The pandemic that has swept the globe has also shattered lifestyles across much of the United States in the past week, shuttering schools and businesses, prompting millions to work from home, forcing many out of jobs and curtailing travel.

Indian equity markets quickly erased the gains made in a volatile start on Friday to head southwards, dragged down by index heavyweights HDFC twins and ICICI Bank( down 3 per cent). HDFC Bank slipped over 7 per cent and HDFC was down 4 per cent.

The S&P BSE Sensex hovered around 28,000 levels, down 200 points, or 0.7 per cent, after the initial jump.  The Nifty50 index was trading with slight cuts at 8,240 levels. The Nifty sectoral indices were trading mixed. While Nifty FMCG and Nifty Pharma indexes traded over 3 per cent up each, the Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services indexes dipped 3 per cent each.

Trump, speaking at a news conference, pointed to efforts on Gilead Sciences Inc’s experimental antiviral drug Remdesivir and the generic antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, saying he had called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to streamline its regulatory approval process.

“There is high uncertainty around the fatality of the disease; however, it is estimated that COVID-19 has a higher case fatality rate (CFR) compared to seasonal flu (~0.1%) and a lower CFR compared to the 2003 SARS outbreak (~5.0%-10.0%). The current estimation for the average CFR ranges between 0.5% and 4%. According to the CCDC, among more than 72,000 patient records, with 86% of cases between 30 and 79 years old, current estimation for CFR ranges between 0.5% and 4%. CFR is estimated to be more than 5% for individuals with pre-existing conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, hypertension, and cancer, and more than 8% for people older than 70 years old.”

With much of Europe in lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak, economic activity has come to a near standstill and markets have been in a tailspin, foreshadowing a deep recession on par with the 2008 global financial crisis and raising questions about the euro zone’s cohesion at times of stress

With over 242,000 infections and nearly 10,000 deaths, the epidemic has stunned the world and drawn comparisons with painful periods such as World War Two, the 2008 financial crisis and the 1918 Spanish flu.

Asian markets initially climbed on the news but soon went into a tailspin as investors contemplate months of economic hardship with countries around the world in lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has now infected more than 200,000 people and killed almost 9,000.