The Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany, released on Tuesday by economic research institute ZEW, plummeted from 8.7 in February to minus 49.5 in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ZEW predicts that the German economy will shrink 4% this year.

Following a decision to suspend international flights to and from Egypt, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anany said Egypt’s tourism industry could lose 1 billion USD a month.

The Philippine stock market closed indefinitely on Tuesday, making the Philippines the first country in the world to suspend all financial markets as the coronavirus spreads.

The same day, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said more than 185,000 passenger flights have been canceled since the end of January due to government travel restrictions.

On Tuesday, Airbus announced it will shut down its production and assembly facilities in France and Spain over the next four days to comply with new emergency restrictions imposed by those governments.

Major automakers have begun to close their factories. Germany’s Volkswagen Group announced on Tuesday that it is temporarily shutting down its factories across Europe before the end of this week. Italy’s Fiat Chrysler suspended production in Italy, Serbia, and Poland until next Wednesday. France’s PSA Group, which owns the Peugeot, Citroen and Opel brands, said it will close its European production facilities this week.