AP: E.U. vows united response as virus hits its political heart
“European Union leaders vowed Tuesday to stand united in combating the spread of the coronavirus ravaging member country Italy, and agreed to draft a plan to address any medical shortages and set up a fund to help overburdened health care systems…” (Cook et al., 3/10).

POLITICO: E.U. leaders try to retake control of coronavirus response
“…The new measures, including plans for a fast injection of €7.5 billion in assistance to health care systems, small businesses, and other hard-hit sectors of the economy, were announced by Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, following an extraordinary videoconference between the E.U.’s 27 heads of state and government, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and the Eurogroup president, Mário Centeno…” (Herszenhorn et al., 3/10).

Wall Street Journal: Italy, With Aging Population, Has World’s Highest Daily Deaths From Virus
“The coronavirus has killed more people in Italy than in China over the past week. Doctors are warning that a shortage of beds to treat the severely ill could push the Italian death toll higher still. In less than three weeks, Italy has gone from having just three coronavirus cases to the biggest outbreak after China. And the data point to a troubling trend: Those infected in Italy appear more likely to die. … Italy’s high number of deaths has health experts worried. Many say that, if Italians are more likely to die, then demographics are probably a big part of the reason…” (Stancati, 3/9).

The Atlantic: Italy Shut Down. Which Country Will Be Next? (Donadio, 3/10).

Bloomberg: Africa’s Struggling Health-Care Systems Brace for Coronavirus (Soto/Patton, 3/11).

CIDRAP News: Italy COVID-19 total tops 10,000; funding grows for treatments, vaccines (Schnirring, 3/10).

Devex: Iran, N. Korea, Syria: How sanctions are hindering coronavirus response (Ravelo, 3/11).

Foreign Policy: How Will South Asia Deal With the Coronavirus? (Agrawal, 3/10).

The Hill: U.K. health minister tests positive for coronavirus (Axelrod, 3/10).

NPR: Life During Coronavirus: What Different Countries Are Doing To Stop The Spread (Wamsley, 3/10).

NPR: How A South Korean City Is Changing Tactics To Tamp Down Its COVID-19 Surge (Kuhn, 3/10).

Quartz India: Some Indian states shut down schools and cinemas and seal borders as Covid-19 cases cross 60 (Sharma, 3/11).

Reuters: As new cases of coronavirus subside in China, Wuhan told to go back to work (Woo et al., 3/10).

Reuters: Australia unveils $1.6 billion health package to combat coronavirus (Jose, 3/10).

Reuters: Brazil’s Bolsonaro says coronavirus is not all the media makes it out to be (Paraguassu, 3/10).

Reuters: Buckets for toilets, recycled gloves: Venezuelan hospitals await coronavirus unprepared (Navas/Polanco, 3/10).

Reuters: Democratic Republic of Congo confirms first coronavirus case (3/10).

U.S. News & World Report: What the U.S. Can Learn From Taiwan’s Response to Coronavirus (Sternberg, 3/10).

Vox: Italy’s coronavirus crisis could be America’s (Belluz, 3/11).

Xinhua: WHO chief says COVID-19 cases in significant decline in China, its experience ‘impressive’ (3/10).