The Globe and Mail - 13.03.2020

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FRIDAY,MARCH13,2020| THEGLOBEANDMAILO NEWS | A

In Ontario, Education Minister
Stephen Lecce issued a ministe-
rial order to close schools be-
tween March 14 to April 5, ex-
tending by two weeks the annual
spring break for two million
schoolchildren. Although chil-
dren have not been severely af-
fected by the disease in other
parts of the world, they could
play an important role in its
spread.
A few hours earlier, Premier
Doug Ford had told families to go
ahead with March Break travel
plans and “have a good time” de-
spite the pandemic. In contrast,
Ms. Hajdu said Canadians should
consider a “staycation.”
“There are lots and lots of
places in our country that many
people have never been to and
this would be a great time to stay
home,” she said.
The Ontario Superior Court
said it was suspending new jury
trials. Trials already under way
will proceed at the discretion of
the judge. John Struthers, presi-
dent of the Criminal Lawyers’ As-
sociation, praised the move, say-
ing that with up to 400 or 500
people in some jury pools, “it’s
irresponsible to have people who
are vulnerable placed in a situa-
tion of extreme vulnerability in
large groups.”
In Quebec, Premier François
Legault banned public gather-
ings of more than 250 people,
saying it’s time for the province
to go into “emergency mode.” He
also suggested anyone returning
from travel outside the country
should follow the 14-day self-
quarantine guidelines. The quar-
antine is mandatory for public
servants, including daycare
workers and teachers.
“Our challenge in the next few
weeks is to slow down the conta-
gion,” Mr. Legault said.
Mr. Legault, who will speak
with his provincial counterparts
and Prime Minister Justin Tru-
deau on Friday, said Ottawa
should “seriously consider” clos-

ing the borders to prevent accel-

erating the spread of illness from

outside Canada.

Other provinces followed Que-

bec with their own statements

on large gatherings. Alberta an-

nounced a similar 250-person

event limit, as did B.C. After New

Brunswick’s first case of CO-

VID-19 was confirmed late Thurs-

day, the province’s Chief Medical

Officer issued an order recom-

mending against gatherings of

more than 150 people. The news

led to the abrupt cancellation of

a sold-out show in Dieppe for

singer David Myles.

Alberta’s large-gathering ban

includes international confer-

ences and community and sport-

ing events, but excludes places of

worship, airports, grocery stores

and shopping centres. B.C.’s ban

does include places of worship.

“We are asking religious lead-

ers of all faiths to look at ways

they can reduce the number of

people who meet in public to-

gether, or in a building together,”

Dr. Henry said.

Most Canadian universities

have maintained business as

usual. The University of Manito-

ba said Thursday it has asked fac-

ulty to move course materials

online and to consider alterna-

tives to traditional exams to en-

courage social distancing. Events

with more than 50 people will be

cancelled or postponed. Lauren-

tian University suspended in-

person classes after a person

who works on campus contract-

ed the coronavirus.

Late Thursday, the University

of Western Ontario said it’s can-

celling classes through March 17

and will then move to online-on-

ly instruction. Residences will re-

main open. The university said it

is working through contingency

plans for final exams.

“We don’t have experience in

transitioning at such a scale, and

so we will all need to be patient

with each other as we do so,”

Western president Alan Shepard

said in an e-mail to campus.

Vivek Goel, vice-president of

research and innovation at the

University of Toronto, said the

university is listening to local

public health agencies and is

prepared to suspend in-person

lectures and shift to online in-

struction.

“At this stage, they continue to

advise the risk of community

transmission is low in the Toron-

to area,” Dr. Goel said. “But we’re

obviously monitoring the situa-

tion very closely and making

preparations.”

The Public Health Agency of

Canada has said that school clos-

ings can reduce virus transmis-

sion, but the timing and dura-

tion is critical and should hap-

pen before the peak of an epi-

demic. It added that officials

should also consider that stu-

dents would congregate else-

where, “reducing the intended

benefits of school closures and

potentially shifting the transmis-

sion of the virus to other com-

munity settings.”

Peter MacKay and Erin

O’Toole, the front-runners in the

Conservative Party leadership

campaign, said they are suspend-

ing in-person events as a result

of the pandemic.

The Juno Awards, a gathering

that honours musicians from

across country, were to be held in

Saskatoon this weekend but or-

ganizers said the gala and related

events will have to be cancelled.

The Canadian Screen Awards,

scheduled for March 29, were al-

so cancelled.

The NHL suspended its season

until further notice. This fol-

lowed the NBA announcing late

Wednesday it was suspending its

season. MLB said it would delay

the start of its regular season by

two weeks. MLS also suspended

its season.

With reports from Andrea Woo,

Laura Stone, Les Perreaux,

Greg Mercer, Caroline Alphonso

and Sean Fine

Coronavirus:Schoolclosingscanreducetransmission,publichealthagencysays

Studentsareseenleaving

OakwoodCollegiate

InstituteinTorontoon

Thursday.Theprovince

isextendingMarch

Breakbytwoweeks

fortwomillion

schoolchildrenamidthe

coronavirusoutbreak.

TYLERANDERSON/

THEGLOBEANDMAIL

FROMA

After flirting with the level Wednesday, the S&P

500 index officially entered a bear market – a

decline of 20 per cent from its most recent peak

• as it shed 260.74 points, or 9.51 per cent, to
  2,480.64. It was the U.S. benchmark’s worst day
  since 1987. The decline for the TSX left it about
  30 per cent below its record peak just last
  month.
  The market carnage came despite a bold
  move by the U.S. Federal reserve to inject
  US$1.5-trillion into the financial system with a
  bond-buying program to provide bank liquid-
  ity.
  TheBankofCanadaalsoexpandeditsefforts
  to ensure stability in Canada’s financial system
  and support interbank lending. The bank is
  starting with a total of $7.5-billion of liquidity
  for credit markets through various operations
  early next week.
  “The Bank of Canada continues to closely
  monitor global market developments and re-
  mains committed to providing liquidity as re-
  quired to support the functioning
  of the Canadian financial sys-
  tem,” it said in a statement after
  the close of markets on Thursday.
  Traders on Bay Street were left
  shell-shocked both by the magni-
  tude and speed of the stock-mar-
  ket decline.
  For Jason Del Vicario, a portfo-
  lio manager at HollisWealth in
  Vancouver, the situation is worse
  than the financial crisis of 2008.
  “In2008,wedidn’tseethemar-
  kets tank this much this quickly
  until the fall of 2008 and there
  was time prior to that to put one’s
  ducks in a row,” he says. “What is
  amazing to me is we are seeing
  this volatility before any real eco-
  nomic or corporate earnings re-
  leases that start to demonstrate
  the full impact of this virus/
  downturn.”
  But the impact on the real
  economy and on earnings would
  surely be felt in the days and
  months ahead, and many inves-
  tors now believe a recession is in-
  evitable.
  “It will not be the end of the world, but don’t
  fool yourself by not accepting that this will im-
  pact all sectors of the economy and has global
  market reach,” said Kash Pashootan, chief ex-
  ecutive officer and chief investment officer at
  First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc. “Wel-
  come to 2008 Version 2.”
  At the opening, as was the case Monday, sell-
  ing was so intense that trading was halted in
  North American markets. The panic started af-
  ter stimulus efforts from the European Central
  Bank failed to calm investors alarmed by U.S.
  moves to restrict travel from Europe over the
  coronavirus pandemic. European shares took
  their largest percentage drop on record.
  The Federal Reserve announced a US$1.5-
  trillion injection of liquidity for banks, which
  briefly reversed some of the day’s losses. It was
  the third substantial increase in repo support
  announced by the U.S. Federal Reserve this
  week, a sign the Fed is taking drastic steps to

inject more liquidity into the banking system

as markets show signs of stress.

The U.S. dollar rose indiscriminately, in yet

another sign of market stress. The Canadian

dollar tumbled to four-year lows.

In a Wednesday night televised address that

also included support measures for the econo-

my, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed re-

strictions on travel from Europe to the United

States, shocking investors and travellers.

Traders were disappointed after hoping to

see broader measures to fight the spread of the

virus and blunt its expected blow to economic

growth.

“The economy is going to grind to a halt in

the next month and the recession risk is real

now,” said Zhiwei Ren, managing director at

Penn Mutual Asset Management in Horsham,

Pa.

Mr. Trump said the U.S. would suspend all

travel from Europe, except Britain and Ireland,

for30daysstartingonFriday.Helatersaidtrade

would not be affected by the restrictions.

Worries spread far beyond stocks to compa-

nies’ lines of credit and their abil-

ity to finance business activity in

the short term.

Fear of the unknown “is grip-

ping markets and it’s more im-

pactful in the credit markets at

the moment; liquidity has effec-

tively evaporated,” said John

McClain, a portfolio manager at

Diamond Hill Capital in Colum-

bus, Ohio. “People are looking

ahead and saying what’s this

world going to feel like when

we’re all working at home.”

The ECB approved fresh stimu-

lus measures and temporarily

dropped banks’ capital require-

ments to help the euro zone cope

with the shock of the pandemic,

but kept interest rates on hold,

disappointing markets.

The VIX volatility index – Wall

Street’s “fear gauge” – and an

equivalent measure of volatility

for the Euro Stoxx 50 hit their

highest since the 2008 financial

crisis.

Fed fund rate futures are now

pricing in a one-percentage-point

cut, rather than 0.75, at a policy review next

week.

The euro weakened after the ECB stimulus

announcement.

Demandfordollarsthroughthecurrencyde-

rivative markets surged to the highest levels in

years in a sign that coronavirus-induced eco-

nomic stress is starting to manifest itself in a

broad scramble for funding in dollars.

“Dollar liquidity is king in times of crisis and

that is what the blowout in swap spreads is tell-

ingus,” said Kenneth Broux, a currency strate-

gist at Société Générale in London.

He said this could mark a move into the next

sell-off stage, which could mean a three-week-

long worldwide rout in shares and riskier

bonds giving way to a rush for dollars.

WithreportsfromDavidBerman,

MattLundyandReuters.BrendaBouwis

SpecialtoTheGlobeandMail

Markets:CarnagecamedespiteU.S.Fed’smove

toinject$1.5-trillionintothefinancialsystem

FROMA

In2008,wedidn’t

seethemarketstank

thismuchthis

quicklyuntilthefall

of2008andthere

wastimepriorto

thattoputone’s

ducksinarow.What

isamazingtomeis

weareseeingthis

volatilitybeforeany

realeconomicor

corporateearnings

releasesthatstartto

demonstratethefull

impactofthis

virus/downturn.

JASONDELVICARIO

PORTFOLIOMANAGER

ATHOLLISWEALTH

WASHINGTONThree service

members were killed, including

two Americans, and a dozen

more were injured when a bar-

rage of rockets were fired at a

military base in Iraq, U.S. offi-

cials said Wednesday.

One of the officials said five

service members were seriously

wounded and evacuated from

the Camp Taji base and seven

others were still being evaluated.

Buildings on the base were in

flames. The officials spoke on

condition of anonymity to give

details of the attack ahead of a

public announcement.

Army Colonel Myles Caggins,

a U.S. military spokesman in

Iraq, confirmed that three per-

sonnel from the U.S.-led coali-

tion were killed and about 12

were wounded, but did not

provide details about what

country they were from. The U.S.

military said the names of those

killed would be released after

family notifications.

Col. Caggins, in a statement,

said that about 18 107mm Katy-

usha rockets struck the base and

that Iraqi Security Forces found

a rocket-rigged truck a few miles

from Camp Taji. Such Russian

rockets have been used in the

past by Iranian-backed militia

groups in Iraq.

Another U.S. official said that

as many as 30 rockets were fired.

British Prime Minister Boris

Johnson confirmed that a British

soldier had been killed in the

“abhorrent” attack.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

U.S. OFFICIALS SAY THREE MILITARY MEMBERS KILLED,

ABOUT 12 INJURED IN ROCKET ATTACK ON IRAQ BASE