Markets plunge over Covid-19
ANXIETY over the new coronavirus epidemic sent global stock markets and oil prices plunging yesterday, touched off prison riots in Italy and caused a cascading shutdown of sites and events ranging from Saudi schools to a Holocaust march.
While many of Beijing’s white-collar workers returned to work as new cases of infection subsided in China, some 16 million people under a widespread lockdown in northern Italy struggled to navigate the new rules of their mass isolation.
Global oil prices suffered their worst percentage losses since the start of the 1991 Gulf War. In Saudi Arabia, shares of state oil giant Saudi Aramco dropped 10%, forcing a halt to trading of the company on Riyadh’s stock exchange.
Inmates at more than two dozen Italian prisons rioted against restrictions on family visits and other containment measures, and six died after they broke into the infirmary and overdosed on methadone.
Italy’s financial hub, Milan, and the popular tourist city of Venice were among the places under the quarantine lockdown. The country has counted 7 375 cases of Covid-19 virus and 366 deaths, more than any other country outside of Asia.
Pope Francis celebrated Mass by himself yesterday at the Vatican hotel where he lives, live-streaming the event, but he did resume some meetings. Trying to send a message of confidence in the economy, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife kept a security distance from passers-by. “I’m shaking hands using my heart,” he said, as he waved to people from a distance.
“We cannot shut down the country but we need to protect the most fragile people,” he said.
China’s slow re-emergence from weeks of extreme travel restrictions offers a grim sense of the longer-term effects the virus can have on a country’s economy.
“Our business is one-fifth of what it was before,” said Cheng Sheng, who helps run a stand in Beijing that sells sausages and noodles. “There’s much less foot traffic. There are no people.”
Infections were reported in more than half the world’s countries, and flashpoints were erupting around the globe. In all, more than 110 000 people have tested positive for the disease and more than 3 800 infected people have died, most in China. Some 62 000 people have already recovered.
In Iran, the virus had killed another 43 people, pushing the official toll up to 237, with 7 161 confirmed cases.
In the US, where more than 500 infections have been reported, the Grand Princess cruise ship, which has at least 21 confirmed virus cases, was expected to dock in Oakland, California, amid elaborate protective procedures. Fleets of buses and planes were ready to whisk the more than 2 000 passengers to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. In Florida, passengers disembarked from the Regal Princess after it received clearance to dock. Two crew members eyed as possible carriers had negative tests for the virus. The Caribbean Princess cruise ship cut short a Fort Lauderdale-Mexico cruise because crew members had been on another ship where people were infected.
In Washington, the Capitol’s attending physician’s office said “several” members of Congress had contact with a person who attended a recent political conference and subsequently developed Covid-19. They “remain in good health,” the office said. Two members of Congress said they were isolating themselves.
Countries around the world showed a willingness to take tough steps to try to stop the virus’ spread.