{"id":64754,"date":"2020-03-27T14:51:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T14:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dynasty.co.za\/?p=64754"},"modified":"2021-06-22T17:17:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T17:17:08","slug":"day-one-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/day-one-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"News Flash \u2013 Day One of Lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The world is slowing down, with a third of the globe having some sort of restriction placed on their freedom of movement. It is the first day of 21 days of <a href=\"https:\/\/dynasty.co.za\/lockdowns-regulations\/\" data-schema-attribute=\"\">lockdown<\/a> in South Africa, while in other countries: Police in India are accused of assaulting people who do not follow the lockdown parameters; America is at a point where they are having to choose who should get medical treatment as they do not have the resources to treat everyone; and parts of China are emerging from lockdown after two months of isolation.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Global News <\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2020-03-27\/u-k-prime-minister-johnson-tested-positive-for-coronavirus-k8a3ehh9\">Prime Minister Boris Johnson<\/a>\u00a0has tested positive for the Covid-19.<\/li>\n<li>The S&amp;P and Moody\u2019s rating agencies are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2020-03-26\/s-p-moody-s-cut-credit-grades-at-fastest-pace-since-2008-crisis\">downgrading US companies<\/a>\u00a0at the fastest rate in a decade due to the impact of Covid-19. Debt-saddled corporations and entire industries are struggling with the dramatic slump in demand brought about by the pandemic.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/uk.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-usa\/u-s-has-most-coronavirus-cases-in-world-next-wave-aimed-at-louisiana-idUKKBN21D1ZR\">US is now the epicentre<\/a>\u00a0of the virus with the most amount of active cases, increasing to 82\u00a0000. Globally the number of deaths from Covid-19 has risen to close to 25 000, this being up from 15 400 on Monday this week.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/26\/world\/coronavirus-news.html\">3 million people<\/a>\u00a0filed first-time claims for unemployment in the US. According to the Department of Labour, it is the largest spike in job losses since numbers began being tracked, and the New York Times has stated that the previous record was 695\u00a0000 of initial claims in October 1982.<\/li>\n<li>Republican and Democrat senators reached a deal on a stimulus package that is set to provide more than $2 trillion in spending and tax breaks to bolster the US economy and fund the effort to combat Covid-19. The House of Representatives was expected to quickly take up the bill and pass it, sending it to President Trump for his signature.<\/li>\n<li>Italy\u2019s cases have surged once again after a misconception that they had a hold on the crisis. The number of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-italy\/italy-suffers-setback-to-hopes-its-coronavirus-epidemic-might-be-in-retreat-idUSKBN21D327\">cases rose by 6 153<\/a>, making the number of active cases 80 539, with 8 200 Covid-19 related deaths.<\/li>\n<li>Spain\u2019s health ministry announced its most deadly day yet reporting\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2020-03-27\/spain-reports-deadliest-day-with-769-more-coronavirus-fatalities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">769 Covid-19 related deaths<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>India has also placed an order on its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/24\/world\/asia\/india-coronavirus-lockdown.html?campaign_id=51&amp;emc=edit_MBE_p_20200325&amp;instance_id=17047&amp;nl=morning-briefing&amp;regi_id=108850181&amp;section=topNews&amp;segment_id=22793&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=8f0f66d2e66b0ee863454c6d621ec8c7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1.<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/24\/world\/asia\/india-coronavirus-lockdown.html?campaign_id=51&amp;emc=edit_MBE_p_20200325&amp;instance_id=17047&amp;nl=morning-briefing&amp;regi_id=108850181&amp;section=topNews&amp;segment_id=22793&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=8f0f66d2e66b0ee863454c6d621ec8c7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">3 billion citizens<\/a>\u00a0to stay at home for three weeks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that \u201cIf you can\u2019t handle these 21 days, this country and your family will go back 21 years\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>After mounting pressure from athletes and participating countries, the Tokyo Olympics has officially been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/24\/sports\/olympics\/coronavirus-summer-olympics-postponed.html?campaign_id=51&amp;emc=edit_MBE_p_20200325&amp;instance_id=17047&amp;nl=morning-briefing&amp;regi_id=108850181&amp;section=topNews&amp;segment_id=22793&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=8f0f66d2e66b0ee863454c6d621ec8c7\">postponed until 2021<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Off the back of massive global stimulus, equity markets have enjoyed a strong week with the MSCI up\u00a012.7% as at yesterday\u2019s close.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Local News <\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>South Africa is heading towards\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biznews.com\/inside-covid-19\/2020\/03\/23\/inside-covid-19-ramaphosa-lockdown-asia\">1000 cases of Covid-19<\/a>\u00a0and has implemented a countrywide lockdown for at least 21 days. President Ramaphosa is receiving international praise for his swift response to the pandemic. Tragically though, our 1<sup>st<\/sup>\u00a0two Covid-19 related deaths have been reported.<\/li>\n<li>The South Africa Reserve Bank launched a bond-buying programme, following other countries in taking\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/af.reuters.com\/article\/southAfricaNews\/idAFL8N2BI3W5\">quantitative easing measures<\/a>, in order to provide liquidity and add support to credit markets and banks.<\/li>\n<li>It does not seem like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2020-03-27-south-africas-edcon-cant-pay-suppliers-may-not-re-open\/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Business%20Maverick%20Friday%2027%20March%20Lockdown%20Day%201&amp;utm_content=Business%20Maverick%20Friday%2027%20March%20Lockdown%20Day%201+CID_7de8ee3a20b20e0811b64288d2dd7c2c&amp;utm_source=TouchBasePro&amp;utm_term=Edcon%20Cant%20Pay%20Suppliers%20May%20Not%20Re-open\">Edcon will survive<\/a>\u00a0the 21-day lockdown. The struggling company is unable to pay its suppliers and may not be able to reopen. Similarly, the business rescue practitioners of SA Express have launched an application at the High Court in Johannesburg to have the airline liquidated.<\/li>\n<li>Eskom has announced that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2020-03-24-coal-companies-to-supply-eskom-but-num-source-says-only-from-stockpiles\/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Business%20Maverick%20Wednesday%2025%20March&amp;utm_content=Business%20Maverick%20Wednesday%2025%20March+CID_a223119dcfc32963ae7e2169035b8fa9&amp;utm_source=TouchBasePro&amp;utm_term=Coal%20companies%20to%20supply%20Eskom%20but%20NUM%20source%20says%20only%20from%20stockpiles\">coal deliveries will continue<\/a>\u00a0during the lockdown. A source from the National Union of Mineworkers says this will only be from stockpiles, and that the only members who are going to work will be those required for \u2018care and maintenance\u2019 operations, as the mines are shut.<\/li>\n<li>It is unclear whether or not Moody&#8217;s will announce its review of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/385269\/d-day-for-for-the-rand-as-moodys-rating-looms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">South Africa&#8217;s credit rating<\/a>\u00a0this evening. A deferral may be warranted due to the extraordinary current global circumstances.<\/li>\n<li>Remitting Funds Offshore: Remittance of funds through the use of the Annual Discretionary Allowance may continue. However, due to SARS also being part of the national lockdown, tax clearances are unable to be submitted to them for approval under the Annual Foreign Capital Allowance (of up to R10m).<\/li>\n<li>Following the lead of global equity markets, the JSE was up 12.01% for the week as at yesterday\u2019s close.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><em>Sources: Dynasty, RMB, Reuters, Daily Maverick, Moneyweb, and Bloomberg Markets, etc<\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world is slowing down, with a third of the globe having some sort of restriction placed on their freedom of movement. It is the first day of 21 days of lockdown in South Africa, while in other countries: Police in India are accused of assaulting people who do not follow the lockdown parameters; America&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[236,238,56],"class_list":["post-64754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-lockdown","tag-recession","category-3","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dynasty.co.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}