from ZeroHedge:

Summary:

• Confirmed cases near or pass 1,000 in France, Germany and Spain


• PM Johnsons says UK won’t close parliament


• Spain PM says he will have ’emergency plan’ to tackle outbreak


• VP Pence will hold press conference at 5:30ET Monday


• Amtrak shutters ‘Acela Corrider’


• Korean construction worker contracted by US military tests positive


• Total number of cases in Italy hits 7,375


• ‘Grand Princess’ will soon dock in Oakland


• New cases in South Korea drop as Philippines case total doubles


• EUCO President says conference call will be held to coordinate EU response


• Germany and France finmins hold talks to discuss crisis


• Dutch infections climb to 321

* * *

Update (0845ET): Following UK PM Boris Johnson’s emergency meeting Monday morning with fellow government officials, the UK leadership has reportedly decided against closing Parliament over the outbreak, though access to visitors will be strictly limited.

NEW: House of Commons Commission met this morning and has decided against closing Parliament over coronavirus fears.

But there’s an expectation that access to Parliament will be restricted to visitors “within the next week.” Sources say they’ll be guided by Cobra meetings.

— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) March 9, 2020

Overnight, the number of confirmed cases in Spain nearly doubled, going from 589 on March 8 to 999 on March 9. In response, the government has ordered all schools and universities in the country to close. With acute concentrations of cases in the capital, Madrid, as well as the country’s industrial hub in the Basque country, deaths have climbed to 26 across the country. In Madrid alone, confirmed cases increased by about 200 between Sunday and Monday, BBG reports.

After the number of cases in the Philippines doubled to 20 on Monday, from now on well-wishers will not be allowed to touch Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to protect him from the coronavirus, his security detail said. Duterte is 74, and thus technically a high-risk patient.

In Iran officials have temporarily released 70,000 prisoners in a bid to contain coronavirus in the country.

Iran’s Mizan news agency quoted judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as saying “it is necessary for the temporary release of prisoners to continue… so long as it does not create insecurity in society.”

In the Netherlands, cases have climbed to 321, according to local media reports.

* * *

Update (0830ET):  As Boris Johnson holds an emergency meeting with senior government leaders in London, across the Channel, European Council President Charles Michel said Monday that Brussels would be hosting a conference call with all EU leaders.

• PRES. OF EUCO MICHEL: FOLLOWING CONSULTATIONS, I WILL HOLD A EUCO MEMBERS CONFERENCE CALL SHORTLY ON COVID-19 TO COORDINATE EU EFFORTS. WE NEED TO COOPERATE IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE HEALTH OF OUR CITIZENS.

Meanwhile, over in India, four new cases of the virus have been confirmed, including a 3-year-old child.

In Spain, which is finally confronting the severity of its outbreak as the number of confirmed cases teeters right at the 1,000-case mark, and the president of neighboring Portugal has gone into quarantine, is preparing to unfurl an “emergency plan” of its own, according to socialist PM Pedro Sanchez.

• SPAIN’S PM SÁNCHEZ: THE GOVT. PREPARES TO LAUNCH AN EMERGENCY PLAN TO DEAL WITH CORONAVIRUS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

* * *

Update (0650ET): As case counts explode across Europe, it looks like Spain – conveniently, Europe’s fourth-largest economy – will be next to cross the 1,000-confirmed-case threshold.

• SPANISH CORONAVIRUS CASES JUMP TO 999: HEALTH MINISTRY

The health ministry has also just reported another 8 deaths, raising the total to 25.

* * *

Update (0620ET): As case totals climb above 1,000 in Europe’s two largest economies – France and Germany – while one-fifth to one-quarter of the Italian economy (Europe’s third-largest) goes offline, the finance ministers of France and Germany have reportedly been commiserating about their shared predicament this morning.

Read More @ ZeroHedge.com