“In Argentina, coronavirus brings more economic pain”, 24^th March 2020

…Then COVID-19 cases started spreading rapidly, grinding businesses to a halt. The government went from shuttering schools for 15 days and closing borders to non-resident foreigners to ordering mandatory isolation on March 20.

Only journalists, healthcare professionals and people working in the food, pharmaceutical and oil industries can go to work…

To help cushion the economic blow from the lockdown, the government has introduced a host of measures, including tax breaks for the hardest-hit sectors of Argentina's struggling economy, and a one-time payment of 10,000 pesos ($155), to the country's 3.6 million households that depend on one income from a self-employed worker or informal laborer.

The government has also promised to reduce social security contributions by employers, help some industries pay their workers, shore up unemployment insurance, invest an additional $1.58bn in public works and launch a $5.5bn low-cost credit to guarantee the production of food and basic supplies - like cleaning and personal hygiene products and medical equipment…