World Coronavirus Dispatch: Argentina goes for restructuring $65 bn debt

US teachers protest school reopening, J&J spray approved to treat the suicidal, BP halves dividend as Covid-19 pushes oil major to loss, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Schools and nurseries don’t pose a high risk of spreading coronavirus when proper testing and tracking measures are used, according to a study that found a small percentage of people contracted the disease from infected peers and teachers.

Only 1.2 per cent of people caught the virus after they were in contact with 27 children or teachers who were infectious, according to a study of schools and nurseries in New South Wales, Australia, where track, trace and isolation measures were used. Further analysis of seven sites found the disease was less likely to spread from child to child than from staff to staff, according to a separate study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. Read more here

Let’s look at the global statistics

Total Confirmed Cases: 18,017,556


Change Over Yesterday: 167,703


Total Deaths: 688,351


Total Recovered: 10,649,108

Nations hit with most cases: US (4,667,930), Brazil (2,733,677), India (1,750,723), Russia (849,277) and South Africa (511,485)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center 

Argentina goes for debt restructuring: Argentina and some of its top creditors are moving closer to an agreement to restructure $65 billion of bonds. An agreement would end months of talks between the government and key bondholders including BlackRock, Ashmore Group, and Fidelity Investments, and mark a first step toward stabilizing a struggling economy. Read more here 

US teachers protest school reopening: Teachers at dozens of school across Chicago, Philadelphia and LA protested from their cars on Monday over plans by some US governors to resume in-class instruction during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here

Johnson & Johnson spray approved to treat suicidal people: Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato has been approved as the first antidepressant for actively suicidal people, as doctors are becoming increasingly concerned about Covid-19’s effect on the mental health of Americans. It has received FDA approval. Read more here

BP halves dividend as Covid-19 turmoil pushes oil major to loss: BP slashed its dividend for the first time since 2010 as the oil major accelerates a strategic overhaul of its business under a new chief executive. The collapse in energy demand triggered by government measures to curb the spread of coronavirus has badly affected the entire energy sector. Read more here 

UK buys fast virus tests to prepare for winter resurgence: Britain's government signed deals for fast Covid-19 tests, aiming to provide tests with a 90-minute turnaround to hospitals and care homes in time for an expected winter resurgence of cases. The UK has already secured the highest number of potential vaccine doses per capita. Read more here

UN chief warns world facing 'generational catastrophe' on education: Antonio Guterres said that getting students safely back to the classroom must be “a top priority.” As of mid-July schools were closed in some 160 countries, affecting more than 1 billion students, while at least 40 million children have missed out on pre-school. Read more here

Specials

Three men are rescued from a tiny Pacific island after writing a giant SOS in the sand
 

The men had been missing in the Micronesia archipelago for nearly three days when their distress signal was spotted Sunday on uninhabited Pikelot Island by searchers on Australian and US aircraft, the Australian defence department said. The men had apparently set out from Pulawat atoll in a 7-meter boat on July 30 and had intended to travel about 43 km to Pulap atoll when they sailed off course and ran out of fuel. Read more here

The business of making Ferraris is doing embarrassingly well in the pandemic 
 

Covid-19 has affected the production and delivery of luxury cars, but not demand from the wealthy to acquire them, as analysts have noted. The financial impact of the virus on Ferrari NV’s performance is, for now, looking like only one quarter of lost earnings. Management has handled the crisis well. Revenue fell 42 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, with vehicle shipments dropping 48 per cent, Monday’s results revealed. Meanwhile, the order book for new cars is “as strong as ever.” The group says its customers’ morale is high. Read more here

How have your working hours changed during the pandemic? 
 

From New York City to Tel Aviv, the telecommuting revolution has meant a lot more work, according to a study of 3.1 million people at more than 21,000 companies across 16 cities in North America, Europe and the Middle East. The researchers compared employee behavior over two 8 week periods before and after Covid-19 lockdowns. Looking at email and meeting meta-data, the group calculated the workday lasted 48.5 minutes longer, the number of meetings increased about 13 per cent and people sent an average of 1.4 more emails per day to their colleagues. Read more here

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