The world's wealthiest nations poured unprecedented aid into the reeling global economy on Thursday as coronavirus cases ballooned in the current epicentre Europe and London became the latest major center bracing for lockdown.
Croatia registered its first death of a person infected with the coronavirus, the state public health institute said on the official government web page for the crisis.
Initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected to 281,000 in the latest week from an unrevised 211,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, in the first indication of the toll on employment from the coronavirus outbreak.
The German military is making preparations to help with efforts to tackle the coronavirus crisis should other civil servant organisations become overwhelmed with the outbreak, Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Thursday.
The dollar surged on Thursday as extraordinary steps by central banks across the world to stem a coronavirus-induced financial rout saw mixed success, boosting bonds but failing to halt losses in stocks.
American Airlines Group Inc has secured a new year-long $1 billion credit line, taking its available liquidity to $8.4 billion, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday.
Three people employed by the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva have contracted coronavirus, but are in "good condition", a spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, declining to give specifics.
The crisis for airlines deepened on Thursday as Lufthansa warned the industry might not survive without state aid if the coronavirus pandemic lasts a long time, and Qantas Airways told most of its 30,000 staff to take leave.
Air France said on Thursday that it was working closely with the French government to help repatriate French and European nationals abroad who might be stranded as a result of transport link closures prompted by the coronavirus.
The British government has no plans to bring in blanket travel restrictions for London or to close down the capital's transport system, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Thursday.
U.S. life insurers are trying to curb their own risks to coronavirus by imposing waiting periods for applicants who have traveled to regions with widespread outbreaks, industry experts said.
London-based banks plan to keep trading floors open even in the event of a formal lockdown of the British capital, betting that their frontline staff will be treated by authorities as "key workers".
China is set to unleash trillions of yuan of fiscal stimulus to revive an economy expected to shrink for the first time in four decades amid the coronavirus pandemic, while a planned growth target is likely to be cut, according to four policy sources.
Horlis Ramirez packed shoes with silk bags into boxes in his empty store in London's West End shopping district, voicing fears that coronavirus could deal a fatal blow to his business.
General Electric's healthcare unit said on Thursday it was hiring more people and shifting current employees to ramp up production of ventilators as the global coronavirus pandemic leads to surge in demand for medical equipment.