World coronavirus dispatch: Brazil No. 2 in death toll, goes past UK

Americas bear brunt of disease, European airlines sue UK over self-isolation rules, pandemic may spur hike in child labour -round up of Covid-19 news across the globe

Brazil now has the world’s second-highest coronavirus death count, surpassing the UK. The country reported 909 new deaths on Friday bringing the total death count to 41,828. Also, a new study showed the illness may be far more widespread in Brazil than official data suggests. Researchers at the University of Pelotas in southern Brazil estimate there are six unreported cases for every one confirmed diagnosis. Read more here 

Let’s look at the global statistics:

Total confirmed cases: 7,651,175

Change over yesterday: 136,616

Total deaths: 425,869

Total recovered: 3,630,280

Nations hit with most cases: US (2,048,986), Brazil (828,810), Russia (510,761), India (308,916) and UK (294,402)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Coronavirus hitting Americas hardest, says UN: The Americas are bearing the brunt of the global coronavirus pandemic at present, the WHO said Friday, with North and South America currently having four of the 10 worst hit countries in the world. Read more here

Three European airlines sue UK govt over self-isolation rules: Three of Europe’s biggest airlines —British Airways, EasyJet Plc and Ryanair Holdings —teamed up to sue the UK government over plans to force visitors to self-isolate for 14 days. They want only travellers from “high-risk” countries be asked to self-isolate. Read more here

Formula One cancels some races in 2020 season: Formula One has cancelled races in Singapore, Japan and Azerbaijan for the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic. At least five of 22 races have been scrapped, including races in Monaco and Australia. A few others, including races in Bahrain, Vietnam and China, have been postponed. Read more here 
 

After easing lockdown, Thailand may allow some international travel: Thailand is considering travel bubbles with China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, and some countries in the Middle East. Read more here

Specials

Most patients in Africa will have to recover at home: The continent accounts for less than 5 per cent of the 7.6 million confirmed infections globally. Spending on healthcare in Africa is about 1 per cent of the global total, leaving hospitals ill-equipped to deal with the surge. Data from South Africa shows about 10 per cent of those diagnosed with the virus require hospitalisation. The World Health Organization estimates as many as 190,000 of Africa’s 1.3 billion people could die in the pandemic’s first year if containment measures fail. It took 98 days to diagnose the first 100,000 cases in Africa and just 18 days to reach the 200,000 mark —a surge that in part reflects an increase in testing. Read more here

Pandemic may reverse two decades progress in reducing child labour: Some 94 million fewer children have been engaged in child labour since 2000, but the pandemic may upend that progress as parents losing jobs can push their children into often hazardous and exploitative work, said a joint report by International Labour Organisation and Unicef. It noted: “In times of crisis, child labour becomes a coping mechanism for many families. As poverty rises, schools close and the availability of social services decreases, more children are pushed into the workforce.” Read more here 
 

In the US, black-owned businesses hit harder by the coronavirus crisis: The number of active business owners in the US fell 22 per cent from February to April; the drop for black businesses was 41 per cent, according to Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research. Even before the pandemic, the yawning racial wealth gap and persistent disparities in lending created a situation whereby the median black business in America had a fifth of the revenue of the median white-owned company. Read more here
 

As lockdowns end, people are experiencing "re-entry anxiety”: There are two distinct types of re-entry anxiety. Some people are anxious because they have a “lurking fear” of catching or spreading Covid-19, while others have fallen out of practice socialising and are finding it difficult to resume. Both types of anxiety are likely driven by uncertainty and a fear of unknown harm. Ambiguous and ever-changing public-health advice likely doesn’t help, either. If you’re struggling to find the right balance, try these expert-backed tips for combating re-entry anxiety. Read here 

Watch:
 

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