World Coronavirus Dispatch: Florida judge rules against opening of schools

Dutch, Belgian patients re-infected,Germany faces recovery jitters, Australia reaches 25,000 cases and other pandemic-related news across the globe

A Florida judge ruled on Monday that the state’s requirement that public schools open their classrooms for in-person instruction violates the Florida constitution because it “arbitrarily disregards safety” and denies local school boards the ability to decide when students can safely return.The ruling was a victory for the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union, and one of its affiliates, the Florida Education Association. The unions sued Governor Ron DeSantis and Richard Corcoran, the education commissioner, last month in the first lawsuit of its kind in the country. Read more here...

Let’s look at the global statistics:

Total Confirmed Cases: 23,657,550

Change Over Yesterday: 232,706

Total Deaths: 813,207

Total Recovered: 15,341,866

Nations hit with most cases: US (5,740,909), Brazil (3,622,861), India (3,167,323), Russia (959,016) and South Africa (611,450)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Germany faces recovery jitters after virus damage revealed: Figures from the statistics office show investment collapsed by 7.9 percent in the second quarter and household spending slid 10.9 percent, resulting in a 9.7 percent drop in total output, revised from an initial 10.1 percent. Exports registered a decline of more than 20 percent. Read more here...

Dutch, Belgian patients re-infected with coronavirus: A patient in the Netherlands and another in Belgium have been confirmed as having been re-infected with the coronavirus. It follows a report this week by researchers in Hong Kong about a man there who had been re-infected four and a half months after being declared recovered. Read more here...

Australia reaches 25,000 coronavirus cases, officials urge more testing: Australia surpassed 25,000 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, tipped over the milestone by the recent outbreak in Victoria state and prompting a warning from authorities about declining test numbers. Australia recorded 151 new infections over the past 24 hours, up from 121 a day earlier. Read more here...

AstraZeneca starts trial of antibody treatment for Covid-19: AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it started early stage trials for an antibody-based treatment. The trial will evaluate if AZD7442, a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, is safe and tolerable in up to 48 healthy participants between the ages of 18 and 55 years in the UK with the backing of the US. Read more here...

China logs ninth consecutive day with no locally transmitted cases: There were 14 new imported cases, involving travellers returning from overseas, down from 16 the previous day. There were also 16 new asymptomatic cases, compared with 27 a day earlier. In the central city where the virus was first detected, Wuhan University opened its doors to more than 9,100 students on Monday. Read more here...

Specials

The power of plasma: how antibodies help fight Covid-19 
 

The last time most of us gave any thought to antibodies was probably in high school biology, but we’re getting a crash refresher course thanks to Covid-19. They are, after all, the key to our best defenses against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that’s caused the global pandemic. People who have been infected likely rely on antibodies to recover, and antibodies are what vaccines are designed to produce. Or at least that’s what infectious-disease and public-health experts assume for now. Because SARS-CoV-2 is such a new virus, even the world’s best authorities aren’t yet sure what it will take to build proper and lasting immunity against it. But antibodies are a good bet, since people who get infected and recover from disease generate them both to block viruses or bacteria from infecting cells and to mark them for destruction by an army of immune cells.Read more here...

Vanishing jobs and empty offices plague Britain’s retailers
 

Spending by shoppers, drinkers and diners is vital to Britain’s effort to emerge from its deepest recession for three centuries. News last week that retail sales rebounded by more than forecast in July stood out against a backdrop of unprecedented job cuts at Marks & Spencer, a report that consumer confidence remains in the doldrums and the prospect of more local lockdowns after a spike in infections. The UK economy relies on consumer spending more than most other countries in Europe, accounting for 63 percent of output compared with around half in Germany and France. The retail industry has been open for almost two months in much of the UK following a lockdown imposed in March. But people in Britain seem to be venturing back out to stores, restaurants and bars more slowly. Read more here...

Coronavirus in Kenya: How it turned classrooms into chicken coops
 

Kenya's decision to close all schools until next January because of coronavirus has left many of its private schools struggling to survive. On the chalkboard, maths equations have been replaced by a vaccination schedule. Joseph Maina, who owns the central Kenyan school, has had to turn to nurturing animals to earn some money as he is no longer getting an income from providing an education. At first, it seemed that everything was lost, but "we decided that we must do something [with the school] for survival", Mr Maina tells the BBC. Read more here...

Lockdown generation: Covid-19 upends Asian students' plans

A Japanese education ministry survey showed that some 24 percent of 1,012 responding universities offered remote classes only as of July 1. That translates into roughly 100,000 first-year students or more in the country facing issues, with many forced to lock themselves up in their small rooms, unable to seek human contact, advice or solace. Many haven't even been on campus since classes started.The loneliness can be overwhelming, especially for those leaving hometowns, families and high school friends, many for the first time. And the situation isn't any better for their seniors with less financial resources to support their studies, limited academic options due to travel restrictions and bleak job prospects upon graduation. Read more here...