World Coronavirus Dispatch: July was worst for US in terms of cases

Mexico's virus death toll world's third-highest, Canada extends travel ban to August 31, Mainland China reports 45 new coronavirus cases for July 31 and other pandemic-related news across the globe

July was worst for US in terms of cases: The US has confirmed almost 1.86 million coronavirus cases since the end of June, representing 41 per cent of the total 4.5 million infections since the start of the outbreak, according to a Financial Times analysis. The three most populous states — California, Texas and Florida — have emerged as the new hotspots for the virus in the US and made up a large portion of July’s increase in cases. Read more here

Let’s look at the global statistics:

Total Confirmed Cases: 1,75,91,968

Change Over Yesterday: 5,52,808

Total Deaths: 6,79,439

Total Recovered: 1,03,30,958

Nations hit with most cases: US (45,62,038), Brazil (26,62,485), India (16,95,988), Russia (8,38,461) and South Africa (4,93,183)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Mexico’s virus death toll world’s third-highest: It has now suffered at least 46,688 deaths during the pandemic, with a total of 424,637 infections. Previously the UK had the third highest toll, and registered 46,204 deaths as of Friday. The WHO has warned the effects of the pandemic will be felt "for decades to come". Read more here 

Canada extends travel ban to August 31, launches Covid-19 contact tracing app: The extension to August 31 applies to foreign travellers entering Canada from outside the US. Separately, it’s new contact tracing app, officially launched on Friday, will help alert Canadians when they may have been exposed to the coronavirus. Read more here 

US makes deal for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine: Two major drug companies will supply the US government with 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration said on Friday. The agreement calls for the US to pay French drug maker Sanofi and British giant GlaxoSmithKline up to $2.1 billion. Read more here

Mainland China reports 45 new coronavirus cases for July 31: China reported 45 cases of the new coronavirus in the mainland for July 31, down sharply from 127 cases a day earlier. Of the new infections, 31 were in the far western region of Xinjiang. As of the end of Friday, mainland China had 84,337 confirmed coronavirus cases. Read more here 

US Covid-19 deaths top 1,000 for fourth day: For the fourth straight day, the United States has witnessed more than 1,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus, with 1,249 reported Thursday. The death toll nationwide was slightly lower than Wednesday, when 1,400 coronavirus-related deaths were reported. Read more here 

EU in talks to secure Sanofi deal for coronavirus vaccine: Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline on Friday said they are in advanced discussions to supply up to 300 million doses of an experimental Covid-19 vaccine for the 27-country EU. The companies said the doses would be manufactured in European countries including France, Belgium, Germany and Italy. Read more here

Specials

The Covid-19 pandemic fuelled an e-commerce boom, but Google was left out. Why?
 

Google advertising sales fell 8 percent in the second quarter, causing overall revenue at parent Alphabet to shrink for the first time. The company’s main digital ad rival Facebook saw sales jump 11 percent, while Amazon.com revenue soared 40 percent. Those gaps highlighted how Google has struggled to parlay its online search dominance into a meaningful e-commerce business. Meanwhile, Google’s ad business has been hurt by exposure to the travel industry and brick and mortar retailers, which have been devastated by the pandemic. Read more here

One out of three restaurants in US could close permanently by year-end
 

As many as 231,000 of the nation’s roughly 660,000 eateries will likely shut down this year, according to an estimate from restaurant consultancy Aaron Allen & Associates. The forecast portends a fundamental change for an industry that for generations has been a bedrock of local economies. Restaurants -- long a key source of employment and income for Americans from all backgrounds -- are facing new hurdles as data show that infection rates have spiked. Read more here

Interactive
 

The list of US companies that blamed Covid-19 for helping to push them into bankruptcy has grown to more than 160. The charts lay out the bankruptcy across retailers, airlines, restaurants, oil producers, fitness centers and others. See them here