startups survive the coronavirus pandemic and maintain cash levels in between their fundraising. “Our goal is for startups to pass that crisis and then continue with their growth,” Digital Minister Cedric O said on Wednesday. “Startups represent between one-sixth and one-fifth of jobs created in ...

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• 25 March

  Germany closes in on historic bailout to counter virus blow

  

  Bloomberg Germany took a step towards declaring a state of emergency to unlock a historic rescue package to cushion the blow of the coronavirus pandemic. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz urged lawmakers to open up constitutional debt limits to combat a crisis that threatens modern life. New borrowing of $169 billion, equivalent to half of the country’s normal annual spending, will ...

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• 25 March

  Sweden may sink into worst recession

  

  Bloomberg The biggest Nordic economy may be about to sink into its worst recession in living memory, with the fallout of the coronavirus likely to do more damage than the financial crisis of 2008. Gross domestic product will probably fall about 4% this year, Swedbank economists said in a new report on Wednesday. But the decline could be as bad ...

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• 25 March

  CVS Health to hire 50,000 in response to Covid-19 demand

  

  Bloomberg CVS Health Corp. said it plans to hire 50,000 people in full-time, part-time and temporary jobs to tackle surging demand for drugstore services and health goods during the US coronavirus outbreak. The drugstore chain said it plans to hire store workers, delivery drivers, distribution center workers and customer service employees. CVS and other pharmacies are inundated with people stocking ...

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• 25 March

  UK inflation slowed slightly in February

  Bloomberg UK inflation slowed slightly in February before the impact of the coronavirus really hit the economy. Consumer prices rose 1.7% from a year earlier, from 1.8% previously, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. Since the information was gathered the inflation outlook has been thrown into turmoil by economic crisis wrought by coronavirus pandemic, and the curbs on ...

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• 25 March

  Facebook warning shows threat to Google as ad budgets shrink

  

  Bloomberg Google and other digital advertising companies are seeing revenue growth wither as marketers slash spending ahead of an expected recession triggered by the coronavirus. The global pandemic and the ensuing slump in economic activity is crushing several industries that have been big buyers of Google and Facebook Inc. ads, including online travel agents, automakers, restaurants and retail. “I’m hearing ...

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• 25 March

  World’s biggest tractor maker Deere halts output in Brazil

  Bloomberg Deere & Co. is halting production in agricultural behemoth Brazil as the coronavirus outbreak erodes sales for the world’s biggest tractor maker. In a bid to protect employees and families, Deere said it will suspend two facilities in Brazil on Wednesday for an undetermined period while four other units will stop on Monday. Deere, the world’s biggest tractor maker, ...

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• 25 March

  Trump eases blame game, says he’ll stop using ‘Chinese virus’

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he would stop using the term “Chinese virus,” the latest indication that the US and China are seeking to deescalate their blame game over the deadly pandemic. “I don’t regret it, but they accused us of having done it through our soldiers, they said our soldiers did it on purpose, what kind of a thing ...

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