A WORD ABOUT HERD IMMUNITYLast week, the UK’s Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance hinted at a strategy that would allow the novel coronavirus to infect 60% of the country’s population so that a degree of “herd immunity” could be achieved. Following widespread criticism, and with Imperial College London projecting a dire scenario if the pandemic remains uncontrolled, the UK has now retracted — and is looking at self-isolation for the elderly.Herd immunity refers to preventing an infectious disease from spreading by immunising a certain percentage of the population. While the concept is most commonly used in the context of vaccination, herd community can also be achieved after enough people have become immune after being infected.The premise is that if a certain percentage of the population is immune, members of that group can no longer infect another person. This breaks the chain of infection through the community (“herd”), and prevents it from reaching those who are the most vulnerable.However, the discussion on herd immunity to fight COVID-19 in the UK has not been based on this conventional definition. The UK government had wanted the entire population to be exposed to the novel coronavirus infection, so that the majority could develop immunity to COVID-19.ECB LAUNCHES EMERGENCY $820BN CORONAVIRUS PACKAGEThe European Bank (ECB) has launched an emergency €750bn ($820bn; £706bn) package to ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.It will buy government and company debt across the eurozone, including that of troubled Greece and Italy.ECB boss Christine Lagarde tweeted "there are no limits" to its commitment to the euro.In recent weeks central banks and governments around the world have announced major stimulus plans.The so-called Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme comes just six days after the ECB unveiled measures that failed to calm markets, piling pressure on it to do more to support Europe's economies.Announcing this latest move Ms Lagarde said the ECB will do everything in its powers to support the euro in these "extraordinary times".The asset purchasing scheme will be temporary and be concluded once the ECB "judges that the coronavirus Covid-19 crisis phase is over, but in any case not before the end of the year", it said in statement.The announcement came after the bank's 25-member governing council held emergency talks by phone late into Wednesday evening.

TRUMP SAYS HUD IS SUSPENDING FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONSPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration will suspend foreclosures and evictions on homeowners at least until the end of next month.Speaking at the White House, Trump said the move from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide relief during the coronavirus outbreak."The Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing immediate relief to renters and homeowners by suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April," Trump said.The department said in a statement later Wednesday that the ordered suspensions will apply to single family homeowners with Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages."Today's actions will allow households who have an FHA-insured mortgage to meet the challenges of COVID-19 without fear of losing their homes, and help steady market concerns," Secretary Ben Carson said in the statement, adding the move "will provide homeowners with some peace of mind during these trying times."Federal Housing Commissioner Brian Montgomery said in the statement that the department's "actions today make it clear where the priority needs to be."TRUMP TO REMOVE MIGRANTS WHO CROSS U.S.-MEXICO BORDER ILLEGALLY, DUE TO CORONAVIRUSU.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration will use a health-focused statute to swiftly remove migrants or asylum seekers who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as part of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.During a White House news conference, Mr. Trump confirmed he would invoke a statute allowing the surgeon general, the United States’ top public health official, to block people or goods from certain countries or places to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.Mr. Trump said the move could happen as soon as March 18, but that his administration did not plan to fully close the border with Mexico.“We're not going to close it, but we are invoking a certain provision that will allow us great latitude as to what we do,” he said.Reuters reported on March 17 that Trump administration officials were considering a plan to immediately return all migrants caught at the southwestern border with Mexico, but such a move could provoke court challenges and may require cooperation from the Mexican government.Mr. Trump did not provide details regarding the plan.CORONAVIRUS | TRUMP DEPLOYS TWO NAVY HOSPITAL SHIPS FOR COVID-19 TREATMENTU.S. President Donald Trump on March 18 announced the deployment of two Navy Hospital Ships to fast track the treatment of rapidly surging number of patients infected by the new coronavirus that has so far claimed the lives of 110 Americans.Mr. Trump said he has ordered for deployment of Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort to New York, and USNS Mercy, to the West Coast.“We are sending upon request the two hospital ships they are being prepared right now; they are massive ships. They are the big white ships with the Red Cross on the sides. One is called the Mercy, and the other is called the Comfort, and they are in tip-top shape they soon will be, they are getting ready to come up to New York,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a press conference.The Comfort, he said, is currently stationed in San Diego, and the administration will be picking the destination fairly shortly.“So those two ships are being prepared to go, and they can be launched over the next week or so depending on need,” he said.CHINA DEFENDS EXPULSION OF JOURNALISTS, ACCUSING US OF PREJUDICEAn increasingly rancorous rivalry between the United States and China entered a new phase Wednesday as Beijing accused the Trump administration of starting a diplomatic clash that led it to expel almost all American journalists from three newspapers.The Chinese government cast its expulsion of the journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post as necessary to defend Beijing against what it perceived as an ideological campaign by the United States to impose its values on China. Around a dozen reporters could be required to leave, in a move that Beijing said was reciprocation for the United States’ forcing out of about 60 Chinese reporters, who worked for propaganda outlets, this month.“The United States cannot proceed from ideological prejudice, use its own standards and likes and dislikes to judge the media of other countries, let alone suppress the Chinese media unreasonably,” Geng Shuang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.Beijing has said that the expulsions were a response to the Trump administration’s decision to limit the number of Chinese citizens from five state-controlled media outlets who could work in the United States to 100. On Wednesday, the Chinese government indicated it was prepared to take more measures if needed.“We urge the United States to immediately change its course, correct mistakes, and stop political suppression and unreasonable restrictions on Chinese media,” Geng said. “If the United States insists on taking its own course, compounding mistakes, China will be forced to take further countermeasures.”IRAQ’S SHIA PARTIES LINE UP TO OPPOSE NEW PM-DESIGNATEIraq’s typically divided Shiite political parties lined up on Wednesday to signal their opposition to premier-designate Adnan al-Zurfi, less than 24 hours after his nomination.The 54-year-old lawmaker and former Najaf Governor was nominated on Tuesday to be Iraq’s new Prime Minister, the second attempt to replace outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi this year.But several Shia blocs have already signalled their displeasure.On Wednesday, the State of Law coalition, led by ex-PM Nuri al-Maliki, and lawmakers linked to the relatively moderate cleric Ammar al-Hakim said they opposed the President’s unilateral selection of the Prime Minister.President Barham Saleh, they insisted, should have referred to Parliament’s largest bloc to select a nominee. The powerful Fatah bloc had also slammed Mr. Zurfi’s nomination as unconstitutional.Along with smaller parties, those opposed could add up to more than 100 lawmakers voting against a Cabinet led by Mr. Zurfi.CHILE´S PINERA DECLARES STATE OF CATASTROPHE OVER CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAKChilean President Sebastian Pinera on Wednesday declared a 90-day state of catastrophe as cases of COVID-19 mounted in the nation, giving the government extraordinary powers to restrict freedom of movement and assure food supply and basic services.A military official will oversee the 90-day measure, which is set to take effect Thursday morning. More restrictive actions would be implemented progressively, as dictated by the advance of the virus.“This state (of catastrophe) is aimed at...preparing ourselves to confront what lies ahead,” Pinera said in a speech from the La Moneda presidential palace.Pinera said there were 238 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Chile but no deaths. The country has closed schools, shut down its borders and limited public gatherings as the number of cases has multiplied.UK FINANCE MINISTER RISHI SUNAK UNVEILS £330 BILLION RESCUE PACKAGE IN CORONAVIRUS FIGHTBritain’s Indian-origin Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday unveiled a “bold” rescue package to help U.K. businesses and the economy survive the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.The Chancellor of the Exchequer joined British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his daily briefing from 10 Downing Street in London to announce that he is making available £330 billion of loan guarantees to businesses to help them meet their day to day needs amid the ongoing near-lockdown.As part of his bailout package, Mr. Sunak extended a business rates holiday to all businesses in the retail and hospitality sector for 12 months as well as a cash grant to help them survive and said any business that needs help will be able to access a loan on attractive terms.Mortgage lenders will give a three-month mortgage holiday to people who need help and there will also be special help for airlines, hit particularly hard as a result of travel restrictions around the world.COVID-19 PANDEMIC COULD MAKE ANOTHER 25 MILLION JOBLESSThe COVID-19 pandemic will significantly increase global unemployment, leaving up to 25 million more people out of work, and will dramatically slash workers’ incomes, the United Nations said Wednesday.The International Labour Organization warned that the economic and labour crisis sparked by the coronavirus will have “far-reaching impacts on labour market outcomes”. “This is no longer a global health crisis, it is also a major labour market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people,” ILO chief Guy Ryder said in a statement.The UN agency’s study suggested the world should prepare to see a “significant rise in unemployment and underemployment in the wake of the virus”.Presenting different scenarios depending on how quickly and with what level of coordination governments react, it found that even in the best-case scenario, 5.3 million more people will be pushed into unemployment. At the high end meanwhile, 24.7 million more will become jobless, on top of the 188 million registered as unemployed in 2019.It warned that “underemployment is also expected to increase on a large scale, as the economic consequences of the virus outbreak translate into reductions in working hours and wages.”Self-employment in developing countries, which often serves to cushion the impact of economic shifts, might not do so this time due to the severe restrictions being placed on the movement of people and goods.Reductions in access to work will also mean “large income losses for workers,” ILO said.THREE MORE JOE BIDEN VICTORIES INCREASE PRESSURE ON BERNIE SANDERS TO QUITJoe Biden swept to victory in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on Tuesday, increasingly pulling away with a Democratic presidential primary upended by the coronavirus and building pressure on Bernie Sanders to abandon his campaign.The former vice-president’s third big night in as many weeks came amid tremendous uncertainty as the Democratic contest collides with efforts to slow the spread of the virus that has shut down large swaths of American life. Polls were shuttered in Ohio, and although balloting went ahead as scheduled in the three other States, election workers and voters reported problems.Still, Biden’s quest for his party’s nomination now seems well within reach. His trio of wins doubled his delegate haul over Sanders, giving the former vice-president a nearly insurmountable lead. Top Democratic leaders and donors have also increasingly lined up behind Biden as the best option to square off against President Donald Trump in November.Using a livestream to address supporters from his home state of Delaware, Biden seemed ready to move past the primary.With the exception of North Dakota and the Northern Mariana Islands, Sanders hasn’t scored a victory since Super Tuesday on March 3. He made no immediate move on Tuesday to contact Biden, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. During remarks early in the night, Sanders said little about the future of the race and instead focused on the coronavirus outbreak.Trump, meanwhile, formally clinched the Republican presidential nomination after facing minimal opposition.But much of the action was on the Democratic side, where higher vote totals in some key states suggested enthusiasm that even the coronavirus couldn’t contain. Turnout in Florida’s Democratic primary surpassed the 1.7 million who cast ballots four years ago.Sanders’ path to the nomination is quickly narrowing, and some Democrats are now calling on him to drop out in the name of party unity.