Governments and central banks yesterday readied more emergency measures to tackle the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping financial markets pare some of their steep losses, while more major events were canceled or postponed.
The respiratory disease has now infected almost 135,000 people and killed more than 4,900 worldwide.
Experts have said that due to a lack of testing and unreported cases, many more people might be affected by the global outbreak, which late last year emerged from Wuhan, China.
Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP
Japan’s Nikkei 225 yesterday closed down 6 percent after the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped about 10 percent on Thursday, its worst day since the 1987 “Black Monday” crash.
However, Asian markets were off lows for the day as policymakers stepped in to help ease a liquidity squeeze as cratering stock markets triggered a rush for cash.
The Bank of Japan pledged to buy ￥200 billion (US$1.87 billion) of five-to-10-year Japanese government bonds and also inject an additional ￥1.5 trillion in two-week loans.
“We should see more action from central banks, because what we need here is a short-term liquidity bridge,” Citigroup head of Asian trading strategy Mohammed Apabhai said. “The issue is that if we don’t see that, then this situation risks becoming a more systemic problem.”
US lawmakers and the White House neared agreement on a coronavirus economic aid package, with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying that she hoped to announce a deal yesterday.
The US Federal Reserve on Thursday offered a hefty US$1.5 trillion in short-term loans to stimulate the US economy and stabilize the financial system.
The Reserve Bank of Australia followed suit, pumping an unusually large amount of cash into the system yesterday as panic selling across global markets threatened to drain liquidity and push up borrowing costs.
Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton said that he had tested positive for the virus.
Travelers in Europe rushed to board flights to the US after US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping restrictions on travel from the continent, a decision that angered European leaders and frightened investors.
Trump also suggested that the Tokyo Olympics could be delayed by a year.
“Maybe they postpone it for a year ... if that’s possible,” Trump told reporters. “I like that better than I like having empty stadiums all over the place.”
Tokyo organizers said that they were moving ahead with preparations to hold “safe and secure” Games on schedule in July.
European leaders warned that things would get worse before they get better.
“It’s going to spread further,” British Prime Boris Johnson told a news conference. “I must level with you, level with the British public — more families, many more families, are going to lose loved ones before their time.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said that his country was facing its worst public health crisis in a century, and announced measures including the closure of schools, daycare centers and universities from Monday next week.
In Italy, where the death toll passed 1,000 in Europe’s deadliest outbreak, the government imposed a blanket closure of restaurants, bars and almost all shops except food stores and pharmacies.
Several Latin American countries stepped up measures to slow the spread of the virus, halting European flights, banning public gatherings and closing schools.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison advised against gatherings of 500 people or more, but not for schools, universities, public transport or airports.
He said that he was going to a rugby match over the weekend.
Thailand issued a warning to the party-going public after a cluster of 13 cases was traced to a group of friends who shared cigarettes and drinks.
Small island states in the Pacific, ill-equipped to deal with an outbreak, have imposed strict lockdown measures, including denying access to supply vessels and prohibiting human-to-human contact during aircraft refueling.
Separately yesterday, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported that the first case of COVID-19 can be traced back to November last year.
Chinese authorities had identified at least 266 people who contracted the virus and were placed under medical surveillance, with the earliest case on Nov. 17 last year — weeks before authorities announced the emergence of the new coronavirus, the newspaper said, citing unpublished Chinese government data.
For about one month after that date there were between one and five new cases reported each day, the newspaper said, adding that by Dec. 20 last year there were 60 confirmed cases.
A 55-year-old from Hubei Province could have been the first person to contract COVID-19, it said.
Additional reporting by the Guardian
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