ZURICH/GENEVA (Reuters) - The Americas are bearing the brunt of the global coronavirus pandemic at present, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, with North and South America currently having four of the 10 worst hit countries in the world. The disease was “highly active” in Central and South America, the WHO’s top emergency expert Mike Ryan said, highlighting problems in Brazil and Mexico. The current situation in Brazil, now one of the global hot-spots for the virus, was of...

The Americas are bearing the brunt of the global coronavirus pandemic at present, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, with North and South America currently having four of the 10 worst-hit countries in the world. The disease was "highly active" in Central and South America, the WHO's top emergency expert Mike Ryan said, highlighting problems in Brazil and Mexico. The current situation in Brazil, now one of the global hotspots for the virus, was of increasing concern especially in...

ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland’s economy will suffer its worst downturn in decades during 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic damages output and jobs, the government said on Wednesday, but the downturn will be less severe than initially feared. Swiss gross domestic product will fall 6.2% this year, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said, the worst downturn since 1975, when the country was hit by the aftermath of the oil price shocks. Unemployment is forecast to rise to 3.8% this...

BERN (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank will keep its ultra-expansive monetary policy for “some time” after cutting its inflation outlook and saying it needs negative rates and currency interventions to shield Switzerland from the coronavirus driven-recession. Switzerland is facing its sharpest downturn in decades after the pandemic shut down many businesses, pushed up unemployment and dented demand at home and abroad. The SNB expects Swiss GDP to shrink 6% this year, the worst downturn...

Coronavirus cases are soaring in several major countries at the same time, with “worrying increases” in Latin America, especially Brazil, the World Health Organization says. The world recorded more than 183,000 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the most in a single day since the outbreak started in December, according to the WHO. “Certainly the numbers are increasing because the epidemic is developing in a number of populous countries at the same time and across the whole world,” the WHO’s top...