The number of confirmed coronavirus infections topped 200,000, more than doubling in two weeks, as countries escalated their response to the spread with travel restrictions, home quarantines and other limits on movement.
There were more than 205,000 confirmed cases of the disease known as Covid-19 on Wednesday, with infections outside of mainland China—where the epidemic began—now above 124,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
The United States and Canada will temporarily close their shared border to non-essential travel while continuing to allow goods to move between the countries to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
“We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic. Trade will not be affected. Details to follow!” President Donald Trump tweeted this morning.
Source: FreightWaves
The IMO has postponed a number of meetings following the global coronavirus outbreak.
The move comes after the IMO Secretariat considered the advice provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Government of the United Kingdom and actions taken by other UN agencies.
Source: The Maritime Executive
Data recently issued by global trade intelligence firm Panjiva pointed to United States-bound waterborne shipments falling for the sixth consecutive month in February.
February shipments—at 846,054—decreased 7.5% compared to February 2019, and containerized freight shipments, for the month, were down 4.5%. On a year-to-date basis through February, U.S.-bound waterborne shipments—at 1,874,305—are down 5.4% compared to the same period a year ago.
Source: Supply Chain 24/7
The price shippers pay on the spot market is increasing alongside demand. "We are seeing spot rates accelerate upwards," Adamo said. Van rates were up 3% and reefer rates were up 2% between March 9 and March 15, according to DAT.
Given the circumstances, shippers are "going to pay more if they shift to the spot market. But if they don't have the capacity, that's sort of a thing that they're forced to do," Adamo said.
Source: Supply Chain Dive
The spiraling coronavirus epidemic tore into the fabric of Europe on Tuesday, prompting its leaders to all but wall the continent off from the rest of the world and erect barriers within it, and to throttle back or turn off the engines of ordinary life and livelihoods in hopes of slowing the deadly spread.
The European Union banned nonessential travel from outside the bloc into 26 nations stretching from Portugal to Finland, home to more than 400 million people, for 30 days, as Europe’s leaders grudgingly, belatedly accepted that being at the heart of a global pandemic and trying to fight it will mean severe social and economic hardship.
Source: The New York Times
