Germany Moves to Slow Virus With Empty Stadiums, Furlough Pay

Germany stepped up efforts to protect companies and workers after the coronavirus hit home on Monday with the first two reported deaths.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration will make it easier for businesses to apply for aid to offset wages during furloughs, reviving measures that helped prevent large-scale layoffs during the 2008 financial crisis.

Keeping workers off factory floors could help stem the spread of the disease, which has shut off whole regions in China and Italy -- key trading partners for Germany. Alongside the safety net for companies affected by supply and demand disruptions, the government urged events with ...