The Australian stock market surged 3.8% on Friday to open the last day of trade of one of the most turbulent weeks in the exchange’s history.
Share prices have been up and down – mostly down – all week as traders struggle to understand the lasting economic damage that will be wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
New Zealand flag carrier Air New Zealand, which is listed on the Australian exchange, resumes trade today after being suspended earlier this week while it negotiated a $900m bailout from the Kiwi government that could eventually nationalise the airline.
Nationalisation talk also continues to swirl around Australia’s two airlines, national carrier Qantas and challenger Virgin Australia.
On Thursday Qantas stood down 20,000 of its 30,000 strong workforce, prompting outrage from unions, and shut all international routes except for special flights to bring Australians home.
At least seven companies joined with those who have already decided that they can no longer predict the future due to the coronavirus crisis and withdrew profit guidance before the market opened.
The Australian corporate regulator said it will allow companies due to hold annual shareholder meetings during the pandemic to put them off by up to two months.
Children are expected to continue to attend UK schools from Monday if they have one parent classified by the government as a key worker.
Amid the first nationwide school closure in modern British history, Downing Street has said it wants to keep parents in work who are doing vital jobs – from NHS staff to social workers and delivery drivers – to support crucial sectors that ensure the country continues to function amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A massive effort is under way to develop a UK vaccine for coronavirus within months and make it available to save lives before the end of the year, the Guardian has learned.
Researchers at Oxford University, led by Prof Sarah Gilbert, are planning a safety trial on humans of what is expected to be the UK’s first coronavirus vaccine next month. Provided that goes smoothly, they will move directly into a larger trial to assess how effective the vaccine is at protecting against the infection.
The same vaccine will start animal trials next week at the Public Health England laboratory at Porton Down near Salisbury. Normally, animal work must be completed before human trials can start, but because similar vaccines have worked safely in trials for other diseases, the work has been accelerated.
Prof Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford, said:
We are conscious that a vaccine is needed as soon as possible and certainly by June–July, when we expect a big peak in mortality.
This is not a normal situation. We will follow all standard trial safety requirements, but as soon as we have a vaccine that’s working, we anticipate there will be an accelerated pathway to get it deployed to save lives. The more vaccine we can provide sooner, the better.
UN world food programme director tests positive
UN world food programme executive director David Beasley has said he has been diagnosed with Covid-19.
Beasley said in a statement he began to feel ill after returning from an official visit to Canada and put himself into quarantine at his South Carolina home last Saturday.
He said his symptoms have been mild and he is in good spirits, according to the Associated Press. He is working from home and his employees are helping him inform anyone he had contact with during his trip.
Beasley, 63, former governor of South Carolina, has run the program since 2017 that provides food to more than 80 million starving and hungry people around the world.
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London newspaper City AM has shut down its print edition until business returns to normal, amid concerns other news outlets face financial destruction at a time when there is enormous demand for journalism.
City AM, which distributes 90,000 copies a day to commuters financial workers across London, relies on advertisers wanting to reach its audience.
Staff have been asked to take a 50% pay cut and keep the news outlet going as online-only. The Evening Standard, the UK’s capital’s more mass market free paper, has pledged to continue publishing but may struggle to find an audience as people increasingly stay home.
Elon Musk has downplayed the severity of the coronavirus epidemic and kept his northern California factory in the US open despite a local “shelter-in-place” order, but the billionaire entrepreneur also said he’s willing to help.
However, its San Francisco Bay Area has announced it would cease manufacturing at the factory on 23 March.
The company said to investors:
Despite taking all known health precautions, continued operations in certain locations has caused challenges for our employees, their families and our suppliers. As such, we have decided to temporarily suspend production at our factory in Fremont, from end of day March 23, which will allow an orderly shutdown.
The UK Foreign Office has said it is working with airlines and other partners to issue rescue flights in the coming days to help return hundreds of Britons stranded in Peru, which imposed a lockdown on Sunday (see 7.45pm).
After criticism that the British embassy in Lima seemed to be actively directing people to a charter flight operated by the Columbian airline Avianca this week that would cost more than £3,000 per person, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said:
The UK is engaging with a number of international partners and commercial airlines to see how we can help Britons still in Peru best return to the UK. We are working intensively to help all those who wish to leave and actively exploring what further flight options can be made available.
It said its advice was for all Britons to secure accommodation for the 15 days of emergency measures but promised it was “working to assist all of those who tell us they still wish to leave Peru”.
