IMF ISSUES FRESH WARNING ON ECONOMY, WARNS US, CHINA AGAINST TRADE WAR
WHO says animal markets should stay; 6-week-old baby is UK’s youngest victim
WASHINGTON/ LONDON/ BERLIN: The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday signalled a possible downward revision of global economic forecasts, and warned the US and China against rekindling a trade war that could weaken a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The IMF’s chilling warning has come at a time when the number of Covid-19 infections worldwide has crossed 4 million.
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, told an online event hosted by the European University Institute that recent economic data for many countries was coming in below the fund’s pessimistic forecast for a 3% contraction in 2020. “With no medical solutions, more adverse scenarios might materialise for some economies,” Georgieva said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that although a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan selling live animals likely played a role in the emergence of the coronavirus, it does not recommend that such markets be shut down globally. In a press briefing, WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Peter Ben Embarek said live animal markets are critical to providing food and livelihoods for millions of people globally.
Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas has said in a statement that Europe must acknowledge that it “wasn’t well-prepared” for the pandemic.
BRITAIN CONSIDERING NEW QUARANTINE PLAN
Britain is to introduce a 14-day quarantine period for almost everyone arriving into the country to avoid a second peak of the coronavirus pandemic, according to media reports.
Also, a six-week-old baby has become the youngest victim of the coronavirus in England . The baby’s death on Friday comes as Britain prepares for some easing in the strict lockdown measures in place.