Covid 19 News From All Around the World for March 28th

1. CORONA CASES IN TURKEY AND IN THE WORLD
Turkey

• Minister Koca: Death Roll Reaches 92 in Turkey
o Fahrettin Koca, Minister of Health, said “we detected 2.069 positive cases in the last 24 hours. Our total case number is 5.698. With 17 lives we lost today, total death toll reached to 92.” (Turkish)

• Resignation Limitation To Health Employees
o According to the statement released by the Ministry of Health, it is expressed as “for 3 months after this decision taken within the scope of pandemic period, none of the health employees assigned/working in public and private health institutions and organizations will be allowed to leave their duties/jobs until a second notice.” (Turkish)

• President Erdoğan Announced New Measures
o President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced new measures against the coronavirus with a press meeting organized last night: inter-city travel will be subject to permission from governorship, international flights will be stopped. Erdoğan stated that new measures will be ‘studiously applied’ in 30 metropolises. (Turkish)

• All High Speed Train Trips Have Been Cancelled
o High Speed Trains won’t be operated as of March 28, 2020 due to limitation brought for intercity trips within the scope of coronavirus measures. (Turkish)

• New Coronavirus Measures In Istanbul: Sports Halls Belonging To IBB And Atatürk Airport May Be Used as Hospitals
o Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), announced new measures against new type coronavirus. İmamoğlu, stating that 19 sports halls belonging to the municipality and Atatürk Airport may be used as hospitals, said they are making required technical studies in order to establish field hospitals to meeting areas. (Turkish)

World

• WHO Director-General Calls on G20 to Fight, Unite, and Ignite against COVID-19
o Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, addressed Heads of State at today’s extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit focused on COVID-19.
“You have come together to confront the defining health crisis of our time: We are at war with a virus that threatens to tear us apart - if we let it.“ He welcomed the G20‘s initiative to find joint solutions and work together: “This is a global crisis that requires a global response.” “Fight, unite, ignite.“ (English)

• World Health Organization: Coronavirus Vaccine 12 – 18 Months Away
o World Health Organization (WHO) General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated that people need to wait 12 – 18 months minimum for a vaccine against new type coronavirus. (Turkish)

• Italy Now Has More Coronavirus Cases Than China! 969 People Died In A Single Day
o The number of coronavirus cases in Italy has reached 86,498, according to a tally by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. That puts the European country ahead of China, where 81,946 infections have been confirmed. (English)
o Death toll in Italy due to coronavirus increased by 969 in the last 24 hours and reached 9.134. USA left China and Spain behind in terms of case number, while Russia experienced a day with highest number of cases. 144 people died in Iraq in the last 24 hours, making total death toll 2.378 people. Death toll in Spain increased by 769 in the last 24 hours and reached 4.858. (Turkish)

• Covid-19 Case Number In The USA Exceeded 100 K
o Total Covid-19 case number in the USA has exceeded 100 thousand, while death toll increased to 1.536 people. (Turkish)
o Home healthcare providers, the lifelines to 12 million vulnerable Americans, are scrambling to decide how to serve patients who show symptoms of coronavirus — and how to ensure that the providers themselves neither catch nor spread it. (English)

• Edouard Philippe Warns The Public; Curfew Extended In France
o An “extremely high wave” of the Covid-19 epidemic is now sweeping in France. The words are from the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, and were spoken this Friday as the country has crossed the 30,000 proven contaminations for 1,995 deaths. (French)
o Friday morning, Emmanuel Macron made an audio conference with his social partners. They discussed how to continue economic activity and keep workers protected. On this occasion, Edouard Philippe announced the extension of the confinement "until at least April 15". (French)

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Corona Positive; NHS Counts On Technology!
o Boris Johnson says his symptoms are mild and he continues to lead the government’s Coronavirus strategy.(English)
o The government has asked local authorities in England to house all rough sleepers and those sleeping in hostels and night shelters by the weekend, as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.(English)
o As the coronavirus pandemic spreads around the world, the British government has raced to issue various pieces of guidance to the nation on how to prepare and how to react to the outbreak. (English)
o Data collected via the NHS's 111 telephone service is to be mixed with other sources to help predict where ventilators, hospital beds, and medical staff will be most in need. (English)

• Banks Postpone Layoffs In Germany
o Deutsche Bank decided to postpone initially planned layoffs, in order to assure their employees economical conditions. Other banks also plan to postpone layoffs. (German)

• South Africa Reports First Deaths As Lockdown Begins
o South Africa has announced its first deaths from Coronavirus infection, and said cases there have passed the 1,000 mark.(English)

• China Puts Major Restrictions On Inbound Air Travel
o China was compelled to temporarily suspend entry into the country of foreign passport holders with valid visas or residence permits in order to deal with the spread of COVID-19, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday. (English)
2. MARKETS

• Fitch Downgrades UK’s Rating With Outlook Negative
o The Fitch Ratings agency downgraded United Kingdom's long-term Issuer Default Ratings rating to 'AA-' from 'AA' with a negative outlook. “The downgrade reflects a significant weakening of the UK’s public finances caused by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and a fiscal loosening stance that was instigated before the scale of the crisis became apparent,” it said. (Turkish)

• IMF Ready To Use $1T Capacity To Support Its Members
o The International Monetary Found (IMF) is ready to use its financial capacity of $1 trillion for supporting its member countries against the COVID-19's effects, according to a statement on Friday. The global pandemic caused an economic and financial crisis in the world, said the statement, issued by the IMF and and International Monetary and Financial Committee jointly. Saying that its member countries have taken measures to protect people and economy already, the press release underlined: "But more is needed. Priority should be afforded to targeted fiscal support to vulnerable households and businesses to accelerate and strengthen the recovery in 2021." (Turkish)

• Turkish Stocks Down At Weekly Close
o Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index started made a positive beginning on Friday and reached 92.299,34. However, worries on Coronavirus and negative reactions of European markets affected BIST index. BorsaIstanbul closed the day above 88.000 points. (Türkçe)

3. BUSINESS WORLD

• TÜSİAD Chairman Kaslowski: It Is Not Possible For A Single Package To Be A Solution
o Simone Kaslowski, Chairman of Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association (TÜSİAD), making statement to Dünya newspaper about the coronavirus epidemic, said the protection of employment should be a priority among measures taken against it. (Turkish)

• 40% of automotive supply industry to stop
o Association of Automotive Parts and Components Manufacturers (TAYSAD) officials announced that 40% of automotive supply industry will stop, while 50% will partially work due to coronavirus. This situation will affect 100 thousand employees. (Turkish)

• Teknosa employees to be assigned at Carrefoursa for a short term
o Sabancı Holding will assign employees of Teknosa, which temporarily stopped operations at stores during coronavirus epidemic, at CarrefourSA markets for a short term. (Turkish)

• Airlines Are Begging For A Bailout
o Airlines are begging for a bailout, but they've used 96% of their cash flow on buybacks over the past 10 years. It highlights an ongoing controversy over how companies have been spending their money.(English)

• Cheesecake Factory Tells Its Landlords It Won't Be Able To Pay April Rent
o The Cheesecake Factory won't be able to pay its April rent at its nearly 300 locations, highlighting how deeply the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the restaurant industry.(English)

4. TECHNOLOGY & STARTUPS

• New Technologies to measure impact of Coronavirus
o WHO’s COVID-19 Application: MyHealthy (Turkish)
o 10 startup apps boosting your wellbeing during coronavirus (English)
o Rocket startup Skyrora shifts production to hand sanitizer and face masks for coronavirus response (English)

5. ART & CULTURE

• For The First Time In History, Bolshoy Theatre Is Going Online!
o The Company’s ballet productions are now shown in real time at cinemas throughout the world. There has been a huge response to this Bolshoi Ballet on the Big Screen project. Bolshoi productions can now be viewed by audiences in cities and countries across the world. Bolshoi Theatre Youtube channel link. (English)
6. SPORTS

• Coronavirus Test Of Galatasaray Deputy Chairman Yusuf Günay Turned Out To Be Positive
o According to the statement released by official Twitter account of Galatasaray, it is expressed as “COVID-19 test of Yusuf Günay, our Deputy Chairman who was being treated at hospital, turned out to be positive.” (Turkish)

• Coronavirus Tests Of 4 People From Fenerbahçe Beko Turned Out To Be Positive
o A player, a technical staff and two administrative personnel from Fenerbahçe Beko Basketball Team had positive results from their coronavirus tests. (Turkish)