- \n
- Massive surge in number of deaths and cases in UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France<\/li>\n
- New York, New Jersey deaths, cases accelerate<\/li>\n
- Italy goes under full lockdown<\/li>\n
- Rikers outbreak worsens: 21 inmates<\/li>\n
- NY Gov Cuomo: “months, not weeks” to control virus<\/li>\n
- Ukraine declares total quarantine<\/li>\n
- Belgium sees 25% jump in cases<\/li>\n
- Saudi Arabia reports 10% spike<\/li>\n
- German gov’t ends years of fiscal restraint with 365 billion euro aid package<\/li>\n
- NYC airspace closed after positive Air Traffic Controller test<\/li>\n
- NJ declares full state lockdown; “will take action” for people not following precautions<\/li>\n
- FDA authorizes first 45-minute COVID-19 test<\/li>\n
- US Fiscal Aid package around $2 trillion (10% of GDP), Kudlow<\/li>\n
- Officials increasingly calling for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Update (0940ET):<\/strong>\u00a0After one of his aides tested positive, VP Pence was tested, and as it turns out, has tested negative, along with his wife, Karen Pence.<\/p>\n
In other news, as New York emerges as America’s premier hot spot, the situation on Riker’s Island, the nation’s second-largest prison system, is growing increasingly dire. According to information from the city’s Board of Correction, 21 Rikers inmates, 12 jail employees and five correctional health workers have tested positive for COVID-19, up from just 8 the day before.<\/p>\n
Already, one worker at the complex has died. Just like the prison outbreaks in China, the virus spread rapidly from workers on the periphery to the corrections officers to the prisoners. According to\u00a0the New York Times<\/a>, It started with a jails investigator in an office three miles from Rikers Island. Then, a correction officer at a security checkpoint near the entrance to the jail complex got it. Hours later, it was an inmate in a crowded housing unit.<\/p>\n
Within days, the investigator had died and three more correction officers and two other staff members had tested positive for the coronavirus, confirming fears that the highly contagious disease had arrived in the nation\u2019s second-largest jail system, endangering 5,300 inmates and twice as many guards.On Thursday, the jail system\u2019s chief physician, Ross MacDonald, took to Twitter with a warning: “A storm is coming.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Civilian employees in the prison system were ordered to remain home for two weeks to limit the number of people entering the prisons. More controversially, visits by friends and family have been suspended, something that the inmates aren’t exactly thrilled about.<\/p>\n
Let’s hope they don’t react like\u00a0some prisoners in Italy did.<\/a><\/p>\n
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Update (1835ET):\u00a0<\/strong>Even after threatening Italians in some areas with serious criminal penalties for violating their stringent quarantine orders, it seems Italy’s coronavirus containment efforts have failed.<\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nAfter reporting another shocking jump in deaths,\u00a0the Italian government has gone full “Wuhan”, ordering a complete shutdown of industrial production for 15 days.<\/p>\n
In a speech delivered just before midnight on Saturday in Rome, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he is ordering ALL non-essential businesses to be closed, and for Italians to stay home.<\/p>\n
These measures are slightly more restrictive than the current measures, which allow Italians more freedom to move about their towns and communities. They will also likely result in a much larger economic hit, as Italy’s industrial stalwarts are forced to pause operation.<\/p>\n
And just like that, an entire country – 60 million Italians – is now under ‘shelter in place.’<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, as Middle Eastern countries escalate their crackdowns, Kuwait announced that it would start imposing a curfew between 5pm and 4am due to what the government called \u201cnon-compliance with Ministry of Health\u2019s instructions to stay indoors.” Meanwhile, the UAE has closed beaches and parks for two weeks.<\/p>\n
As the number of confirmed cases in Europe and North America soar, the total global case total has surpassed 300k on Saturday.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-21%20at%206.49.45%20PM.png\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nFinally, an interesting snippet from the\u00a0FT:<\/a>\u00a0Researchers on multiple continents say an usual symptom has emerged in the majority of Covid-19 patients: a loss of the sense of smell.<\/p>\n
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Update (1510ET):<\/strong>\u00a0Across Europe on Saturday, deaths accorded to COVID-19 soared, with Italy reporting a record 793 deaths on Friday, and Spain reporting another 300 cases, bringing their totals to 4,825 and 1,326.<\/p>\n
The UK also reported another string of deaths, as millions await a lockdown order on London, while hospitals and intensive care units in Italy and Spain are struggling to cope, despite some Madrid hotels being temporarily converted and of the Fair of Madrid, the capital\u2019s main exhibition space.<\/p>\n
As we’ve mentioned before, now is a good time for coffinmakers and funeral homes in Italy.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackPosobiec\/status\/1241432556312113153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1241432556312113153&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fgeopolitical%2Farmy-deploys-new-york-nyc-reports-1-coronavirus-death-hour-live-updates<\/p>\n
But these weren’t the only states seeing a spike. The total number of cases of coronavirus in Belgium rose by over 500 in 24 hours, a 25% jump bringing its total number to 2,815. The government also reported deaths had risen to 67, an increase of 30 over the same time period. According to the\u00a0FT<\/a>, a spokesman for the Belgian government\u2019s crisis center advised people to establish a clear daily routine to avoid mental health issues.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn Ukraine, Arsen Avakov, the country’s interior affairs minister, called for a nationwide “total full quarantine,” warning that strict lockdowns and possibly martial law would soon be declared to stop the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n
As we mentioned earlier, Germany is set to abandon six years of fiscal restraint with a blow-out budget designed to save its economy from the brutal effects of the coronavirus pandemic of \u20ac356 billion .<\/p>\n
Even Saudi Arabia saw a 10% spike in cases announced on Saturday, with 48 new cases confirmed, bringing the total number in KSA to 392.<\/p>\n
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Update (1415ET):\u00a0<\/strong>Just as Gov. Cuomo hinted earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed an executive order mandating that all non-essential workers living in the state stay home.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a group of European countries have reported new figures, including Spain, which announced that more than 5,000 new cases and ~300 new deaths were confirmed over the past day, increasing the total number of cases in the country by 25% to 24,926, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n
The death toll in the country is at 1,326.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/SPAINSAT.png\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nGermany confirmed that it has agreed to take on over \u20ac150 billion of new debt as part of a \u20ac350 billion package of emergency measures to save its economy from the brutal effects of the\u00a0coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/GERMANYONE.png\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nMore devastating figures were released from Italy on Saturday, including announcing 793 new deaths, the highest total yet, bringing its total to 4,825, well above China’s total, and the latest in a grim string of records that has so far tracked the worst fears of epidemiologists. In total, more than 53,578 cases have been confirmed.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/ITALTHESAT.png\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nUK today saw total deaths reach 233 as the number of cases soared by more than 1000 to 5,015 from 3,983 on Friday. Italy was at that death figure on March 7. The UK patients were aged between 41 and 94 years old and all had underlying health conditions, according to NHS England. Earlier, two more deaths were recorded in Wales, bringing its total to five, and another death in Scotland, taking the number to seven. Northern Ireland has recorded one death.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/UK%20cases%203.21.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nFinally, France also just reported the biggest daily jump in covid cases, which soared by 1,847 to 14,459, while the number of deaths spiked the most yet, or 112 to 562 overnight.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/inline-images\/france%20total%20deaths.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nMeanwhile, in Asia, Bangkok, Thailand\u2019s capital, imposed a\u00a0partial shutdown\u00a0from Sunday as the number of confirmed cases surged past 400 with a rising number of people in critical condition. Malls in Bangkok will be closed, and shops offering food and essential services will be among the few allowed to remain open, Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said during a press briefing on Saturday. The restrictions will begin Sunday, and continue until at least April 12, he said.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n
(1230ET):\u00a0<\/strong>New cases are being reported out of New York State and NYC are being reported faster than we can keep up, as the state ramps up testing.<\/p>\n
NYC officials just announced that the total number of confirmed cases in the city has climbed to 7,530. An hour ago, Gov. Cuomo put the number at 6,211.<\/p>\n
By our count, this puts the new total cases in New York State at 11,675.<\/p>\n
Last night, de Blasio described NYC as the “epicenter” of the US outbreak.<\/p>\n
\n
New York City has 5,151 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Mayor de Blasio announced, and said the largest U.S. city is now the epicenter of the crisis. Follow latest updates here: https:\/\/t.co\/1S9iYGfKZK<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/u4FPfOxHBf<\/a><\/p>\n
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 21, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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