Amid the pandemic and global health crisis, and markets turmoil, there are some positive moments to keep up with – after all.
As far as we know, older people are more at risk when it comes to worsening coronavirus symptoms – however, a 103-year-old Chinese lady has recently recovered from the disease after receiving treatment for just six days at a hospital in Wuhan, becoming the oldest person to beat the deadly virus.
Dozens of companies around the world are now racing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Scientists from Colorado and researchers at Oxford University, UK, are on track to be one of the first companies to make a coronavirus vaccine available until the end of the year. Researchers at China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, also developing a vaccine, are to begin human safety tests.
Be aware that there is no officially released vaccine for the coronavirus yet, and it can’t be bought or reserved, so don’t fall for fraudsters and tricksters!
Economic relief
President Trump’s administration wants to send direct payments to US citizens: $1,000 per adult, $500 per child. The White House’s plan would also allocate $300 billion for small businesses, noting that “there will be loan forgiveness” for employees who keep their workers on the payroll. $200 billion would also be used for “more facilities” with the Federal Reserve, as well as secured lending to airlines and other critical industries being strangled by the crisis.
UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced £330 billion ($398 billion) of government-backed loans and guarantees. “We will do whatever it takes,” he said.
Italy, which at the moment has the worst coronavirus outbreak, adopted an emergency decree worth 25 billion euros ($28 billion) to support an already weak economy.
France is to pump 45 billion euros of crisis measures into the economy to help companies and workers, with output expected to contract 1% this year. The European Union eased its rules to allow companies to receive state grants up to 500,000 euros or guarantees on bank loans to ensure liquidity.
Entertainment goes online
Celebrities who chose to stay home and self-quarantine are now taking to social media to interact with their followers and entertain everyone stuck indoors. John Legend, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Robbie Williams have performed online, launching a mass wave of reposts and encouraging other artists to do the same. Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot posted an IGTV video where she and a bunch of celebrities – Mark Ruffalo, Amy Adams, Natalie Portman, Jimmy Fallon and others – were singing John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Grammy winner Lizzo led a mass meditation session for her followers with the mantra, while Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams launched an online story-time #savewithstories campaign for kids stuck at home.
Since the isolation keeps more and more people at home, the number of niche streaming services are now offering discounts and free subscriptions.
In Europe, Netflix, Amazon and Youtube are reducing streaming quality – a move that followed the European Commission’s pressure to switch to standard definition during periods of peak demand as the coronavirus crisis puts unprecedented load on Internet infrastructure.