TOP HEADLINES

- Europe's worst-affected country, Italy, now has more than 10,000 confirmed cases. The Italian death toll jumped on Tuesday by 168 to 631, Europe's largest single-day rise to date

- Citing experts, Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that 60 to 70 percent of the population will be infected

- Czech PM Andrej Babis says Merkel's comments on mass infection may cause panic

- Spain suffers a spike in COVID-19 cases, with 1,622 infections and 35 deaths

- Vienna's Wiener Staatsoper, opera house has canceled its remaining performances in March over COVID-19 fears 

- The UK government's Michael Gove says coronavirus could shelve Brexit trade talks

- Greta Thunberg urges fellow climate activists to move their Fridays For Future protests online

- Hungary bans inbound travel from Italy, South Korea, Iran and China for non-Hungarians

- A 73-year-old woman becomes Albania's first COVID-19 fatality

- The UK cuts interest rates from 0.75 percent to 0.25 percent – its joint-lowest ever – ahead of the government's annual budget

- Moldova closes all its nurseries, schools, colleges and universities for two weeks from Wednesday. The country has reported three cases, with no deaths so far

- All Polish schools will close from Monday. Poland, which will also close museums and cinemas, has 26 confirmed cases but no deaths so far

- Ukraine (one case so far) will close schools, universities and cinemas in the capital Kyiv from Thursday until the end of March and restrict mass events such as concerts and conferences

- Austrian rail operator OBB suspends all passenger train connections to and from Italy. Freight will continue but the 20 or so daily passenger services are suspended until further notice

- The UK's health minister, Nadine Dorries, tests positive and is in self-quarantine

- Italy's prime minister Giuseppe Conte refuses to rule out a stricter lockdown in Lombardy, including the closure of shops, offices and public transport. Italy has 10,149 cases and 631 deaths

- The UK suffers its biggest daily rise so far, with cases reaching 456

- Belgium suffers its first COVID-19 fatality, the health ministry announcing the death of a 90-year-old patient

- A British woman in Bali becomes the first COVID-19 death in Indonesia, which has 27 cases. The victim was 53 and already critically ill with diabetes, hypertension, hyperthyroidism and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

- Wednesday night's Manchester City vs Arsenal soccer fixture becomes the first English Premier League game to be called off after it emerges some Arsenal players met Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who has tested positive

- Outside Europe, the U.S. now has more than 1,000 cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University; Panama reports the first virus-linked death in Central America; new countries reporting cases include Bolivia, DR Congo, Jamaica and Turkey; and some industries in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak in China, are to return to work, says the local government

 

ACROSS EUROPE

By Guy Henderson in Geneva 

Slovenia and Austria have closed their borders with Italy, with Vienna warning changes to the education system are "imminent." In Switzerland, schools remain open and the government says it has no plans to close its borders. Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis said on Tuesday evening that border closures would not stop the spread of the coronavirus and that European cooperation was the best way forward.

Switzerland's latest official count stood at 476 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, a jump of 50 percent on the previous day. The latest of three deaths was an 80-year-old woman in the southern canton of Tocini, where most cases have occurred. Authorities there put a stop to visits to elderly homes to protect some of the most vulnerable sections of the population from coronavirus.

In Geneva, a staff member at the World Trade Organization tested positive for COVID-19. All WTO meetings have been suspended until 29 March. The World Health Organization, also Geneva-based and coordinating the global response to the outbreak, says it will scale back its media briefings, previously daily, to three days a week.

 

By Nicole Johnston in London

At 10:00 GMT there were 373 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK and six people had died. 

On Wednesday, the UK's finance minister Rishi Runak unveiled a budget with billions of dollars in infrastructure spending in response to the coronavirus.

The UK's National Health Service is increasing its testing capacity for coronavirus. It has been conducting around 1,500 tests a day, but this will now rise to 10,000. Test results should be available within 24 hours.

The virus has also hit the heart of the British government. Junior health minister Nadine Dorries has tested positive for the virus and is self-isolating.

The British government has not yet released new guidelines to advise when vulnerable groups such as the sick and elderly should start to self-isolate. But the government has said to expect that within 10 to 14 days senior citizens and people with pre-existing medical conditions will be urged to stay at home during the peak of the outbreak.

At a fitness class for the elderly in Acton, West London, CGTN Europe spoke to participants about the threat of the virus. One of the attendees, Mariana, said many people are confused about what to do. "They say on TV that more people die of flu than this," she said. "So god knows what's right."

In between stretches and exercises, another attendee, Ester, said: "Of course I'm worried about the virus, like everybody else. And I just hope it doesn't get too much worse than it already is."

Aaron Summers, the 'Stay Active for Life' trainer, who was running the session, said: "Is this isolation going to be a couple of weeks, or a month, or longer? We don't know how long this is going to last for."

 

By Stefan de Vries in Paris

France has now reached 1,784 cases, a number that has jumped by 372 within a day. All 33 fatalities are adults, with 23 of them 75 years or older; 86 patients are in a serious condition. 

France's culture minister Franck Riester has also been infected by the virus. According to French president Emmanuel Macron, who will give a televised speech on Thursday: "We are only at the beginning of the epidemic."

 

By Natalie Carney in Munich

With close to 1,500 confirmed cases and two deaths, Germany is currently one of Europe's most affected countries – yet Berlin is still acting somewhat cautiously when it comes to its response.

Some schools and offices around the country have been closed after positive cases were detected and authorities have strongly recommended events with more than 1,000 people be canceled.

The southern state of Bavaria, the second most affected region in the country, has prohibited them altogether. Measures are also being developed to implement drive-through testing stations.

Residents of Germany have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel to high-risk areas, most notably Italy, while some countries have implemented two-week self-quarantine measures for anyone traveling from Germany. Signs asking people not to shake hands have also been seen in office buildings across the country, while many people have taken the decision to work from home.

Germany's health minister, Jens Spahn, has warned that the virus will change "daily life" as authorities take calculated measures to try to contain the outbreak. Spahn called on everyone to pull together as the coronavirus is a "great challenge for society as a whole."

Berlin is reported to have allocated one billion euros ($1.13 billion) to support research and medical efforts.

 

By Toni Waterman in Brussels

Belgium has recorded its first COVID-19 death, that of a 90-year-old patient. The country had 267 confirmed cases as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the European Union plans to step up its financial response to the disease, pledging to mobilize $28 billion in aid. The money will go towards supporting national health care systems, small and medium-sized businesses, workers and other vulnerable parts of the economy. On Tuesday, Brussels announced plans to ease slot rules for airlines, which mandate carriers use 80 percent of their take-off and landing times or they lose them the following year. 

Plans of the aid package emerged after EU leaders held an emergency teleconference late on Tuesday, but reports that the money comes from previously allocated funds has raised concerns over how effective it will be. 

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said she will seek clarification from EU finance ministers on spending limits and public subsidies during health emergencies. This would allow EU governments to spend more to help cushion the blow from the coronavirus.

Austria became the first country in the free-movement Schengen area to shut its borders to people arriving from Italy, in the face of calls for European solidarity and a coordinated response during the outbreak. 

 

By Aljosa Milenkovic in Belgrade

Outgoing Slovenian prime minister Marjan Šarec has announced the government's decision to close the border with Italy, following Austria's lead from a few days ago. 

Serbia has decided to ban entrance for the citizens of Italy, Iran, South Korea, and some other countries in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19. Ten foreign passengers on a flight from Bergamo in Italy to the southern Serbian town of Niš were not allowed to disembark the plane and were sent back to Bergamo. 

As of Wednesday morning, Serbia had confirmed 12 COVID-19 cases, with one victim in a serious condition. The Serbian government banned all public gatherings and main political parties have suspended campaigning for the parliamentary elections scheduled for 26 April.

 

By Isobel Ewing in Budapest

One of Poland's top armed forces generals, Jaroslaw Mika, has tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a military conference in Germany. Mika took part in a conference on strategic communication on 6 March in Wiesbaden. On 11 March, the country had 17 confirmed cases and has canceled all mass events.

Also as of 11 March, 13 people were confirmed to have the coronavirus in Hungary. The latest case is a Hungarian woman who had contact with the British man in Debrecen already known to be infected. 

According to the government, 67 people are in quarantine and 362 people have been tested. A nationwide ban on visiting at all hospitals and nursing homes has been implemented and will stay in place until further notice.

The Hungarian government says the economic impact of the virus is already visible, with a 40 to 50 percent cancellation rate in the hotel industry. On Tuesday, the country's prime minister, Viktor Orban, told Hungarians to brace themselves for a "pandemic" and announced Hungary was working on a multibillion-euro crisis fund to help affect industries.

 

By Ross Cullen in Rome

There's been another record rise in Italy in the number of people who have died from the coronavirus: 631 fatalities have been recorded, with 168 in the last 24 hours, meaning Italy is second only to China in terms of deaths.

In total, 10,149 people have tested positive for the disease, of whom 1,004 people have been cured. More than 60,000 tests have been carried out. It is day two in what is set to be at least 25 days of a national lockdown, as Italy pushes forward with the strictest measures seen in Europe as it battles the largest outbreak on the continent.

 

MARKETS AND BUSINESS

- Italian PM Giuseppe Conte says his government has set aside $28 billion to help the economy overcome the outbreak

- The UK slashes interest rates to 0.25 percent, its joint lowest-ever, from 0.75 percent as its government prepares its annual budget

- After rallying on Tuesday, Asia shares sunk overnight. Japan's Nikkei average lost 2.3 percent to a near 15-month low of 19,416.06; South Korea's KOSPI lost 2.78 percent to its lowest close since January 2017; and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 0.63 percent

- European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde urges European Union leaders to spend in the fight against COVID-19

- London's Heathrow Airport passenger numbers for February were down 4.8 percent year-on-year, falling to 5.4 million as demand was hit by coronavirus fears

- KLM is to cancel flights to Milan, Venice and Naples, but will continue to serve other Italian cities

- Finnish shipping company Viking Line has issued a coronavirus-based profit warning. It operates Baltic Sea ferries between Finland, Sweden and Estonia

 

 

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

From CGTN in China: Can history shed light on Wall Street's coronavirus panic?

From CGTN America: COVID-19 fears rattle global markets (panel discussion)

From CGTN in China: China sends anti-epidemic experts to help Italy

From CGTN in Africa: DR Congo confirms first case