China banned imports from three Ecuadorean frozen shrimp producers, after it said it had found Covid-19 on the companies’ packaging. The virus was only found on the outside of packaging and RNA tests for coronavirus were negative for the inside of the packaging and on the seafood itself, Chinese customs said. It did not name the companies. China has double-down on efforts to secure its borders against coronavirus, after a new outbreak was discovered in Beijing in early June after weeks of zero locally transmitted cases. The cluster was traced back to the largest wholesale market in the city, but the ultimate source has not been confirmed. Chinese authorities at first suggested it may have come from imported salmon or other produce from Europe. It later walked back on these theories. The World Health Organisation this week announced a new fact-finding mission is set to arrive in China to investigate the source of the virus.

Coronavirus lockdown measures have hit home among Britons as a majority still feel uneasy about eating in a restaurant, suggesting stimulus measures might not be enough to promote a recovery in the hospitality industry. Sixty per cent of respondents said that they would be uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with eating indoors at a restaurant in a survey run by the Office for National Statistics in early July. Eating outdoors is viewed more favourably but still 39 per cent of Britons feel unsettled about the idea. British consumers are even frostier about returning to watch movies on the big screen as 70 per cent of respondents said they would be uncomfortable or very uncomfortable to visit the cinema. http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/files/2020/07/britons-are-uneasy-about-eating-out-and-visiting-cinemas-700x500-webmed.png The findings bode ill for a recovery in consumption as they suggest that income support through government aid, such as the job retention scheme, might be saved instead of spent as bars, cinemas and restaurants reopen. The share of people reporting high anxiety rose as about 20 per cent said they were unlikely or very unlikely to return to their job or they did not know if they would return. In the summer statement on Wednesday, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced targeted support for the hospitality sector including a value added tax reduction and subsidised meals. Yet the health of the sector ultimately depends on consumers returning to bars and restaurants, which the survey results suggest they are unlikely to. The majority of Britons also reported avoiding going on holiday, with only one in four stating that they are likely or very likely to take a break this summer.

Barbados, which said last week it had recorded no new coronavirus cases, is offering a 12-month visa for visitors who want to escape the rigours of the pandemic in their own country and work in a warmer climate. “This gives us the opportunity to try to minimise and mitigate some of the economic damage that has come to us as a result of the pandemic,” the prime minister told Radio 4’s /Today/ programme. “We can’t close off to the rest of the world; we have to keep open to trade.” The yearlong “welcome stamp” is aimed at getting the economy moving again after a devastating blow from the pandemic that grounded airlines and kept visitors away from the Caribbean island. Barbados relies on weekly visits from cruise ships and long-stay tourists from all over the world. “More than 48 per cent of our GDP indirectly is associated with tourism,” Mia Amor Mottley said on Friday. /This could be your view from your remote office in Barbados/ http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/files/2020/07/PB_2944956_2048x1152.jpg The cost for the visa will be $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for families. “We can offer people the chance to work, have a vacation, bring their family; we could accommodate them if necessary,” the prime minister added. Tourism is one of the mainstays of the economy, with about 700,000 visitors spending $11bn on its shores in 2018, figures from the Barbados Tourism Investment show. Its own population is not even 300,000. The latest data from the World Bank have gross domestic product at $5.2bn. Barbados has recorded seven coronavirus deaths and 98 cases. The island has been easing its coronavirus restrictions as the government feels more comfortable the spread of the disease has been contained. All curfews were lifted at the start of the month while physical distancing was limited to three feet. Social events can be held with up to 500 guests while sporting events can include spectators.

Industrial production in Italy has recovered more quickly than expected. Production grew 42.1 per cent in May compared with the previous month, according to data from the statistics office (ISTAT). This is much stronger growth than the 22.8 per cent increase forecast by economists polled by Reuters. The release for Italy follows that for France, which showed industrial production rising more than expected by 19.6 per cent in May compared with the previous month. The monthly rebound in industrial production of both Italy and France was driven by capital goods and transport equipment. The latter grew by almost 50 per cent in France and more than double in Italy. However, in both countries, every area of the industrial sector returned to growth in May.

The International Energy Agency warned that the resurgence of coronavirus cases in parts of the world was “casting a shadow” over the oil market’s nascent recovery. “In some countries, [the] accelerating number of Covid-19 cases is a disturbing reminder that the pandemic is not under control and the risk to our market outlook is almost certainly to the downside,” the Paris-based body said in its monthly oil outlook. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, dropped below $20 a barrel in April to an 18-year low but has since rebounded to above $41 a barrel as supply curbs by major producer countries coincide with a recovery in demand. Global oil supply fell by 2.4m barrels a day in June to a nine-year low of 86.9m b/d. Production curbs from Opec and allies including Russia are taking place in conjunction with declines from other countries such as the US and Canada.

Industrial production in France rebounded more than expected in May, pointing to a broad-based recovery of the economy as lockdown eased. Production rose 19.6 per cent in May compared to the previous month, according to data from the country's statistics office. That was a stronger reading than the 15.1 per cent growth forecast by economists polled by Reuters. However, the rebound was not strong enough to make up for April’s plunge, and France industrial output is still 21.2 per cent down compared to May last year. Still, production growth for May was stronger than in Germany, largely reflecting less stringent restrictions in Germany that made its fall in April less severe. In both countries, industrial output is about one-fifth down compared to last year. The rebound in France follows a 25.6 per cent monthly increase in retail sales published earlier in the week, suggesting that the recovery is broad-based across the economy. http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/files/2020/07/france-s-industrial-production-rebounds-more-than-expected-700x500-webmed.png

Hong Kong suspends classes in schools again amid a resurgence in locally infected coronavirus cases over the past few days, about two weeks after the government relaxed social-distancing measures. Secondary and primary schools, as well as kindergartens, "could advance the beginning of the summer holiday to next Monday” said Kevin Yeung, the education secretary. The decision has come “in view of the exponential growth of confirmed Covid-19 local cases over the past two days", said Mr Yeung, "as well as parent concerns as reflected by school principals". Exceptions will be given to those years with special examination needs, he said. No cases have been confirmed at school though, he added. Schools were restarted in late May with students and teachers wearing masks in classes after the daily infection count was controlled at a low level. A recent spike has alarmed authorities and residents as the region recorded 123 new Covid-19 cases over the past week, of which 65 were locally transmitted. The new cases were related to clusters inside an elderly care home with more than 32 cases and local restaurants involving taxi drivers. An increasing number had unknown origins. Sophia Chan, the secretary for food and health, announced new social-distancing measures on Thursday, including limiting customers per table at restaurants and bars to eights and fours. “As society needs to resume some economic and social activities to a limited extent, it is inevitable that new local cases will appear,” Ms Chan said. Ms Chan had unveiled measures on Tuesday requiring sea crew and airline staff, as well as, domestic helpers to undergo compulsory virus tests.

The Muji retail chain has filed for US bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest retailer to collapse due to store shutdowns caused by the coronavirus outbreak. In a statement on Friday, Ryohin Keikaku, owner of Muji, said its US subsidiary sought Chapter 11 protection with $64m in liabilities. Its operations outside of the US will not be affected. Muji USA operates 18 stores in the US selling minimalist lifestyle goods since it first entered the market in 2006. US operations have struggled even before the global pandemic hit due to high rents and sluggish sales, generating at least three consecutive years of losses. The Japanese group said its US subsidiary will aim to continue its existing business and avoid liquidation. The announcement came as Ryohin Keikaku reported a net loss of ¥4.1bn ($38m) due to a global collapse in sales caused by store closures.

Great Portland Estates has collected less than a third of the rent it is owed by shops, bars and restaurants on its estate, which covers a swath of London's West End. The landlord, which owns about £2.5bn of property, received 28 per cent of rent from retailers, leisure and hospitality businesses to cover the three months owed on June 24, while its office tenants paid 74 per cent. Great Portland is looking at alternative payment schedules or rent holidays for some tenants, adding that six of its tenants had entered administration since lockdown measures were imposed in England on March 23. The company revealed it had negotiated a waiver until October on its interest cover ratio covenant with debtholders in one of its joint ventures, the Great Victoria Partnership, as a result of the "cash flow challenges Covid-19 is placing on the UK retail sector". "Despite these challenging conditions, we are well positioned," said chief executive Toby Courtauld. The landlord has a 15 per cent loan-to-value ratio on its property and £90m cash on hand, "providing strength in these difficult markets with significant capacity for growth should opportunities emerge", he said.

European equities were set to fall, extending their losses as the mounting coronavirus death toll in the US threatens to steer the recovery in the world’s largest economy off course. Futures for the regional benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 pointed to a 0.7 per cent decline at market open, which would put the index on course for losses over the course of a week that has lacked direction. London’s FTSE 100 was set to fall 0.5 per cent. Market sentiment turned negative on Thursday after three US sunbelt states — California, Texas and Florida — registered the largest single-day rises in coronavirus-related deaths to date. In Asia, Chinese shares were on track to break an eight-day winning streak as a powerful rally that has been fuelled by retail investors and cheerleading state media appeared to stall. The CSI 300 of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed equities shed 1.3 per cent on Friday, as the continuing growth of US coronavirus cases rippled through markets in Asia-Pacific.

The Restaurant Group, which had already planned to shut 125 of its underperforming outlets, said it plans to reopen a quarter of its estate by the end of this month but will still have a tenth closed by the end of the year. The group, which owns the Frankie & Benny's, Prezzo and Giraffe chains, also said that 60 per cent of its operations will be reopened by the end of August. The coronavirus pandemic has hit the hospitality, tourism and airline industry hard, grounding aircraft and closing restaurants and bars for months. It does not expect to reopen the remaining 10 per cent of its locations in 2020, specifically in those places such as in airports where footfall is expected to remain weak, the group said on Friday. The group said it had extended the terms of a revolving credit facility. Even before the pandemic struck, the group was struggling. It had set up a “company voluntary arrangement” to restructure its business, an insolvency proceeding that allows businesses to renegotiate debts with creditors. It said on Friday that it has agreed with its lenders to extend the term of its facility a further six months to June 30 2022. Its directors have volunteered to take a 20 per cent cut in their base salaries, which follows on from the 40 per cent reduction that was volunteered from April.

China’s copper smelters further cranked up production in June, adding to evidence that the world’s top consumer of raw materials is recovering from an economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 crisis. The China subset of the Savant Global Copper Smelting Index, which uses satellites to monitor industry activity, registered a reading of 53.9 in June, where 50 represents average levels. Analysts were especially encouraged by the second consecutive month of expansion — though the reading was down a little on the 54.6 recorded in May — given that rising costs for ore were putting a squeeze on the sector. *Read more [https://www.ft.com/content/d91e9fb3-0b60-4c38-aa88-4f3763f82880 here]*

Outdoor swimming pools, theatres and music venues in England will start reopening from Saturday under social-distancing guidance, the UK government has announced. Setting out a timetable for a new wave of businesses to reopen, culture secretary Oliver Dowden said on Thursday that indoor pools, gyms and leisure centres can resume from July 25. Beauticians, spas, tattooists and tanning salons can reopen from Monday. *Read more [https://www.ft.com/content/5e1c8ed1-8308-466a-9aa1-5d531824fab4 here]*

A 57-year-old businessman from England’s West Midlands region has become the first person to be arrested for allegedly defrauding the UK government’s coronavirus job retention scheme. HM Revenue & Customs said the man from Solihull was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of “cheating the public revenue, fraud by false representation, VAT evasion and money laundering” in an alleged £495,000 fraud. A further eight men from across the region have also been detained in raids as part of the wider investigation, the HMRC said. *Read more [https://www.ft.com/content/45a00e4f-c716-458f-9b92-126695fdb088 here]*

Students and teachers around the world have attacked the International Baccalaureate programme after receiving grades awarded using a system introduced because of disruption from the coronavirus pandemic. Schools this week demanded explanations from the foundation that administers the IB, with thousands of the 170,000 students who entered, saying they had received marks below their expected grades and failed to meet university entry requirements. Angel Newsome, a student at St Andrews International School in Bangkok, who expected high marks in the examinations, said: “I got my results on Monday and I was deeply, deeply shocked. I missed the result both for my preferred and back-up medical schools.” Their complaints provide an early warning of frustrations likely to be voiced in the coming weeks as other examination systems disrupted by Covid-19 publish results, including A-levels and GCSEs in the UK and global equivalents. *Read more [https://www.ft.com/content/ee0f4d97-4e0c-4bc3-8350-19855e70f0cf here]*

Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, reported a record 288 new cases of Covid-19 infection on Friday, as Melbourne, the capital, began a six-week lockdown. The chief medical officer for Victoria, Brett Sutton, said it was “a pretty ugly number’ and warned of higher tallies in the next few days. “The effects of lockdown will only be seen in the next one to two weeks,” he said. Prof Sutton urged Melbourne residents to wear face coverings in situations where physical distancing was impossible. “Up until the past couple of weeks there has been ambivalent evidence [about wearing masks] and there was no strong recommendation,” he said. But Prof Sutton noted that a recent meta-analysis of medical literature published in The Lancet, the UK medical journal, “had shown masks really do make a significant difference”.

Hong Kong schools will be given an early summer break, a government broadcaster reported on Friday, as a precautionary measure against a resurgence of Covid-19 infections. The Education Bureau is expected to close schools from Friday as the Chinese territory reimposes some lockdown restrictions, including limiting capacity in restaurants and bars, RTHK reported. The broadcaster said many parents had already stopped their children from going to school amid the Covid-19 case surge, although the government had not announced a suspension of classes. Most schools in Hong Kong are scheduled to start their summer break by the end of this month.

Stronger efforts to aid merchant mariners stranded at sea by the coronavirus pandemic have been pledged by a dozen countries at an international summit on Thursday. Representatives from more than a dozen countries including Norway, Denmark, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Philippines, UK and US met virtually to agree to new measures to speed up repatriation of stranded seafarers to their home countries. Borders would be opened more widely to seafarers and extra commercial flights would be scheduled to expedite repatriation efforts, said UK transport secretary Grant Shapps and maritime minister Kelly Tolhurst, who co-hosted the online summit. According to the International Labour Organization, more than 200,000 seafarers have been stranded at sea due to the pandemic. “I welcome coordinated efforts to respond to the crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic in the maritime sector, said ILO director-general, Guy Ryder.

Singaporeans started to cast their votes in a general election from 8am on Friday, despite concerns that it could lead to new outbreaks of coronavirus infections. Authorities implemented safety measures at polling stations, including temperature screening, contact tracing apps and providing voters with recommended time slots to avoid overcrowding. Voters could also check queues online before heading to their designated polling stations. Polling agents are wearing masks, face shields and gloves. Voters, wearing masks and spaced apart in queues outside the stations, were given gloves to handle ballot papers and asked to cast their votes in booths that provide social distance from fellow voters. But the elections department this morning said queues were longer than usual in some polling stations. “This is partly due to the additional safety measures put in place to ensure safe voting,” it said. It said the time slot between 8am and 12 noon was reserved for voters aged 65 or above to “minimise their interaction with younger voters”. Polling stations will close at 8pm.

If universities intend to reopen to students, they might have to screen their students for coronavirus every two days to be confident of controlling an outbreak, a paper [https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.06.20147702v1 published for peer review] on Thursday suggests. The Yale School of Public Health modelled a variety of testing strategies on a hypothetical group of 5,000 US students assuming different reproductive numbers — representing how many people each infected person infects. The scientists looked at different frequencies for tests and noted that reducing the testing rate to just once a week would cause the isolation dormitory occupancy rate to grow “explosively”. Under worst-case assumptions, with an R number of 3.5, and only weekly screenings, the scientists found “virtually the entire student population will have been infected before the 80-day semester is concluded”. If the R number stayed at 1.5, average occupancy of the isolation dormitory could be controlled with weekly testing, as long as no infections from other sources were introduced. The scientists said they recommended testing every two days to achieve best control over infections and costs, but noted it could be hard to get hold of adequate supplies of tests. “On a college campus of 5,000 enrollees, screening of the students alone every two days will require roughly 195,000 test kits over the abbreviated semester,” they said.