In an effort to conquer the virus, Italy’s government this week imposed drastic quarantine measures that have emptied the piazzas of cities that are cornerstones of European civilisation, the Financial Times reported. Like all museums, Florence’s Uffizi Gallery is closed. No one is throwing coins into Rome’s Trevi fountain. From inside the Vatican, Pope Francis live-streamed his regular Wednesday mass instead of greeting pilgrims on St Peter’s Square.

This week’s Budget offered help for Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises — businesses with fewer than 250 employees — that could struggle as the coronavirus pandemic worsens, the Financial Times reported. Staff sickness is expected to rise just as customer numbers fall when those exposed to the virus follow the official advice and isolate themselves. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, focused on five measures to preserve cash and prevent insolvency among UK businesses.

The number of bankruptcies in Germany is set to rise this year for the first time since the financial crisis in 2009, the head of Germany’s insolvency administrators’ association said, warning that government aid could not protect all companies, Reuters reported. Europe’s largest economy is braced for a difficult period as the pandemic spreads around the world, severing supply chains and leading to collapsing demand for the exporting powerhouse’s goods. “There will be a rise in insolvencies for the first time since 2009, and it will be a clear increase,” Christoph Niering told Reuters.

A-ETPL, Associação - Port Work Company of Lisbon announced that it had been notified of the decision to declare its insolvency and the appointment of the insolvency administrator, The Portugal News reported. In a statement, A-ETPL states that the sentence handed down by the Lisbon Judicial Court of Justice Lisbon Commercial Court - Judge 7 set a deadline of 30 days for claiming credits.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s pledge in 2011 to do “whatever it takes” to save the continent in the midst of the crisis helped bring bond markets back from the brink. Now, Christine Lagarde may be pushing them back there, Bloomberg News reported. Italian bonds endured their worst day ever -- trumping other momentous times in history, including the euro-area debt crisis and 2018’s budget standoff with the European Union. Trading in the country’s bond futures and those of France had to be halted after seeing a flash crash-like slide.

Christine Lagarde has called on EU leaders to launch more urgent action to avoid the spread of coronavirus triggering a serious economic slowdown, the Financial Times reported. Speaking on a video call with EU leaders on Tuesday night, the president of the European Central Bank sought to shake them out of what she sees as a complacent attitude to the epidemic, according to a person briefed on her comments.

UK’s Countrywide said on Wednesday a deal to sell its commercial real estate consultancy business has been delayed, sending the debt-laden company’s shares lower, Reuters reported. The sale of Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), which was agreed with Monaco-based entrepreneur John Bengt Moeller in November, would have fetched the British real estate agent 38 million pounds. Countrywide said Moeller had failed to complete the deal by a March 1 deadline, adding that it was looking at legal options to claim costs from him for the delay and for the damages caused.

Telefonica SA and Telecom Italia SpA’s Brazilian units are working together to buy the mobile operations of Oi SA and end years of failed attempts to consolidate the country’s wireless industry, Bloomberg News reported. Telefonica Brasil SA and Tim Participacoes SA said they’ll will hold discussions on a potential joint acquisition of all or part of Oi’s mobile assets, which Bradesco BBI estimates may be worth at least 12 billion reais ($2.6 billion).

Rishi Sunak balanced a warning of severe disruption to the UK economy from the spiralling coronavirus epidemic with a multibillion pound package of emergency measures aimed at keeping the UK’s 6m small and medium-sized businesses afloat, the Financial Times reported. A £1bn government-backed emergency loan scheme, reimbursement of sick pay costs, suspension of business rates for retail and leisure outlets, and a £3,000 cash grant to the smallest of businesses were among the temporary initiatives introduced by the new chancellor to address strains that companies across the coun

The move by banks to force Cineworld's top shareholder to refinance a loan without equity collateral is yet another sign of mounting stress in Europe's junk debt market as the coronavirus roils markets and businesses around the world, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.