World Coronavirus Dispatch: A cancer drug offers hope to Covid-19 patients

Meanwhile India sixth most infected as it goes past Italy in overall count, US economy shows unexpected 2.5-million job additions in May

AstraZeneca’s cancer drug, Calquence, has shown initial signs of helping hospitalised Covid-19 patients overcome the disease, as researchers scramble to repurpose existing treatments to help fight the deadly infection. Eleven patients had been on oxygen when they started the 10-14-day Calquence course and eight of them could afterwards be discharged, breathing independently, according to results of the preliminary study. Read more here

Let’s look at the global statistics:

• Total Confirmed Cases: 6,639,092
• Change Over Yesterday: 100,931
• Total Deaths: 394,984
• Total Recovered: 2,872,731
• Nations hit with most cases: US (1,897,838), Brazil (614,941), Russia (449,256), UK (284,734) and Spain (240,978)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

US economy shows unexpected 2.5 million gain in jobs in May: US employers unexpectedly added 2.5 million jobs in May, sending the jobless rate down to 13.3 per cent. This comes after 20.7 million layoffs during April and 1.4 million job cuts in March. The improvement revives hopes that US may experience rapid recovery. Read more here

India now sixth worst-hit, replaces Italy: India reported 9,887 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total to 236,657. Most of the new cases are in rural areas following the return of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who left cities and towns after the lockdown in late March. Read more here

UK transmission rates reach critical level: The R value, or rate of transmission, in England has risen to between 0.7 and 1, with some regions now at risk of seeing a rise in the number of infections. A value above R points that the epidemic will begin to grow in these communities. Read more here

Turkey cancels plan to impose lockdown despite spike in cases: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled plans to reimpose lockdowns in major cities to avoid further damage to the economy. This is despite the fact that coronavirus cases surged by almost 1,000 on Thursday, from about 700 in previous days. Read more here

Bentley to cut quarter of workforce as UK: Bentley is to cut a quarter of its workforce, capping a tumultuous period that has triggered the loss of 5,000 jobs across the UK car industry. The luxury carmaker, based in north-west England, will shed 1,000 of its 4,200 workers following a two-month closure of its facilities. Read more here

Specials

US companies scurry back to IPO market after rapid recovery: This week delivered $3 billion in proceeds from IPOs, the biggest haul since May last year. Excitement peaked on Wednesday when the two biggest deals since the Covid-19 crisis were expanded after orders exceeded the amount of stock on offer. Warner Music priced its shares near the top end of the pre-flagged range and increased the offering by a tenth to $1.9 billion — making it the year’s largest US flotation so far. Another company, ZoomInfo, a marketing software firm, had priced above its previously set range to raise $935 million. Read more here

Singapore considers wearable device to trace virus: Singapore is working on a contact-tracing method involving a portable wearable device that could be distributed to everyone in the country. The consideration comes as the city-state ruled out the mandatory use of a contact-tracing phone app called TraceTogether as a tool to monitor and track the Covid-19 spread in the country. Read more here

Interactive

With lockdowns lifted, where all can you go in Europe: Many countries in Europe are slowly emerging from lockdown and opening their borders selectively. With each nation operating at its own pace, it can be confusing to work out exactly where one can go — no two countries’ rules are the same. To see interactive graphics, click here

Opinion 

Renowned English director Sir Sam Mendes on how theatres can be saved