World Coronavirus Dispatch: Experts warn of new variant spreading across EU

A team of scientists that has been tracking the virus through its genetic mutations has described the extraordinary spread of the variant, called 20A.EU1, in a research paper to be published recently

Gilead criticised a WHO study that raised doubts about its Covid-19 treatment, insisting that the overnight blockbuster drug does improve survival rates for a large group of hospitalised patients.  The company mounted the defence of remdesivir as it revealed that the drug, which had not even been approved by the US FDA at the start of the year, generated $873 million in revenue in the third quarter. The WHO study published this month found remdesivir, now known by its brand name Veklury, had little effect on mortality, reducing time in hospital or whether a patient ends up on a ventilator. 

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Let’s look at the global statistics:

Total Confirmed Cases: 44,481,667

Change Over Yesterday: 514,033

Total Deaths: 1,174,007

Total Recovered: 30,052,209

Nations hit with most cases: US (8,779,653), India (7,990,322), Brazil (5,439,641), Russia (1,537,142) and France (1,244,242)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center 
 

Scientists warn of new coronavirus variant spreading across Europe: A coronavirus variant that originated in Spanish farm workers has spread rapidly through much of Europe since the summer, and now accounts for the majority of new Covid-19 cases in several countries — and more than 80 per cent in the UK. An international team of scientists that has been tracking the virus through its genetic mutations has described the extraordinary spread of the variant, called 20A.EU1, in a research paper to be published on Thursday. Read more here

Remote Marshall Islands records first case: The Marshall Islands, one of the last few places in the world untouched by Covid-19, has recorded its first two positive case of the virus. The government of the remote Pacific archipelago said two workers at a US base had tested positive after arriving from Hawaii on Tuesday. The pair flew in on a military flight and have been isolated from the wider community since arriving. Read more here

UK hiring losing steam shows damage from Covid restrictions: The number of people signaling that they have found a new job has returned to levels seen before the pandemic but that growth is now starting to flag, according to analysis from LinkedIn. It’s a pattern seen across many developed economies and illustrates the scale of the challenge facing governments to contain a spike in unemployment. Read more here 

Saudi Arabia sees 2021 deficit narrowing to 5.1 percent of GDP: Saudi Arabia expects the budget deficit in 2021 to narrow to 145 billion riyals, or about 5.1 percent of GDP, according to a statement published by the Finance Ministry. Kingdom earlier estimated the 2020 deficit to reach nearly 300 billion riyals, or 12 percent of GDP. Read more here

Taiwan goes 200 days without a local coronavirus case: Taiwan holds the world’s best virus record by far and reached the new landmark on Thursday, even as the pathogen explodes anew in Europe and the US. Taiwan’s last local case came on April 12; there has been no second wave. What did this island with 23 million people do right? Experts say closing borders early and tightly regulating travel have gone a long way toward fighting the virus. Read more here

Bank of America ends $200 pandemic pay for branch workers: Bank of America is ending $200 twice-monthly pay supplements branch workers were receiving. The additional payments are being halted this month, a spokesman for the company. They were introduced for eligible staff in March as the coronavirus spread throughout the US. Read more here

Specials 

Can you get Covid-19 twice? What reinfection cases really mean 

The questions of whether people have immunity to SARS-CoV-2 after getting it, and if so for how long, have become more acute now that scientists have found a growing number of individuals who’ve caught the coronavirus twice. One woman even died after the second infection. Researchers are still working out the full implications of the reinfections and the ramifications on efforts to end the deadliest pandemic in a century. Read more here

Hong Kong bids farewell to its once-mighty Dragon airline

Cathay Pacific Airways said on October 21 that it would discontinue Cathay Dragon as a separate unit with immediate effect as part of a restructuring plan that involves the elimination of 8,500 positions, or 24 percent of the company's workforce.

Chairman Patrick Healy said then the decision was final. "It is safe to say that we won't, sadly, be seeing the return of the Cathay Dragon brand." Since then, employees and customers of the regional airline, which began as Dragonair in 1985 and was renamed Cathay Dragon four years ago, have been posting collections of boarding passes, miniature aircraft figure and travel photos on social media, creating their own obituaries for the Hong Kong-bred airline. Read more here

At home: Don’t work on your party laptop or party on your work laptopThe monotony of working from home and still not really being able to go anywhere has meant that, throughout the day, a degree of switching between working and not working has become a normal part of life. And that’s fine! The pressure to be productive and always on is destructive to our psyches and, in a twisted way, harmful to our output, studies have shown. But switching between work mode and nonwork mode brings its own potential problems, for your privacy and for your mental health. Drawing firm lines can help. Read more here