•  

 

                  

 

#	Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
	World	7,583,908	+136,757	423,086
1	USA	2,089,701	+23,300	116,034
2	Brazil	805,649	+30,465	41,058
3	Russia	502,436	+8,779	6,532
4	India	298,283	+11,128	8,501
5	UK	291,409	+1,266	41,279
6	Spain	289,787	+427	27,136
7	Italy	236,142	+379	34,167
8	Peru	214,788	+5,965	6,109
9	Germany	186,795	+285	8,851
10	Iran	180,156	+2,218	8,584
11	Turkey	174,023	+987	4,763
12	France	155,561	+425	29,346
13	Chile	154,092	+5,596	2,648
14	Mexico	129,184	+4,883	15,357
15	Pakistan	119,536	+5,834	2,356
16	Saudi Arabia	116,021	+3,733	857
17	Canada	97,530	+405	7,994
18	China	83,057	+11	4,634
19	Bangladesh	78,052	+3,187	1,049
20	Qatar	75,071	+1,476	69
21	Belgium	59,711	+142	9,636
22	South Africa	58,568	+3,147	1,284
23	Belarus	51,816	+750	293
24	Sweden	48,288	+196	4,814
25	Netherlands	48,251	+164	6,044
26	Colombia	45,212	+1,530	1,488
27	Ecuador	44,440		3,720
28	UAE	40,986	+479	286
29	Egypt	39,726	+1,442	1,377
30	Singapore	39,387	+422	25
31	Portugal	35,910	+310	1,504
32	Indonesia	35,295	+979	2,000
33	Kuwait	34,432	+609	279
34	Switzerland	31,044	+33	1,937
35	Ukraine	29,070	+689	854
36	Poland	28,201	+359	1,215
37	Argentina	27,373	+1,386	765
38	Ireland	25,238	+7	1,703
39	Philippines	24,175	+443	1,036
40	Afghanistan	22,890	+748	426
41	Dominican Republic	21,437	+629	561
42	Romania	21,182	+237	1,369
43	Oman	19,954	+1,067	89
44	Panama	18,586	+697	418
45	Israel	18,569	+214	300
46	Japan	17,292	+41	920
47	Austria	17,034	+29	674
48	Iraq	16,675	+1,261	457
49	Bahrain	16,667	+467	34
50	Bolivia	15,281	+637	512
51	Armenia	14,669	+566	245
52	Nigeria	14,554	+681	387
53	Kazakhstan	13,558	+239	67
54	Serbia	12,102	+71	252
55	Denmark	12,035	+19	593
56	S. Korea	11,947	+45	276
57	Moldova	10,727	+406	375
58	Algeria	10,589	+105	741
59	Ghana	10,358	+157	48
60	Czechia	9,855	+31	328

 

Source : https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

 

 

 

Stocks fall in the U.S., and Congress is divided on extending aid.

 

Construction workers in Manhattan returned during the first phase of reopening on Monday.Credit...Brittainy Newman for The New York Times

Stocks on Wall Street on Thursday saw their sharpest daily decline in three months as investors’ confidence was rattled by grim new economic forecasts, another 1.5 million weekly unemployment claims and a worrisome uptick in cases in parts of the United States.

The S&P 500 fell nearly 6 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average fell by nearly 7 percent. Oil prices also cratered, reflecting the sudden unease that swept across financial markets.

Asian markets fell on Friday but their declines did not match the scale of Wall Street’s plunge the day before.

Until Thursday, U.S. stocks had been on an upward trajectory for weeks, a rally that stood in stark contrast to a collapse in economic activity but seemed to show that investors were betting on a quick recovery as states lifted stay-at-home restrictions. By Monday, the S&P 500 had climbed about 45 percent from its lows in late March and recouped all of its losses for the year.

As the bad news brought Wall Street’s recent rally to a halt, policymakers remained divided as to their next steps. The Labor Department reported Thursday that another 1.5 million U.S. workers had filed state unemployment claims last week, but Republicans and Democrats in Congress remained at odds over whether to extend federal jobless benefits.

Lawmakers in both parties and administration officials appear to agree that Congress should consider some form of assistance to workers as part of another round of virus aid that is likely to be debated in the coming weeks.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that he was “very seriously considering” backing another round of economic stimulus payments. “It’s a very efficient way for us to deliver money into the economy,” he said, noting that for people who still had jobs, the money was akin to a tax cut. Mr. Mnuchin said he remained optimistic that the economy would rebound during the second half of the year.

 

 

• As Italy reopens, tour guides plead for more aid, and tourists.

•  

• A flash mob of tour organizers and guides protested outside the Pantheon in Rome on Tuesday.Credit...Riccardo Antimiani/EPA, via Shutterstock
• A few dozen black-clothed tour organizers and guides twirled white umbrellas to the tune of “Singing in the Rain” outside the Pantheon, one of Rome’s greatest tourist attractions recently. The problem was, there were very few tourists.
• In the days after some of the first lockdown restrictions were lifted, Italians relished the empty streets, rediscovering city monuments and museums that they would normally avoid because of long lines.
• But now, frustration is building over the decimation of a crucial industry. Even as travel restrictions are lifted throughout Europe, reluctance to travel beyond national borders remains high. Forecasts for the number of airline reservations to Italy suggest drops of 95 percent in June, 82 percent in July and 76 percent in August, compared with the same periods last year, according to ENIT, Italy’s national tourism agency.
• That is nothing short of a disaster, according to tour organizers and guides, who put together events across Italy this week to draw attention to their plight. Many are demanding additional government subsidies for the coming season, when most will be out of work.
• “Without tourism, Italy dies,” chanted Ilenya Moro, a tour guide in Rome who helped organize the Pantheon flash mob.

•  

 

• W.H.O. says Africa’s cases have doubled in the last 18 days, to more than 200,000.
• 

• The virus took 98 days to reach 100,000 cases in Africa — but only 18 days to double from that figure, the World Health Organization announced on Thursday.

• While the numbers may have risen so significantly in part because of increased testing, the agency said in a statement that more than half of the 54 countries on the continent were experiencing community transmission. Ten countries were driving the rise in numbers and accounted for nearly 80 percent of all cases, it said. South Africa has a quarter of the total cases.

• Of the 5,600 deaths recorded, a majority were in just five countries: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan.

Separately, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the United States, said in an interview with CBC News that he supported the World Health Organization.

“I would hope that we could continue to benefit from what the W.H.O. can do at the same time that they continue to improve themselves,” he said, adding that the world needed the agency, “as imperfect as it is.”

President Trump, under criticism for his handling of the response to the virus, has said that the W.H.O. is responsible for significant failures in the crisis and that he plans to halt American funding for the organization.

Here are some other developments from around the world:

• India has added nearly 11,000 new cases, its biggest single-day rise so far, officials said on Friday. The country’s total confirmed caseload, which is approaching 300,000, has now overtaken the United Kingdom’s and is the fourth-largest in the world, behind the United States, Brazil and Russia.

• Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, is experiencing a sustained increase in virus cases, about three weeks after millions of people began crisscrossing the country at the end of Ramadan. This week, Indonesia has recorded three consecutive days of about 1,000 new infections each day, with a total of 35,295 cases and 2,000 deaths as of Thursday afternoon.

• European Union is recommending that all member countries open their borders to one another by Monday. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, is recommending a gradual opening to outsiders starting in July.

• In Canada, commentary on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unruly mane has become a national sport. With barbershops and salons set to reopen in Ottawa on Friday, the question is: Will he get a haircut, or will he refrain in solidarity with Canadians in areas still under lockdown?

 

 

In Europe, ‘corona cycleways’ are becoming the new post-confinement commute.

“As soon as a new bike path is laid, people are on it,” said Paris’s deputy mayor for transport and public spaces.Credit...Maxime La for The New York Times

As France eased its coronavirus lockdowns last month, a small army of street workers fanned out across Paris in the dark of night. They dropped traffic barriers along car lanes and painted yellow bicycle symbols onto the asphalt. By morning, miles of pop-up “corona cycleways” had been laid, teeming with people heading back to work.

As European cities emerge from quarantines, bicycles are playing a central role in getting the work force moving again. Governments are trying to revive their economies from a deep recession, but cannot fully rely on public transportation to get workers to their jobs because of the need for social distancing. In urban areas at least, bicycles are suddenly an unlikely component to restarting economic growth.

In Europe, where many cities have integrated cycling as a mode of transportation, the pandemic is speeding up an ecological transition to limit car traffic and cut pollution, especially as new research draws links between dirty air and coronavirus death rates.

Britain, France, Italy and their neighbors are accelerating the spending of hundreds of millions of euros on new biking infrastructure and schemes to get people pedaling.

“This crisis has made clear that we need to change the way we live, work and move,” said Morten Kabell, chief executive of the European Cyclists’ Federation. “In the era of social distancing, people are wary of using public transportation, and cities can’t take more cars. So they are looking to the bike as a natural mode of mobility for the future.”

 

 

U.N. warns that the pandemic could produce a surge of child labor.

 

The economic and social upheavals caused by the coronavirus pandemic already have shortened or ended the school year for more than 1 billion children in 130 countries. Now the United Nations says the scourge is raising a new risk: a drastic rise in child labor.

A joint report released Friday by two U.N. agencies, Unicef and the International Labour Organization, said that millions of children may now have no choice but to toil at low-paying jobs to help their families survive. The shift threatens to reverse 20 years of decline in the use of child labor, the report said.

“As the pandemic wreaks havoc on family incomes, without support, many could resort to child labor,” the director-general of the I.L.O., Guy Ryder, said in the report. It cited studies showing that each percentage point increase in poverty leads to at least a 0.7 percent increase in child labor in some countries.

“In times of crisis, child labor becomes a coping mechanism for many families,” the executive director of Unicef, Henrietta Fore, said in the report. With school closures, the rise in poverty and fewer social services, she said, “more children are pushed into the work force.”

Even when classes restart, the report said, some parents “may no longer be able to afford to send their children to school.”

Both U.N. agencies are working on a simulation model to examine the impact of the coronavirus on child labor globally and expect to release new estimates on child labor in 2021

 

 

Puerto Rico announces plans to reopen its economy, including tourism.

 

 

An empty beach at Ocean Park in San Juan last month.Credit...Carlos Giusti/Associated Press

Puerto Rico, which had the earliest and strictest coronavirus lockdown in the United States, announced on Thursday that much of its economy would reopen next week and that tourists would be welcome again beginning July 15.

For nearly three months, anyone arriving on the island by air has been required to enter a two-week quarantine.

Beaches, where access has been permitted only for exercise, will be fully open next week but will close if people start throwing big parties, Gov. Wanda Vázquez said.

“When all these destinations begin to open, Puerto Rico cannot be left behind,” she said, adding that Covid-19 screenings at the airport will continue.

Although she said the island’s lockdown would officially end on Tuesday, after three months, its curfew will not. Instead people will be allowed to stay out until 10 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

In mid-March, Ms. Vázquez became the first governor in the United States to order a complete shutdown of an economy, doing so at the first signs of the disease on the island. In addition to imposing a curfew, she allowed people to leave the house only to shop for food and other necessities.

As of mid-April, Puerto Rico’s testing rate for the virus was lower than that of any state, prompting public health experts to worry that it could be especially vulnerable once it tried to reopen.

But Ms. Vázquez said on Thursday that locking down the island swiftly had paid off: According to statistics from the Department of Health, 144 people died and 1,403 cases were confirmed. (Nearly 4,000 other cases were deemed “probable,” according to the government data.)

Movie theaters, gyms, museums and spas will be among the businesses allowed to reopen next week. Many will require face coverings. Mass transit remains closed.

“These have been difficult decisions,” the governor said. “If there is a peak in cases, in hospitalizations, I will have no other option or remedy than to resume curfews.”

 

 

DeVos makes it official: No virus relief for ‘dreamers.’

 

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued a ruling that bars colleges from granting emergency virus relief funds to foreign and undocumented students.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued on Thursday an emergency rule barring colleges from granting virus relief funds to foreign and undocumented students, including tens of thousands protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, or DACA.

The rule codifies the Education Department’s disputed reading of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act that Congress passed in March to exclude large swaths of students from accessing emergency relief grants. That includes international students and those living and attending school in the United States under DACA, the Obama-era policy that protects children brought to the United States illegally as children.

Under the emergency CARES legislation, colleges were directed to use half of the roughly $12.6 billion they received to fund emergency grants for students affected by campus closures to pay for expenses like food, housing, child care and technology.

In nonbinding guidance issued in April, Ms. DeVos said that schools should grant the funds to only students who would normally qualify for federal student aid funds, effectively excluding large swaths of noncitizens and American students. In protesting the guidance, higher education advocates pointed out that the legislation did not specify which students were eligible.

After facing a lawsuit over the reading, the Trump administration told a court it would not enforce Ms. DeVos’s order. Now it appears the administration is moving to toughen it.

In a statement on Thursday announcing the rule, Ms. DeVos said it “helps erase any uncertainty some institutions have expressed and helps make sure we can support America’s students facing the greatest needs.”

“It’s clear the CARES Act was written to help Americans recover from the coronavirus pandemic,” Ms. DeVos said in a statement. “U.S. taxpayers have long supported U.S. students pursuing higher education, and this rule simply ensures the continuity of that well-established policy.”

Last month, the California community college system sued the Education Department, arguing that the April guidance was unconstitutional and “likely excludes more than half of all students in the California community college system, including many identified as economically disadvantaged.” In court filings, the department backed off the interpretation, saying that its guidance was “preliminary.” The department said in a court filing just this week that it would resolve the matter later this month.

The rule, which would take effect immediately when it is published in the federal register, will be posted for public comment for 30 days.

 

 

Trump’s convention speech is moving to Jacksonville.

 

President Trump will deliver his convention speech at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.Credit...Douglas P. Defelice/Getty Images

President Trump will deliver his Aug. 27 convention speech in Jacksonville, Fla., after his demands for an event without social distancing rules led to a rift with Democratic leaders in North Carolina, where the Republican convention was originally scheduled to be held.

Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, on Thursday confirmed that the speech would take place at the 15,000-seat VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, where the mayor and the governor are both Republican allies of Mr. Trump’s. An R.N.C. official would not say what, if any, coronavirus safety precautions would be in place.

Republican officials were careful not to refer to the events that will take place in Jacksonville as a convention. Instead, they referred to it repeatedly as the city chosen “to celebrate the renomination of President Donald J. Trump.” The official business of the convention, they said, will still be held in Charlotte, N.C.

The announcement of the speech’s move to Jacksonville capped a furious scramble set off when Mr. Trump and Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina reached a stalemate over how to pull off the convention as originally planned in Charlotte. Mr. Cooper insisted on social distancing measures and face masks inside to protect attendees from the spread of the coronavirus. Mr. Trump rejected those measures, insisting on a packed indoor arena with the look and feel of a country that had returned to business as usual

 

 

Scientists search for ways to calm the ‘cytokine storm’ that ravages some virus patients.

 

Many virus patients seem to get better at first, then rapidly decline and are overtaken by an overwhelming immune response that causes the body to turn on itself.

This “cytokine storm” was once an arcane phenomenon familiar mainly to rheumatologists who study when and how the immune system’s safeguards fail.

But it has become increasingly clear in the last few months that, at least in a subset of people who have the virus, calming the storm is the key to survival.

At least a dozen candidate drugs to treat the virus rely on this premise. A few devices that purify the blood, as dialysis machines do, are also being tested. One promising drug made by Roche is in several clinical trials, including a late-stage trial in combination with the antiviral drug remdesivir. And a recent paper in the journal Science Immunology described preliminary data on a drug that stems the flood of cytokines at its source and seems to lead to rapid recovery.

When immune cells first encounter a pathogen, they release molecules called cytokines to recruit even more cells to the fight. Once the danger recedes, the immune system usually turns itself off. But occasionally, “it doesn’t shut up,” said Dr. Jose Scher, a rheumatologist at New York University Langone Health. “The immune system goes on and on and on and on.”

This unrelenting response can exhaust the immune system; shut down lungs, kidneys and the liver; and prove fatal. It can do so even in young people and children who have no underlying conditions.

 

 

An N.Y.P.D. policy says officers should wear masks in public, but many are refusing.

 

Officers in Brooklyn last week. The New York Police Department dismissed criticism about the lack of masks as petty.Credit...Ryan Christopher Jones for The New York Times

The New York Police Department’s official policy is that officers should wear masks when interacting with the public, but the widespread absence of masks is striking. While officers may forgo face coverings for different reasons, the images have fueled a perception of the police as arrogant and dismissive of protesters’ health.

“If you’re out here to protect the public, it starts with you,” said Chaka McKell, a carpenter who recently attended a protest.

In a statement on Wednesday, the department dismissed the criticism about the lack of masks as petty.

“Perhaps it was the heat,” the department’s press office said in a statement. “Perhaps it was the 15-hour tours, wearing bullet-resistant vests in the sun. Perhaps it was the helmets. With everything New York City has been through in the past two weeks and everything we are working toward together, we can put our energy to a better use.”

On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that while there were legitimate reasons for officers to remove their masks, such as to take a drink of water, the city remained “in the middle of a pandemic.”

The city is still reporting hundreds of new cases each week. As of May 29, 901 uniformed members — about 2.5 percent — were out sick, down from 19.8 percent in April. As of that same date, 5,627 members of the Police Department had returned to work after testing positive.

 

 

The F.D.A.’s former head says states with new outbreaks ‘never really got rid of the first wave,’ as stocks slide.

 

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, warned on Thursday that some states are opening up for business even though they have not yet overcome the first wave of coronavirus cases.

“It’s not a second wave,” Dr. Scott said in an interview with The New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “They never really got rid of the first wave.”

“I think we should be concerned,” he added. “When you look at states like Arizona and Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina — those are where the big outbreaks are right now.”

Coronavirus infections were increasing in 21 states on Wednesday, as cases in the United States topped two million.

Dr. Gottlieb said that some states were struggling to identify and trace particular people or events that may have hastened the spread of the virus. “The cases are certainly concerning but I think the more concerning part is they haven’t been able to isolate what the source of the infection is,” he said.

When Wall Street opened a few hours later, stocks slid for a third-straight day of declines as investors considered a spate of grim forecasts about the economy. The S&P 500 fell more than 3 percent, on track for its worst daily drop since early April.

Even as stocks have rallied in recent weeks, some Wall Street analysts have cautioned that a second wave of cases could spook investors. On Thursday, shares of hotels, airlines and other businesses — that had rallied recently amid optimism over lifting lockdowns — fell sharply.

 

Source ；https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/world/coronavirus-live-updates.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-coronavirus-national&variant=show&region=TOP_BANNER&context=storylines_menu

 

 

 

 

India overtakes the UK to become fourth worst affected country from Covid-19

From CNN's Vedika Sud

 

 

Healthcare workers wearing protective suits walk along a street in the Dharavi slum area of Mumbai, India on Sunday, June 7. Himanshu Bhatt/NurPhoto/AP

India reported 10,956 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day increase and the first time the numbers have risen by more 10,000.

The total number of reported coronavirus infections now stands at 297,535 with 8,498 deaths, according to India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number includes 147,194 people who have recovered.

But the increase in caseloads means India is now the fourth worst affected country in terms of confirmed cases, overtaking the UK.

The UK has 292,860 coronavirus infections, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

 

 

Airlines launch legal challenge to UK quarantine rules

From CNN's Robert North

 

British Airways, Easyjet and Ryanair have launched legal action against the UK government’s coronavirus quarantine rules.

The three airlines say the restrictions “will have a devastating effect on British tourism and the wider economy and destroy thousands of jobs.”

On Monday, the UK introduced new rules that required anyone coming into the country to go into a 14-day self-isolation, or face fines. 

In a statement the airlines said their legal challenge was based on several factors including “the fact this quarantine, by criminal law,​ is more stringent than the guidelines applied to people who actually have COVID-19."

They say that, "there was no consultation and no scientific evidence provided for such a severe policy."

In their challenge, the airlines cite a stipulation that says, "if you are a French or German worker commuting weekly to the UK you will be exempted, and the UK government is banning people traveling to and from countries with lower infection rates than the UK.”

They also said they have seen no evidence on how and when proposed “air bridges” between the UK and other countries will be implemented.

 

 

UK GDP drops 20.4% in April, the worst monthly fall on record

From CNN's Robert North

 

 

A car salesperson wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) walks past vehicles parked at the Vauxhall car dealership on June 4, in London, England.  Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

The UK's GDP fell by 20.4% in April, the largest monthly fall on record, as the full impact of the coronavirus lockdown came into force. 

According to the Office for National Statistics, which compiles the figures, “Virtually all areas of the economy were hit, with pubs, education, health and car sales all giving the biggest contributions to this historic fall.”

UK trade with the rest of the world was also badly hit. The slump comes after a 5.8% fall in GDP in March

 

 

Australian Prime Minister warns people against Black Lives Matter rallies because of Covid-19

From Angus Watson in Sydney

 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned the public against attending upcoming rallies in support of racial equality, saying attendance went against health advice due to the pandemic.

“This is not about the issue, this is about people’s health and welfare and I would urge Australians to respect that by not attending those events,” Morrison said. “I don’t believe there should be a double standard. Australians have made great sacrifices to get us where we are today.” 

On Thursday, the New South Wales Supreme Court issued an injunction banning a march on Saturday in Sydney, on health grounds and due to lockdown measures.

Another protest is scheduled for Sydney on Friday, called “Stop Black Deaths in Custody: Solidarity with Long Bay Prisoners.” The organization's event page currently shows more than a thousand people who have marked themselves as attending

There is no injunction against Friday’s protest, but social distancing rules in the state cap the number of people allowed to gather outdoors together at 10 people. The cap is expected to increase to 20 people starting Saturday.

 

 

Asian markets tumble after US virus concerns spur Wall Street sell-off

From CNN's Laura He and Jazmin Goodwin,

 

 

People walk past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, June 12. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

The sharp sell-off on Wall Street spread to Asia on Friday, signaling that fears of a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States are growing.

The pandemic already has caused unemployment to soar in the United States as parts of the economy shut down. A second wave of infections could force many businesses to close again after just having reopened.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.8% in early trade, while South Korea's Kospi lost 2.7%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite traded down 1.2% and 0.6%, respectively.

Oil futures also slumped: US oil fell 2% during Asian trading hours Friday, extending Thursday's 8% drop.

The losses came after US stocks plummeted on Thursday, recording their worst day since March 16.

 

 

Brazil President Bolsonaro denies accusations of downplaying Covid-19 data 

From journalist Rodrigo Pedroso in Sao Paulo

 

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has denied accusations that he tried to downplay the current coronavirus situation in Brazil by not reporting cumulative data.

The government had stopped reporting cumulative coronavirus deaths and cases, with Bolsonaro arguing they didn't reflect the current state of the pandemic in Brazil.

The Supreme Court, however, later ruled the ministry must provide comprehensive data.

In a Facebook Live post on his official account on Thursday, Bolsonaro argued the numbers were released, even if they were late. He attributed the change to interim health minister Eduardo Pazuello, who he says was changing the way the numbers were presented to be more accurate.

“They said we wanted to hide everything, they started to compare us with Venezuela, with North Korea, with other communist countries. Nobody wants to hide numbers,” Bolsonaro said.

Allegation of politics in the pandemic: Bolsonaro also argued the brief change in data was aimed to fight supposed political use of the pandemic by local politicians.

“There are a lot of complaints from the population that we are investigating. A person with a health problem dies and in the death certificate it appears as if it was caused by Covid-19, but the family didn't know that he was infected in the first place," Bolsonaro said.

"We receive dozens of cases per day like this. I don't know what is happening, who profits with that situation? It can only be to gain political power and blame the federal government."

 

 

Masks and social distancing work, but Americans aren’t doing it right

From CNN's Jen Christensen

 

 

People walk along Harbor Boulevard in downtown Fullerton on a warm late Spring day on Thursday, June 11, in Fullerton, California.

When Americans started moving around again in April, they started driving up transmission of the coronavirus again -- and it's not a good sign of what is to come in the fall, a top pandemic modeler said Thursday.

Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said data shows that since the end of April, the number of contacts people have with others are “going up and up.” 

That explains the recent rise in cases, Murray told CNN.

The pandemic forecast: His team’s model now projects that 169,890 people will die from Covid-19 in the US by October 1.

Daily deaths will likely decrease through June and July, but the country likely will see a sharp rise in deaths in September, the model projects.

Murray said the summer months should see a dip in cases, in part, due to seasonality. More testing is also available and more people have started to wear masks.

“But the whole thing turns around at the end of August, and we go from just under 400 deaths a day all the way up to about 1,000 deaths a day by the end of September, which bodes really badly past September 1,” Murray said.

What we can do to change the predictions: “Masks really work,” Murray said.

Masks provide about 50% protection, but only 40% of Americans wear one now, he said. He predicts that number will slip. Social distancing works, he said, but people will steadily continue to widen their circle of contacts. 

“Those are two things that are really within the control of people,” Murray said. “We will have to see.”

 

 

"Covid’s not taking a summer vacation," warns infectious disease expert

From CNN Health’s Jen Christensen

 

 

From left: CNN's Chris Cuomo and Dr. William Schaffner CNN

The United States needs to watch the recent rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations, an infectious disease expert warned on Thursday.

Dr. William Schaffner told CNN that the experts knew reopening would be tricky. 

“If people are carefree rather than careful, well, then you’ll see an increase in cases,” said Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

Schaffner said the additional 57,000 deaths predicted by an influential model of the pandemic Thursday is “substantial.” 

“It’s just a model, but nonetheless, it’s a substantial number anticipated during what were supposed to be, or hoped for, the quieter months,” Schaffner said. “Covid’s not taking a summer vacation.”

 

Source : https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-06-12-20-intl/index.html

 

 

 

Summary

Here are the latest developments from the last few hours:

• Global infections passed 7.5 million. There are 7,514,481 confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University data. There have been 420,993 known deaths so far. The true figures for deaths and infections are likely to be significantly higher due to time delays, differing testing rates and definitions, and suspected underreporting.

• Beijing sees first local transmission case in several weeks. In Beijing, a 52-year-old man who has no history of travelling outside the city or contact with anyone coming in has been diagnosed with Covid-19. He is the first local transmission case in China for several weeks.The man lives in Xicheng district. On Wednesday he visited a clinic reporting an intermittent fever, chills and fatigue. He had no other symptoms, and had no relevant travel or contact history in the past two weeks.

• Fu Xuejie, the wife of Dr Li Wenliang, has given birth to their son. Li was praised as a whistleblower in China, and made headlines earlier this year after he was reprimanded for warning colleagues about the emergence of a new Sars-like virus. Li later contracted the virus himself, and died in hospital on 6 February. Fu told local news she had given birth to a boy earlier this morning, describing him as “the last gift” Li gave her.“My husband, can you see us from heaven?” Fu wrote on her WeChat account on Friday morning.“The last gift you gave me was born today – I will work hard to love and protect them.”

• Brazil confirms 30,000 cases in 24 hours. Brazil reported a total of 802,828 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Thursday, with 30,412 new infections in the last 24 hours in the world’s second worst outbreak after the US. With a further 1,239 fatalities, the death toll in Brazil has reached 40,919, the health ministry said, the world’s third highest after the US and the UK.

• WHO warns pandemic accelerating in Africa. The speed the new coronavirus jumped from 100,000 to 200,000 confirmed cases in Africa shows just how quickly the pandemic is accelerating on the continent, the World Health Organization said Thursday. “It took 98 days to reach the first 100,000 cases, and only 18 days to move to 200,000 cases,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, told a video briefing hosted by the UN press association in Geneva.

• Dow sinks 1,800 as virus cases rise, deflating optimism. Stocks fell sharply Thursday on Wall Street as coronavirus cases in the US increased again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,800 points, almost 7%, and the S&P 500 dropped 5.9%, its worst day since mid-March, when stocks went through repeated harrowing falls as the virus lockdowns began.

• US president Donald Trump has introduced a policy stopping attendees at his rallies from suing the campaign or venue if they contract coronavirus at the events. A statement on the campaign website page for a rally in Tulsa says, “By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates … liable for any illness or injury.”

• Pandemic risks pushing millions more into child labour: UN. A report released on Friday noted that relation between swelling poverty and a surge in child labour appears clear, pointing to studies from some countries indicating that a one-percent increase in poverty leads to at least a 0.7% rise in child labour. The report also stressed that the crisis could push children already working to put in longer hours under worsening conditions. Others could be forced into the worst forms of labour, seriously threatening their health and safety, it said.

• Brazil, which is the second hardest-hit country after the US, confirmed 30,000 new cases in 24 hours on Thursday, taking its total past 800,000. Under the leadership of Jair Bolsonaro, who has sought to downplay the pandemic, 40,919 people have died. Infections have increased by more than 40% in 21 US states this week, as the effects of relaxed restrictions start to be felt.

• New Zealand is relaxing its borders to grant exemptions for certain workers and partners of New Zealand citizens to enter the country. The relaxed rules, which will see America’s Cup sailors included, come after 21 days with no new Covid-19 cases across the country and no current live cases. Health officials have said the virus would be considered eliminated after 28 days of no new cases.

• Tokyo is poised to end all restrictions on businesses next week and karaoke venues, game arcades and pachinko parlours were set to reopen today on Friday. Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, said the city had entered “a new stage of living with the coronavirus,” adding that authorities would expand testing and ensure medical facilities were able to cope with a resurgence of the virus, which is known to have infected more than 17,000 people in Japan and killed 922.

• Japanese “non-regular” workers posted its biggest drop on record in April, declining by 970,000 to 2.02 million. Women accounted for 710,000 of the decline. Many of Japan’s women, many women lack the job security of male workers, with more than half holding vulnerable part-time, contract or temporary jobs.

• Fujifilm Holdings Corp will spend $928m to double capacity at a drug manufacturing facility in Denmark, which it has pledged to use in producing Covid-19 treatments, as the Japanese company steps up its pivot towards healthcare, Reuters reports.

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Source：https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/jun/12/coronavirus-live-news-markets-fall-over-fears-of-long-us-recovery-as-brazil-cases-top-800000