The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Panic buying, Budget announcements and farewell to Harry and Meghan

issue 14 March 2020

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At the beginning of the week 319 people in the United Kingdom had been found to be suffering from the coronavirus Covid-19, with five deaths by Monday evening; by the next day there were another 54 cases and another death. Of the total, 91 were in London. Testing was extended to anyone hospitalised with a respiratory tract infection. Nadine Dorries, a health minister, caught the virus. Shares in London fell by 7.8 per cent on Monday, like those in other European exchanges, then bounced back a little. Supermarkets were allowed to receive deliveries in the dead of night to avoid shortages. There was a curious tendency to panic-buy lavatory paper.

The Bank of England announced an emergency cut in interest rates from 0.75 per cent to 0.25 per cent, in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

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