CMA launches coronavirus taskforce to stamp down on over-pricing March 20, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a taskforce to prevent businesses from taking advantage of shoppers during the UK coronavirus outbreak. The UK competition watchdog warned the outbreak has “prompted many concerns that businesses might exploit the situacion to take advantage of people”. Amid stockpiling of food and toilet roll across the UK, [...]
Coronavirus: Man arrested on Isle of Man for failing to self-isolate March 20, 2020 A 26-year-old man has been arrested on the Isle of Man for failing to self-isolate as the local govenrment imposes strict rules. The Manx government has demanded that anyone arriving on the island must quarantine themselves for a period of 14 days. The man arrested arrived yesterday via boat and failed to adhere to those [...]
Coronavirus: Follow government advice and pandemic will end sooner, says health secretary March 20, 2020 The health secretary has urged the public to follow government advice as it will allow life to return to normal sooner. Matt Hancock said adhering to social distancing measures would prevent “difficult situations” such as those seen in Italy, where hospitals have become overwhelmed. “The more people follow the public health advice, the quicker we [...]
Coronavirus to spark “severe” global recession March 20, 2020 | City Talk The coronavirus is having a severe effect on global economic activity and amidst considerable uncertainty we have attempted to gauge the impact and updated our forecasts. We now expect to see the world economy contract this year by 3.1%, before rebounding by 7.2% in 2021. The forecast incorporates a severe recession in the first half [...]
Key worker list: These UK staff can still send their children to school amid coronavirus crisis March 20, 2020 With schools across the country shutting their gates until further notice to help contain the spread of coronavirus, the government has released a list of so-called key workers deemed essential to the UK’s fight against the pandemic. Schools will be closed to the majority of children from 23 March, but have been asked to continue [...]
Coronavirus: Wetherspoon scraps dividend and warns on profit March 20, 2020 Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has scrapped the pub chain’s dividend and issued a profit warning after Boris Johnson urged Brits not to visit pubs and restaurants amid the UK coronavirus outbreak. A rapid escalation in UK coronavirus cases has already seen a 4.5 per cent decline in Wetherspoon pub sales in the week to 15 [...]
Meggitt to help make ventilators but won’t give earnings guidance this year March 19, 2020 Meggitt has heeded the government’s call to help make ventilator by leading a consortium of firms in the sector in this effort. But the defence and engineering firm announced it could not give earnings guidance for the rest of the year, due to coronavirus uncertainty. Meggitt is one of Britain’s biggest companies with expertise in [...]
Banks hope to keep trading floors open if London faces stricter coronavirus lockdown March 19, 2020 Global banks are hoping to keep their London trading floors open amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic and are confident that traders would be designated “key workers” if the capital is placed on formal lockdown. Five major banks told City A.M. they were planning to continue operations with their traders split between core sites in the [...]
Coronavirus: Netflix downgrades streaming quality after EU plea March 19, 2020 Netflix has said it will downgrade video streaming qualities on its platform in a bid to save network space. The US streaming giant said it will cut bitrates in Europe for 30 days, which is expected to reduce traffic by 25 per cent. It comes after the EU asked Netflix to restrict high definition (HD) [...]
Coronavirus: Italy death toll surpasses China despite lockdown March 19, 2020 More people have now died of coronavirus in Italy than in China, where the disease was first recorded, after the death toll in the country rose by 427 in the last 24 hours. According to the latest figures, 3,405 people have now died from the disease in Italy, ahead of 3,245 in China. The increase [...]