"Please do not underestimate the seriousness of this for our company." 

Those are the words of Alex Cruz, British Airways CEO, in a message to the airline's employees. Make no bones about it, as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, global firms are under threat – and airlines are at the center of the crisis. Cruz's warning comes after Flybe collapsed and Korean Air also posted a warning to staff that the firm was under severe pressure..

For more on the airline industry's reaction to the outbreak, scroll down to today's interview section. We talk to Phil Seymour, president of independent aviation consultancy firm IBA.

Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 has again dominated headlines today. The People's Bank of China became the latest central bank to pump liquidity into the global banking system, while the EU announced an investment initiative and "maximum flexibility" worth $41 billion.

Italy and Spain have put short-selling restrictions on their nations' stock markets after Wall Street dropped into bear market territory, which triggered pauses in trading twice in the past week. No other European market has made such a move, but German officials warned bankruptcies are likely to rise for the first time since 2008. 

In other news, Mark Carney had his last day as governor of the Bank of England. You can watch our report on his legacy below. 

Have a great weekend, 

Patrick Atack 

Digital Business Correspondent 

China's central bank announced on Friday it will cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by between 0.5 and 1 percentage points for qualified banks on 16 March. The People's Bank of China also said it will release a total of $78.76 billion to support the economy. 

All 42 Apple stores in China reopened on Friday, although some had special business hours. Apple shut the stores in mid-February, as China put several cities on effective lockdown in a bid to contain COVID-19. The outbreak has slashed demand for new phones, with Apple selling less than half the iPhones it sold in February last year. 

At least 190 million Europeans are either under COVID-19 quarantine conditions, or could have such conditions imposed on them in the coming days. That's 40 percent of the European population.

Italy and Spain have put restrictions on short-selling on their nations' stock markets, after indices fell dramatically this week on COVID-19 fears. The markets were not bolstered by measures taken by the European Central Bank, so local authorities felt the need to move.

The race to find a cure for COVID-19 may be the most important one at the moment, but there's another ongoing as manufacturers of cleaning products fight to be the first to market an anti-coronavirus spray or wipe. It's understood Reckitt Benckiser, which owns Dettol and Lysol, has procured a sample of the virus from a private lab.

The European Union is firing off a multi-billion-dollar investment initiative and says it will provide "maximum flexibility" on state aid to help member states cushion the blow from the coronavirus outbreak. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would do "whatever is necessary." 

Germany's insolvency administrators' association has warned German bankruptcies are set to rise for the first time since 2009, as COVID-19 hits businesses globally. Despite promises from the EU and the Berlin government, Christoph Niering, representing the body, told Reuters: "The best state aid programs can't save all companies."

Sweden's central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, has launched a $51 billion loan package for firms struggling with credit flows as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across Europe. 

SoftBank has announced a multi-billion-dollar share buyback scheme, worth 7 percent of the investment bank's stocks, after its recent slump. The Tokyo-based fund plans to raise $4.8 billion, at least in part to satisfy Elliott Management, which owns $3 billion worth of SoftBank. 

British Airways CEO Alex Cruz has become the latest aviation boss to warn of huge effect from COVID-19. In a message to staff with the subject line "The survival of British Airways," he warned planes may be grounded and staff laid off, due to the "worsening situation." 

Norwegian Air CEO Jacob Schram called for further financial aid from the Oslo government "within weeks, not months," as it temporarily laid off half its 11,000 staff and warned it could run out of cash.

Juliet Mann takes a look at Mark Carney's career and legacy as he steps down as governor of The Bank of England, the UK's central bank. Apart from introducing plastic banknotes, how will the Canadian be remembered in the City of London? 

Phil Seymour, president of independent aviation consultancy firm IBA spoke to CGTN Europe about how the industry is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

How has the U.S. flight ban been received among the airlines?

It's been pretty negative because when airlines were faced with a reduction in revenue or capacity to the Far East, there was some doubt that some European airlines and American airlines were looking at the transatlantic traffic as possibly offering more capacity on those routes. So it's a pretty severe blow. 

The 2001 attacks had a major impact on the airline industry. Do you think we're looking at something similar to that from the coronavirus outbreak? 

Yeah. I mean, I think, looking back, aviation recovered relatively well after 9/11, but it was very similar in terms of, you know, it really did impact passenger confidence and traveling public confidence. And that's obviously the situation we have now. However, you know, this is truly a global issue now rather than perhaps seen as a localized attack on the U.S..

There has been some criticism of the U.S. flights ban. Is this criticism justified?

Yeah, that is a difficult one. I mean, I'm not a virologist, so I don't really understand how these things move around the world, but I think economically, it's obviously a massive impact to airlines when they were already suffering. So I think a lot of airlines will be looking for governments or, you know, relief in some way over the costs that are going to be incurred. 

What kind of other financial support do you think airlines will need then to overcome this current crisis?

Well, I think there are a few things I would say there could be some that some short-term relief on perhaps, you know, tax payments that are due, etc..

However, there's going to be a lot of aircraft that are heavily financed and leasing costs typically for a narrow-body aircraft like a 737 or A320 could be costing $10,000 a day. Just to finance a wide-body aircraft could be, you know, $40,000 or $50,000 a day. So there's a huge, you know, capital-intensive industry. And I think airlines will be looking at all fronts, governments, airports, leasing companies, and financiers for some sort of short-term relief. 

European countries have also banned flights to Asia. What're your thoughts on that?

Again, it is difficult because I think there are the airlines that are concerned for their customers. So they need to be making the right moves. Also, they're concerned about their employees, of course. You know, there will be flight crews and cabin crews having to get off aircraft and stay in hotels. 

So it really is a dual impact, really, for an airline making a decision on whether it's safe to be sending both passengers and flight crews. I mean, most airlines will be taking the view of their governments in terms of where it's safe to travel. 

Do you think this crisis could see a number of airlines go out of business? 

Yeah, I mean, obviously, we've already seen the failure of FlyBe in the UK. However, some countries are not as brutal on the companies that are operating. For example, some countries have a form of chapter eleven or bankruptcy protection. So I think some countries will be looking to provide some sort of bankruptcy protection for their airlines. But unfortunately, that type of structure doesn't occur here in the UK. Hence the failure of Flybe. 

With the spread of COVID-19 dominating headlines, governments all over the world are reacting in different ways. But what is effective? In today's graphic, we look at the speed  of the spread in different countries and regions.

In yesterday's email we said the UK stock markets saw their biggest ever one day crash. This was in error and should have said, "Wall Street suffers worst day since 1987."