Coronavirus Toll As of March 17, 2020;
Number of Cases Worldwide: 218,910
Deaths: 8,925
Mortality Rate: %4.1
Governments and central banks around the world are trying to increase confidence in the markets by taking emergency measures to pump cash into the much-panicked markets.
New Record in The Number of Cases
Around the globe, investors are fleeing stocks and other risky assets in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic for the US dollar whose index rose to 102.33.
As of Wednesday 20 thousand new global cases were recorded in the previous 24 hours the sharpest increase in a single day, with the total number nearing now to 219 thousand.
Urgent Purchasing Program From ECB
The European Central Bank ECB held an urgent meeting Wednesday to prevent a deep recession that seemed more threatening than the 2008–09 global financial crisis and launched a program that envisages new bond purchases worth 750 billion Euros ($817 billion).
“Extraordinary times require extraordinary action,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said over concerns that pressures from the emerging crisis could break up the single-currency multi-national Eurozone.
According to the decisions taken, ECB will launch a new temporary asset purchase program of private and public sector securities. Purchases will be made by the end of 2020 and will include all eligible asset categories under the current asset purchasing program.
Aid Packages in The US
In the United States, the Federal Reserve launched its third emergency loan program in two days, aimed at keeping the 3.8 trillion dollars money in the market mutual fund sector.
Cases in the US exceeded 9 thousand with at least 150 million Americans staying in their homes. Fiat Chrysler and Ford were among giant auto companies, announcing a halt to their production.
President Donald Trump signed the first one of the emergency relief packages that Congress passed very quickly. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin raised the size of a rescue package he is preparing to $1.3 trillion that also included an offer to hand out $2,000 to every adult citizen.
The Dow Jones index fell below the level of the day Trump took office in 2017, losing all earnings in the past three years and closing under 20,000.
Bank of America now expects the US economy to “collapse” by 12 percent in the second quarter but predicts a recovery in the third quarter.
UK Prepares For Lockdown
In Britain, the conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson chose to take more drastic measures in the face of an increasing number of cases. Reserve soldiers have been ordered to be on standby. London Mayor Sadiq Khan shut down at least 40 tube stations and reduce bus services in an emergency act.
Johnson and Khan are set to meet today to discuss the measures in the capital.
