World Coronavirus Dispatch: Brazil, India struggle as global cases hit 9 mn

Limited Hajj in Saudi, US economy on recovery path, Sanofi's Covid-19 drug and other global news on the impact of the pandemic

Global cases of the coronavirus have surpassed 9 million, as Brazil and India grappled with a surge in infections, and the US, China and other hard-hit countries reported new outbreaks. The crisis is deepening in Brazil where the death toll is over 50,000, widespread testing is absent, and the country is still without a permanent health minister. In US, which has about 120,000 deaths, cases are rising again after declining for more than a month and wearing a mask is not mandatory in most states. China is also trying to contain a fresh outbreak in Beijing, where it asserts it has a capacity to test over 1 million people a day in the city alone. Read more here

Let’s look at the global statistics:

Total Confirmed Cases: 9,100,090

Change Over Yesterday: 308,063

Total Deaths: 472,216

Total Recovered: 4,527,152

Nations hit with most cases: US (2,312,302), Brazil (1,106,472), Russia (591,465), India (440,215) and UK (306,761)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Saudi Arabia to hold "very limited" Hajj due to Covid-19: Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that because of the coronavirus only “very limited numbers” of people will be allowed to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage that traditionally draws around 2 million Muslims from around the world. The decision comes after weeks of speculation over whether Saudi Arabia would cancel the pilgrimage altogether. Read more here

$2.3 trillion still not claimed from Europe’s relief aid: Less than 15 per cent of funds made available by governments via banks as loan guarantees for business has been used, according to figures from seven of Europe’s largest economies compiled by Bloomberg. That means more than 2 trillion euros ($2.3 trillion) was still available to be deployed as of June 18. Read more here

US economy on the road to recovery even as second wave looms: Americans have slowly started to return to work and everyday activities that have led to moderate declines in applications for jobless benefits, a pickup in restaurant bookings and greater consumer confidence. But that’s occurred against a backdrop of rising Covid-19 cases. Read more here

New cases in US top 25,000 for fifth straight day: New cases have topped 25,000 since June 18, and Saturday's toll of nearly 32,000 was the biggest increase since early May. California (4,230), Texas (3,280), Florida (2,926), Arizona (2,196) and Georgia (2,119) had the largest one-day jumps in new cases. Read more here

UK carmakers seek state support: The UK’s main trade group for automakers is calling for the government to support the industry, saying one in six jobs are at risk.

Measures should include emergency funding, tax holidays and policies to boost sales, The see production dropping by a third to 920,000 cars and LCVs this year. Read more here

Sanofi sees early approval for Covid-19 drug: French drugmaker Sanofi says it expects to get approval for the potential Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline by the first half of next year. It has received financial support from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Read more here

Specials

Digital ad market set to eclipse old media for first time: Digital advertising on platforms such as Google, Facebook and Alibaba is set this year to overtake spending on traditional media for the first time, a historic shift in market share that has been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. Excluding online ads sold by old media outlets such as news publishers or broadcasters, digital marketing is predicted to account for more than half the $530 billion global advertising industry in 2020, according to GroupM. Read more here

Long-read
 

How Asia's biggest slum contained the coronavirus
 

Dharavi, a sprawling slum in the heart of Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, appears to have brought an outbreak under control - for now. Since the first case was reported on 1 April, more than 2,000 infections and 80-odd deaths have been reported here. Half of the cases have recovered. Daily reported infections dropped from a high of 43 a day in May to 19 in third week of June. The average doubling rate had gone up from 18 days in April to 78 in June. The scale of the measures put in place - a mix of draconian containment, extensive screening and providing free food to an out-of-work population - has been extraordinary. Read more here

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