Tests Reveal COVID-19 Began Spreading In US In January, Mistaken For Flu – COVID-19 was already circulating in California in January, weeks earlier than thought, and early deaths were likely mistaken for the flu, a county health official said on Wednesday. [cna]

UK To Have ‘Socially Disruptive Measures’ Until At Least The End Of The Year – Social distancing measures will be required for the rest of 2020, according to the chief medical officer. [sky]

Trump Signs Order On Immigration Green Card Suspension – US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to temporarily suspend the approval of some green cards. [bbc]

Germany’s States Make Face Masks Compulsory – All of Germany’s states have announced plans to make face masks compulsory to combat the spread of coronavirus. [rnz]

Zoom Will Soon Let You Report Meeting Participants To Help Bust Zoombombers – Zoom is adding a way for hosts to report meeting participants, according to the app’s release notes published on April 19th. [verge]

3,635 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases In South Africa – With 65 Deaths – Health minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that there are now 3,635 positive Covid-19 cases in South Africa. [btech]

Bezos Takes Back The Wheel At Amazon – The chief executive, who had distanced himself from day-to-day management, is closely involved in the company’s response to the pandemic. [nyt]

Facebook’s $5.7 Billion Bet On Indian Giant Jio Spells Trouble For Amazon And Flipkart – Facebook’s major bet on Jio Platforms could create a headache for mobile payments services that have amassed tens of millions of users while struggling to find a business model in the world’s second-largest internet market. [tcrunch]

Nearly All Covid-19 Patients Put On Ventilators In New York’s Largest Health System Died, Study Finds – Nearly all coronavirus patients who needed ventilators in New York’s largest health system to help them breathe died, a study found. [cnn]

‘These People Are Robbers, Finish En Klaar’: Day Of Looting, Violence, Death Across The Cape – A 25-year-old man was shot dead, allegedly by police, as widespread looting and sporadic violence flared in poor communities across the Western Cape on Wednesday. [tlive]

Netflix Reports Massive Growth – Netflix Inc posted the strongest financial results in company history Tuesday, adding a record 15.8 million paid subscribers – almost double the figure forecast by Wall Street analysts. [btech]

Netflix To Raise $1 Billion To Fund Original Content – Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) said on Wednesday it plans to raise about $1 billion in debt to beef up original content, a day after the streaming pioneer doubled its own projections for new customers as stuck-at-home users binged on movies and shows. [reuters]

Google Says Government-Backed Hackers Are Weaponizing Coronavirus For Their Attacks – From hawking fake vaccines and stolen masks to phishing attempts designed to take advantage of the pandemic, the internet has seen coronavirus-related scams and attacks skyrocket over the past few weeks. [4esmash]

Pandemic To Drive Carbon Emissions Down 6% This Year: WMO – The coronavirus pandemic is expected to drive carbon dioxide emissions down 6% this year, the head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday, in what would be the biggest yearly drop since World War Two. [dmav]

A Tech Executive Forgot How To Unlock His New Zealand Doomsday Bunker – Some of America’s richest are taking refuge in private bunkers during the coronavirus outbreak, but one Silicon Valley executive who escaped to his underground bunker in New Zealand forgot how to unlock it, according to a report by Bloomberg’s Olivia Carville. [busins]

Ryanair Boss Says Airline Won’t Fly With ‘Idiotic’ Social Distancing Rules – Michael O’Leary says business model will be in tatters if he is forced to leave middle seats empty. [guardian]

Musk Says SpaceX Is ‘Fixing’ Brightness From Satellites – SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said the company was “fixing” the brightness of his company’s satellites. [bbc]

Louis Theroux Shares His Problem With Netflix’s Tiger King After Interviewing Joe Exotic – The documentarian has a “little quibble” with the series. [digispy]

Seth MacFarlane Calls Out Oprah Over Coronavirus ‘Pseudoscience’ Pushers Dr. Phil And Dr. Oz – Coronavirus quarantine seems to have Seth MacFarlane more willing than ever to speak out against powerful figures in the media. [beast]

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DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T TELL YOU…

There are a number of ongoing deals set up at our various exclusive partners. Here they are – just for you;-)

Buy Any Product From Websites That ‘Don’t Ship To SA’ – One of our most exciting partners offers you a PO Box in US, UK or Hong Kong, for you to deliver overseas online purchases to. Postbox Courier handles it from there – getting the package to you in under a week. [more]

There Is Only One Company When It Comes To Import Export Logistics – Your freight forwarding / shipping partner is probably more important than the actual products you want to move from country to country. Choose the wrong guys and you can get stung in so many ways. Be smart, use 2ov’s partners, Berry & Donaldson. [here]

It’s Time You Treat Your Pet To The Finer Things In Life – It’s all good and well posting pictures of your furry friends on social media, but you don’t want people talking about how you’re skimping on the treats. Do better. [petculture]

First Month Storage Space 50% Off At Stor-Age – Whether you need a locker for a bicycle or a garage for your house contents, Stor-Age has the space you need. And they’re offering a special ‘50% off the first month’ deal – no strings attached! You can take your stuff out after one month – no problem! [check it out]

Affordable Cane Furniture – If you’re buying cane or wicker furniture anywhere else, you’re wasting a lot of time and money. These guys import directly from Malawi. Hand-Made cane furniture – buy online and have it delivered! [check it out]

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