Blogroll

South African businesses braced for a nationwide lockdown and panic buyers stockpiled food and other essentials on Tuesday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 554 from 402 a day earlier.

A key modeling study from Singapore has found that putting multiple social lockdowns in place - including school closures - will have the biggest impact on curbing COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by the new coronavirus.

China's Hubei province where the coronavirus pandemic originated will lift travel restrictions on people leaving the region as the epidemic there eases, but other regions will tighten controls as new cases double due to imported infections.

Scientists in Singapore say they have developed a way to track genetic changes that speeds testing of vaccines against a coronavirus that has killed more than 16,000 people worldwide.

The United States has the potential to become the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic due to a "very large acceleration" in infections there, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Malaysia is ramping up coronavirus tests in preparation for the "worst scenario", as it grapples with Southeast Asia's highest number of infections, a health ministry official told Reuters.

Facebook Inc's Instagram said on Tuesday it would remove coronavirus-related content and accounts from recommendations and its "explore" option, unless posted by or belonging to credible health organizations.

Chipmaker Intel Corp said on Tuesday it would suspend its share buybacks and warned that the coronavirus pandemic could have a material impact on its business, even as its factories remain operational.

Netflix Inc said on Tuesday it would reduce traffic over telecom networks in India by 25% over the next 30 days to ease data congestion as millions stay indoors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Russia has urged consumers and businesses to use digital payments rather than cash in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus and told banks to limit rouble notes in circulation.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published a lengthy document on Tuesday calling on localities to accelerate 5G network buildouts and applications to minimize the impact of the coronavirus.

British fintech firm Revolut Ltd on Tuesday launched its banking app and debit cards for customers in the United States as it seeks to expand beyond its base in the UK and Europe.

Indonesian ride-hailer and payments firm Gojek is experiencing a rise in food delivery orders but a fall in rides across Southeast Asia as it readies measures to help merchants and drivers deal with the coronavirus outbreak, co-CEO Andre Soelistyo said on Tuesday.

Toyota Motor Corp and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp have agreed to work together on developing smart cities and will invest 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in each other to cement the relationship, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Taiwan's government on Tuesday announced 20 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 215.

Mainland China saw a doubling in new coronavirus cases driven by a jump in infected travellers returning home from overseas, raising the risk of transmissions in Chinese cities and provinces that had seen no new infections in recent days.

Biomérieux, a French healthcare company specialising in diagnostics, said on Tuesday that it had won approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for its 'biofire®' product aimed at testing for coronavirus.

Turkey imposed restrictions on Tuesday on grocery store opening hours and numbers of shop customers and bus passengers, adding to steps to combat the spread of the coronavirus after the country's death toll from the illness rose to 37.

Leaders from the Group of 20 major economies will convene a video conference on Thursday to discuss the coronavirus epidemic, multiple sources told Reuters, amid criticism that the group has been slow to respond to the global crisis.

South Korea on Tuesday doubled a planned economic rescue package to 100 trillion won ($80 billion) to save companies hit by the coronavirus and put a floor under crashing stocks and bond markets.