BitGou: Friday Morning Briefing: California issues 'stay home' order; U.S. death toll hits 200

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Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus today

California issues “stay at home” order
Governor Gavin Newsom called the order essential in light of modeling by experts that showed roughly 56 percent of the state’s residents, or 25 million people, would contract the respiratory illness in the next eight weeks. The governor issued the unprecedented statewide “stay at home order” directing the state’s 40 million residents to hunker down in their homes for the foreseeable future.

YouTube no longer high definition in EU
YouTube said it will reduce its streaming quality in the European Union to avoid internet gridlock as thousands of Europeans are confined to their homes. “We are making a commitment to temporarily switch all traffic in the EU to standard definition by default,” the company said in a statement.

The spread
The virus has infected more than 245,000 people globally and the death toll exceeds 10,000. In China, where the virus first emerged, imported cases have risen to a record. But for a second day in a row, China found no domestically transmitted cases. Italy’s death toll has overtaken China. It registered 427 deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide to 3,405 since the outbreak surfaced on Feb. 21.

Follow our liveblog for the latest updates on the outbreak.

'How did things end up like this?' Across the United States, thousands of waiters, cooks, hotel staff, actors, bartenders and workers in other sectors have suddenly found themselves unemployed as the coronavirus pandemic has scythed through the world’s biggest economy

As U.S. authorities scrambled to ramp up the nation’s capacity to test for coronavirus last week, at least 100 executives and other New Yorkers of means had easy access to testing, according to sources familiar with the activities of a little-known medical service catering to the affluent.

Trump will cancel an in-person meeting of G7 leaders at Camp David in June because of the coronavirus and will hold a video-conference instead, the White House said. The decision comes as nations around the world seal their borders and ban travel to stop the virus’ spread.

Breakingviews: Corona Capital - Campari, Yuanfudao, Casino, LVMH
Campari changes its mind, no fund Yuanfudao's great timing, Casino bolsters post-virus defences and Tiffany on the cheap. Here are concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe.

World

Many overseas arrivals in Hong Kong are going unmonitored as they begin two weeks of mandatory self-quarantine, with only a third of the 6,000 electronic wristbands issued to them being activated, authorities said.

Ventilator rush: Britain said that engineering companies had come up with an emergency ventilator prototype to fight the coronavirus outbreak, which should be approved for use in hospitals by the end of next week. Britain has also asked 65,000 former nurses and doctors to return to work and will deploy final-year medical students to fight the coronavirus health crisis, the health ministry said.

Australia delayed its federal budget by five months to October saying the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to make sensible economic forecasts, as it prepared to dramatically expand its stimulus spending to avoid recession.

Winter is coming: The coronavirus outbreak is landing in Brazil as the hot summer days in the southern hemisphere draw to a close and winter approaches, potentially worsening the spread of the virus, medical experts told Reuters.

Business

'Strings attached': Governments offer financial lifelines to airlines, at a price

Shattered airlines were left counting the cost of government support as countries from the United States to New Zealand set out conditions for bailouts needed to absorb the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.

5 min read

Bipartisan U.S. talks expected on rescue for coronavirus-hit economy

U.S. senators from both parties were expected to meet along with Trump administration officials to try to devise a rescue plan for an economy reeling from the coronavirus, after Republicans made a $1 trillion opening bid.

4 min read

U.S. power industry may ask key employees to live at work if coronavirus worsens

The U.S. electric industry may ask essential staff to live on site at power plants and control centers to keep operations running if the coronavirus outbreak worsens, and has been stockpiling beds, blankets, and food for them, according to industry trade groups and electric cooperatives.

5 min read

Markets lifted as central banks, governments pour in cash

Stock markets rebounded from some of their recent huge losses, pulling further away from three-year lows as central banks and governments pledged masses of cash to reduce the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

5 min read