Reuters Business News

Major sports events around the world that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak:

Delta Air Lines plans to scale back more flights after the United States expanded travel restrictions to Britain and Ireland, it said, and Southwest Airlines was moving toward its first flight cuts as the spreading coronavirus saps demand.

Apple Inc said it is closing all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.

The British government will ban mass gatherings from next week in an attempt to curb the coronavirus outbreak, an escalation of its crisis plan that critics had said was too relaxed.

Virgin Atlantic's chairman Peter Norris will write to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday saying the country's airline industry needs emergency government support worth 7.5 billion pounds ($9.20 billion) or risks the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, Sky News reported on Saturday.

Southwest Airlines , one of the few U.S. airlines still flying a full schedule even as the spreading coronavirus has sapped demand, said on Saturday it was "seriously considering" cutting flights in the short term.

Apple Inc said late on Friday it will close all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.

Major sports events around the world that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak:

President Donald Trump declared a U.S. national emergency over the quickly spreading coronavirus on Friday, opening the door to more government aid to combat a pathogen that has infected more than 138,000 people worldwide and left over 5,000 dead.

U.S. hospitals, gearing up for a large surge in patients as the new coronavirus spreads throughout the country, are reaching out to temporary staff agencies and exploring other ways to maintain workforce levels as school closures add to pressure on doctors and nurses.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd said on Saturday it has suspended the voyages of its fleet globally from midnight tonight following the coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma has pledged to donate two million protective masks for distribution across Europe, with a first consignment arriving in Belgium late on Friday.

The United States will suspend travel from certain European countries for 30 days beginning at midnight on Friday as part of an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

As U.S. financial markets reel from a week of historic swings, industry veterans are drawing on memories from their earliest years on Wall Street, while younger professionals are looking to lessons from history books.

Interest rate cuts won't cure the coronavirus but investors are still hoping the Federal Reserve can take some actions to help soothe the roiled stock market.

Wall Street staged a furious rally in the waning moments of the session on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus, although major averages still suffered sharp losses for the week.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Friday that former American Express Co Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault has been nominated to the conglomerate's board of directors, replacing Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates.

Corporate America joined the fight against the spread of coronavirus on Friday, as President Donald Trump and executives announced that Google would offer a website to help people determine whether they needed tests and retailers would set up drive-through testing in parking lots.

The Chinese city of Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus outbreak, reported just five new cases on Friday, the second day in a row the tally has been less than 10, while no locally transmitted infections were reported in the rest of the country.

From Jersey City on the East Coast to Los Angeles on the West Coast, American shoppers picked grocery store shelves clean on products ranging from disinfectants to rice, causing retailers to race to restock their stores as the worsening coronavirus crisis stoked fears of shortages.