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 Fed misfire? Others resist pressure to act
Central bankers from Tokyo to Frankfurt are under growing market
pressure to follow the U.S. Federal Reserve's 0.5 percentage point
rate cut - even if the surprise move on Tuesday fell way short of
its aim of shoring up confidence in the economy.
Sources close to the European Central Bank say policymakers want to
hold out until its scheduled meeting on March 12 and in the meantime
are focusing on what bankers should do if panic-stricken euro zone
citizens start to stockpile cash.
The Bank of England is on a similar line. Its chief Mark Carney has
insisted there would not be a one-size-fits-all approach and that
fiscal measures - read tax cuts - would have to be part of the
response in some places.
The British budget is due on March 11.
The spread
There are now over 93,000 cases globally according to a Reuters
tally, with 13% or almost 12,700 cases in countries outside China.
Countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland have reported a
total of 223 deaths, including 43 in the past day with new
fatalities in Italy, Iran, France, Spain and the United States. With
China, there are a total of 3,204 fatalities.
Italy's health authorities are looking to set up a new quarantine
red zone after a new tally showed 27 people died of the illness
there in the preceding 24 hours, bringing the number of dead to 79.
One of the fatalities was aged 55, the youngest patient so far to
have succumbed in Italy.
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In the United States, the number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus in the
greater Seattle area rose to 27 on Tuesday, including nine deaths, up from 18
cases and six deaths tallied on Monday. Online retailer Amazon confirmed a first
case among its U.S. workforce.
The Trump administration meanwhile is weighing up a move to cut off overseas
travel from the United States to areas abroad with high rates of coronavirus.
Separately, a multi-billion dollar funding bill is moving slowly through
Congress after Democrats raised questions about the availability of testing for
the new virus.
See a graphic of the spread here: https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html
Panic buying
Finally, Australia's major grocers have put strict limits on purchases of toilet
paper after shoppers stripped shelves in a rush of panic buying spurred by fears
over the coronavirus.
Despite having few sufferers compared to other countries - Australia has
recorded 44 cases - social media has been awash in recent days with photographs
and videos of people stockpiling goods, from staples to sanitizers. The demand
for toilet paper has sparked the trending hashtags #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis
on Twitter.
(Compiled by Mark John; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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