Corona in the world at March 18

Today was a very tunultuous day.
One can say that more and more people realize what this virus can do to their daily life and to the economics.

• In Italy 475 people died in one day. A sad record.
• Now nearly in Italy 3,000 people have died.
• 35,713 have been tested positive, 4,000 have recovered by now.

The World Health Organisation has confirmed more than 205,000 coronavirus cases worldwide,
Now the pandemic has affected more than 170 countries.

It's difficult to obtain the numbers for some countries. But compairing different sources, like health authorities and John Hopkins Universities, we've reached this list.
problem is that the raw numbers won't enable comparison, it would be easier when the percentages per 100.000 people would be given.

China: 81,102
Italy: 35,713
Iran: 17,361
Spain: 13,910
Germany: 12,327
France: 9,134
South Korea: 8,413
USA: 7,757
Switzerland: 3,028
UK: 2,626

In Canada 598 cases are  confirmed, and 8 people died.
In mutal agreement with the USA borders are closed for non-essential traffic.

France: 175 people died. Now the total is 264 people.
A rise of 18% brought the total infections to 9.134.

In France the police fined more than 4,000 people who violated government orders to stay at home.
The fine has been increased from €35 ($38; £32) to a maximum of €375 to try to dissuade people.
Yesterday the French have been banned from going outside, except for exercise and essential trips.

Worldwide there are more than 200.000 confirmed cases and more than 8.000 people have died

The European Union has closed it's borders.

In Belgium at noon gatherings are forbidden.

In Ireland 74 more positives (29 females and 45 males) bring the total number to 366.

PM Leo Varadkar said Ireland could have 15,000 cases of coronavirus before the end of March.

Most borders of Poland have been closed. Truckdrivers need to be tested before driving into the country and that resulted in 42 km of waiting vehicles in the morning.

Tasmania,  Australia has announced a state of emergency and a mandatory quarantine on arrivals to prevent the spread of the virus. This includes other Australians and locals heading home from the mainland, except health and trade workers.

The nation's smallest state currently has 10 cases, while there are around 270 in New South Wales and 150 in Victoria - states which have 15 times larger populations.

Australia, has close to 600 cases including six deaths.

Authorities are urging social distancing, but standing by policies to keep schools, public transport and other "essential" services open.

President Donald Trump has said the US government's housing agency will stop repossessing homes until the end of April.

Evictions will be suspended over the same time frame in a moratorium protecting eight million mortgages.

Two US Navy hospitals ships will also be sent to help relieve an expected shortage of sick beds.

Amidst all complaining in the USA quite some decisions have been made.

• The US Senate has passed a $105bn (£90bn) coronavirus aid bill. It was approved by the House of Representatives over the weekend. The president needs to sign it into law.
  It includes: 
• Free coronavirus testing for all Americans, also for thosewith private insurance and the uninsured.
• Businesses with fewer than 500 employees must provide up to two weeks of paid leave for those diagnosed with Covid-19 or for those who must care for family infected by the virus; workers are allowed to take another 10 weeks off for two-thirds pay. Until the end of the year.
• The federal government will provide tax credits to cover the expense
• Businesses with fewer than 50 workers may be exempt in some cases, and the bill does not apply to massive corporations
• Low-income food assistance programmes will get more funding.This includes delivery to seniors and food banks, and the low-income government healthcare programme Medicaid
• The Defense Production Act has bbeen invoked to increase supplies of critical medical equipment, like ventilators and respirators, amid a deepening shortage of supplies.
• 2 military hospital ships will be send to each of the two areas which have been hit hardest.
• The White House has also asked Congress to allocate $500bn for an emergency stimulus package that could send two $1,000 cheques to many Americans and devote an additional $300bn to small businesses as the US stock market continues to plummet.

At least 7,663 people have tested positive in the USA.

A total of 115 people have died, most on the West Coast and in New York state - where at least 2,382 people have been infected.

The Eurovision Song Contest has been cancelled.