France’s coronavirus-linked deaths rose by their most yet in figures released on Wednesday, while the number of intensive-care patients dropped for a seventh day.
Deaths linked to the virus rose by 1,438 to 17,167, said Jerome Salomon, Director General for health.
Mr Salomon said the toll did not only cover a 24-hour period, as it included fatalities in recent days that were not previously reported.
The number of reported infections in France rose by 4,560 to 147,863 cases.
As global coronavirus cases top 2 million, the Group of 20 leading economies have spent the equivalent of 3.5 per cent of GDP to fight the pandemic and its economic fallout, the International Monetary Fund estimated.
The European Commission has drawn up plans for a gradual exit from lockdowns imposed across the EU to slow the spread, even as it warned that easing restrictions would lead to a rapid rise in new cases.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is still very active. We need to remain vigilant,” Mr Salomon said. “It’s indispensable to respect the confinement.”
Total deaths in France linked to the coronavirus are starting to approach those in Spain, where daily figures have been coming down and fatalities stand at 18,579.
Italy is the hardest-hit country in Europe, reporting 21,645 deaths as of Wednesday.
The number of people admitted to hospital in France because of the coronavirus fell for the first time since the start of the outbreak, Mr Salomon said.
Patients in intensive-care units, an indicator of outbreak’s intensity and its effects on the country’s hospital system, fell by 273 to 6,457, the lowest since April 2, Health Ministry data showed.
“We are still facing a high plateau, a very high plateau,” Mr Salomon said.
SPECS
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
WHAT%20IS%20THE%20LICENSING%20PROCESS%20FOR%20VARA%3F
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
