Austria to Make Basic Face Masks Compulsory in Supermarketshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/death-toll-york-state-passes-1000-live-updates-200329234257896.htmlAustria will require the public to wear basic face masks in supermarkets, where they will be handed out probably from Wednesday in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.
"It’s not part of our culture, and it will be a big adjustment for us, but it’s necessary that we take this step to further reduce transmission," he said.
"These masks are handed out in front of supermarkets it will be compulsory to wear them," Kurz said, adding that the aim in the medium term was for people to wear them in public more often as well. The so-called MNS masks are below medical-grade, he said.
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Slovenia banned citizens from traveling around the country and made mask use mandatory from Monday on. Under the new measures, people will not be able to leave their municipality of residence and will have to wear masks and gloves in most indoor public spaces.
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Doctors in Germany called for a "massive expansion" of production of personal protective equipment on Monday. "Politicians and businesses must now address the lack of protective equipment by all available means," read a statement issued by the Marburger Bund, the largest doctors’ association in Europe.
"A lack of adequate protective equipment must not put the health of people who want to help other people with all their might, at risk," said Dr. Susanna Johna, the chair of the group, which represents around 70% of hospital doctors in Germany.
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Spain Passes China On Number of Caseshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-deaths-rising-quickly-spain-200327181759832.htmlSpain's total number of coronavirus cases rose to 85,195 from 78,797 on Sunday, the country's health ministry said, as the infections surpassed China, which reported 81,470, according to the latest data.
The death toll from the virus in Spain rose to 7,340 on Monday from 6,528 on Sunday, the ministry said.
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Fears of a Second Wave of Infections in Chinahttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/death-toll-york-state-passes-1000-live-updates-200329234257896.htmlConcern about a second wave of infections is growing in China amid official pressure to resume normal life, according to Al Jazeera's Katrina Yu.
"In Wuhan, some shops are open, and malls are starting to open their doors. People who work in essential industries, such as the cement, steel and car industries, are starting to go back to work," Yu said from Beijing.
Yu said officials are under "tremendous pressure to resume normal life" as President Xi Jinping travelled on Sunday to a port and an industrial park in eastern Zhejiang Province to inspect the resumption of work.
"He wants to get the economy going after two months at a standstill. And because of this urgency, there are fears it may be too soon and could result in a second wave of infections," she said. "Officials are also under pressure to keep numbers down, and that's causing fears they may not be transparent when it comes to reporting new cases."
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India: No plan to extend coronavirus lockdownhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/death-toll-york-state-passes-1000-live-updates-200329234257896.htmlIndia has no plans to extend a 21-day lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus,
the government said, as it struggled to keep essential supplies flowing and prevent tens of thousands of out-of-work people fleeing to the countryside.Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba told ANI, a Reuters news agency partner, that there was no plan to extend the shutdown beyond the three weeks, rejecting reports that a prolonged closure was likely.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the country's 1.3 billion people to remain indoors until April 15, saying that was the only hope to stop the spread.
Defying the lockdown, hundreds of thousands of workers who live on daily wages left big cities like Delhi and Mumbai on foot for their homes in the countryside, many with families.Thousands mob New Delhi bus terminal after lockdown announced-------------------------
Lockdown in India hits HIV patients hardhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/india-covid-19-lockdown-hits-hiv-chronic-patients-hard-200329200022525.htmlIndia's ongoing strict COVID-19 lockdown has widely affected HIV-positive and chronic patients with critical conditions who are facing problems accessing health services.
With 21.4 million Indians living with HIV, according to the National Aids Control Organisation data in 2017, India is believed to be home to the third-largest population of HIV-positive people in the world-------------------------
Developing Countries Face Economic Collapse in COVID-19 fight: UNhttps://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/developing-countries-face-economic-collapse-covid-19-fight-200330003332689.htmlThe coronavirus outbreak threatens to disproportionately devastate the economies of already impoverished countries as they gear up to tackle a health crisis with extremely limited resources, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned.
The socioeconomic hit on poor and developing countries will take years to recover from, UNDP said in a report released on Monday, stressing that income losses in those countries are forecast to exceed $220bn.
Nearly half of all jobs in Africa could be lost, it also warned. --------------------------
Russia weighs nationwide coronavirus lockdownhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/death-toll-york-state-passes-1000-live-updates-200329234257896.htmlRussian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asked regional governors to consider introducing a partial lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus after Russia recorded its biggest rise in cases for the sixth day in a row.
Russia's official nationwide tally of coronavirus cases rose by 302, taking the total to 1,836. Nine people across Russia have died, the authorities say.
Authorities in Moscow ordered residents to stay at home from Monday, their toughest move yet after the number of official cases in the Russian capital passed the 1,000 mark
The isolation rules will be policed by a system of facial recognition cameras placed throughout Moscow. The lockdown also coincides with the start of a "non-working" week announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
Mishustin said he thought the measures now needed to be rolled out nationwide.
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Lockdown in Zimbabwe likely to hit vulnerable people hardhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/death-toll-york-state-passes-1000-live-updates-200329234257896.htmlZimbabweans rushed to supermarkets on the eve of a three-week lockdown imposed by the government on Monday to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The threat of the new disease could not have come at a worse time for millions of Zimbabweans already struggling with a deepening economic crisis bringing soaring food prices, stagnant salaries, water shortages and daily power blackouts.
Many fear steps to curb coronavirus will hit vulnerable people hard.
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Super-Spreader: UK PM Johnson's Adviser Isolating With Coronavirus Symptomshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/death-toll-york-state-passes-1000-live-updates-200329234257896.htmlPrime Minister Boris Johnson's senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, has begun self-isolating with symptoms just days after the British leader tested positive.
A Downing Street spokesman said Cummings, widely seen as one of the most powerful men in the government, had developed symptoms of COVID-19 over the weekend.
Johnson on Friday became the first leader of a major world power to announce he had tested positive for the virus. His health minister, Matt Hancock, also tested positive and the government's chief medical adviser, Chris Whitty, is self-isolating.
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Israeli PM Netanyahu's aide has coronavirusAn aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tested positive for coronavirus but initial findings indicate she had not posed an infection risk to the 70-year-old leader, according to officials.
As a routine precaution, they said Netanyahu was scheduled to undergo a coronavirus test by Tuesday.
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Guatemalan deported from US tests positivehttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/guatemalan-deported-tests-positive-covid-19-official-200330030439882.htmlA Guatemalan man who was deported from the US last week has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to a spokeswoman for the Guatemalan health ministry.
The 29-year-old was deported last Thursday on a flight chartered by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The flight had at least 40 others on board.----------------------------
EasyJet grounds fleet, furloughs cabin crew for two monthsBritish low-cost airline EasyJet said it had grounded its entire fleet of over 300 aircraft and reached a deal with its cabin crew for employees to be furloughed for two months under a government job-retention scheme.
The airline said there was no way to tell when commercial flights could restart.... The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is asking airline cabin crew who have been laid off during the coronavirus pandemic to go to work in temporary new hospitals being built to treat COVID-19 patients.
The NHS said airlines including easyJet and Virgin Atlantic are writing to thousands of staff — especially those with first aid training — asking them to work at hospitals being built inside convention centers in London, Birmingham and Manchester.
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A recession in Germany in the first half of this year is "inevitable" due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the country’s council of economic advisers. Output could shrink by up to 5.4% this year, while in the best-case scenario, gross domestic product (GDP) could drop by as little as 2.8%. That best-case scenario would be dependent on a short time frame for coronavirus-related restrictions on businesses, and a speedy economic recovery, the council said.
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More than one in 10 medium-sized companies are threatened with bankruptcy due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Eric Schweitzer, the president of the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK).
"What is worrying is not only the absolute number of feared bankruptcies, but also the rapidly rising concrete worries of insolvency within the last three weeks," said Schweitzer, referencing an unpublished survey involving a total of 15,000 companies. Additionally, 40% of medium-sized companies in the travel and hospitality industry are in acute danger of declaring bankruptcy, he said.
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In Germany, asparagus might become a rare delicacy this year. The harvest relies on experienced eastern European teams of farm laborers. But border lockdowns and travel bans have starved German farms of labor just as the harvest is due.
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Coronavirus Pandemic Not Keeping Swedes at Homehttps://m.dw.com/en/coronavirus-pandemic-not-keeping-swedes-at-home/av-52950733