Coronavirus

Europeans learn to love the mask
The ambivalence of some Western countries towards masks is being challenged by the coronavirus pandemic. Right-wing politicians have long argued that local culture calls for faces to be visible in public and have even used that argument to support bans on the wearing of Muslim veils; and until only a few weeks ago, the hygiene masks so prevalent on Asian streets could draw hostility towards their wearers in Europe.
That is all changing, with more and more Europeans donning masks voluntarily and Austria due to require shoppers to wear basic face masks in supermarkets. One German city, Jena, is following suit and other countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia have similar stipulations.
In the United States, where the White House once discouraged Americans from wearing masks if they were not sick, Donald Trump has also started encouraging the practice - but said people should use scarves so as not to divert supplies from healthcare professionals.
The jury remains out on the protective benefits of masks: while the World Health Organization continues to stress they are of little value in protecting wearers in everyday situations, some experts advise that they can at least help prevent the wearer from infecting others.

Painful times ahead
In possibly his bleakest news conference yet, Trump warned Americans on Tuesday of a "painful" two weeks ahead in fighting the coronavirus, with a mounting U.S. death toll that could stretch into the hundreds of thousands even with strict social distancing measures.
The warning was accompanied by a sobering set of charts which showed potential for an enormous jump in deaths to a range of 100,000 to 240,000 people from the virus in the coming months - even assuming the current mitigation efforts are followed. Another chart showed as many as 2.2 million people were projected to die without such measures - the number that prompted Trump to ditch plans to get the U.S. economy moving again by Easter.
New cases remain stable in Italy
Despite a global spike in new reported cases, Italy remained stable at around 4,050 as of Tuesday, roughly in line with the day before, making it five days without a significant increase.
The country, which has seen the most deaths from the coronavirus, has extended its nationwide lockdown at least until the Easter season in April. On Tuesday, health officials there warned it was too soon to consider lifting the lockdown, saying a deceleration in new cases should not raise hopes that the crisis was near an end.
Goats invade deserted Welsh resort
A herd of Kashmir goats has invaded a Welsh seaside resort after the coronavirus lockdown left the streets deserted.
The animals, who normally roam free on a nearby headland jutting out into the Irish Sea, have instead wandered into Llandudno where they have spent the past three days feasting on garden hedges and flowers.
Town councillor Carol Marubbi said the goats don't normally come into town unless the weather is bad. This time though, she said they probably realised something unusual was going on because there were so few people around.
"I think they're probably feeling a bit lonely and they have come down to have a look around," she told Reuters by telephone.

Breakingviews - Corona Capital: AMS mess, BP cuts, Pirelli
Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe.

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U.S.

Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden has quietly expanded his lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters, even as the rapidly spreading coronavirus has all but sidelined the former vice president’s campaign, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll .

Exclusive: U.S. prosecutors are investigating the former head of Wells Fargo's community banking division for her role in the lender’s product mis-selling scandal, two sources said. The Department of Justice is investigating Carrie Tolstedt, who ran the bank’s retail and small business lending business from 2007 to 2016, the sources said.

Four women died and one person was injured after a fire broke out in an apartment building in the Bronx, New York, police and media said. The fire broke out in the sixth floor of an apartment and four women from two nearby apartments of the same building were taken to BronxCare Health System, where they were pronounced dead, the New York City Police Department said.

As the pandemic wreaks havoc on the U.S. economy and transforms Americans’ daily lives, the start of April brings a moment of reckoning for millions: rent checks are due. Many Americans have already lost their jobs – last week’s national unemployment claims exceeded 3 million, shattering previous records – and huge swaths of the country have essentially shut down.