Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro talks to the media during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas - REUTERSCARACAS, March 17 (MENA) - Venezuela will implement a nationwide quarantine after detecting 16 new cases of the novel coronavirus, President Nicolas Maduro said, adding that the total number of cases in the South American country has risen to 33, the Pacifica Tribune said. "It is necessary, it is indispensable, it is the response," Maduro said in an address on state television. "The crude crisis, crisis, crisis is just starting. He said the government would be announcing benefits for citizens, without providing details.The collapse of oil prices in the past week, due to a drop in demand related to coronavirus as well as a price war between top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, threatens to aggravate the six-year recession in Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy.Maduro said that at current oil prices, the value of a barrel of Venezuelan oil was below the cost of production. He said he had met with representatives of a leading private sector industry association on Monday.

Source: Egypt Today March 17, 2020 00:45 UTC